201 lines
6.2 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
201 lines
6.2 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
sponsored
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motoring
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ford-future-sessions
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future-of-science
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8206596
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-----
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# Five unpopular, amazing ideas
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## Here's a lesson for future scientists - never give up. Here are five ideas
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that took perseverance to take off.
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Roger Highfield 3:11PM GMT 16 Dec 2010
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**Gyro power**
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The two-wheeled gyro car, patented by engineer Louis Brennan in 1903, used a
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spinning gyroscope to stay upright on a monorail. The vehicle failed to catch
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on, but entrepreneur Elmer Sperry bought the patents, founding the Sperry
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Gyroscope Company to make ships' equipment; today, gyroscopes are used in much
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guidance, steering and stabilisation equipment.
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**Killer proteins**
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When research suggested that puzzling spongiform brain disorders like scrapie
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in sheep could not be transmitted by a bacterium or a virus, Stanley Prusiner
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suggested a new infectious agent: a rogue protein known as a prion. The idea
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was so outrageous that he was ridiculed, but doggedly pursued it. In 1997 he
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won a Nobel prize.
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## Related Articles
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* [This Will Change Everything][1]
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16 Dec 2010
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**Heavier-than-air flying machines**
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A few centuries ago, scientists and the public were adamant that flight was
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impossible with an artificial wing. But English scientist George Cayley
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disagreed, building increasingly complex model flying machines, culminating in
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a full-scale glider which flew in 1853. His pioneering work was a huge
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inspiration for the Wright brothers.
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**Boring measurements**
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In the early Eighties, like today, British research, including the measurement
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of atmospheric ozone in Antarctica, faced government cutbacks. Then, in 1985,
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Joe Farman, Brian Gardiner and Jonathan Shanklin measured dramatic losses of
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ozone, which showed everybody how human activity can damage the global
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climate.
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**Electromagnetic shock**
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Perhaps the best-known example of an unlikely idea that worked came from
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Michael Faraday, who developed the electric motor then found that a magnet
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moving in a metal coil was able to induce a current. When an eminent
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politician asked Faraday: "What good is it?" Faraday replied: "Soon you will
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be able to tax it." By the 1880s, electric power was in widespread use. And,
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of course, taxed.
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[X][2] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][3]
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* Share: [Share][2] [ ][4] [ ][5]
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[Tweet][6]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions/future-of-
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science/8206596/Five-unpopular-amazing-ideas.html
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Telegraph
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## [Future of science][7]
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* ### [Sponsored »][8]
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* ### [Motoring »][9]
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* ### [Ford Future Sessions »][10]
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[X][2] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][3]
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Share:
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* [ ][2]
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* [ ][4]
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* [ ][5]
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* [Tweet][6]
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* ![][11]
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[The Hubble Telescope »][12]
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### [WIN! a new book about the Hubble Space Telescope's amazing
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discoveries][13]
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[![Light echoes from a red supergiant star, as captured by the Hubble Space
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Telescope. ][14] ][13]
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The Telegraph has five copies of Hubble: Window on the Universe by Giles
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Sparrow, worth £40 each, to give away.
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### [The Hubble Space Telescope: the big picture][15]
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For 20 years the Hubble Space Telescope has shown us amazing images like
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these. Giles Sparrow, author of Hubble: Window on the Universe, explains why
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it's a modern marvel.
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### [Images from the Hubble Space Telescope][16]
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[![Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope from Giles Sparrow's Hubble:
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Window on the Universe. ][17]][16]
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Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope from the book Hubble: Window on the
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Universe.
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[The new silicon? »][18]
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### [Graphene: our miracle material][19]
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[![Graphene is a planar sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal pattern.
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Stacked graphene sheets form graphite, used in pencils. ][20] ][19]
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Graphene is harder than diamond, just a single molecule thick and conducts
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electricity. Kat Hannaford talks to the two Nobel prize-winning scientists who
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discovered it about why it could revolutionise everything.
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[1]: /sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions/future-of-science/8206484
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/This-Will-Change-Everything.html
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[2]: #
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[3]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/4590190/Share-this-article-
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What-are-these.html
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[4]: mailto:?subject=A Telegraph reader thought you would be interested in
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this article&body=Depending on your email program, you may be able to click on
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the link in the email. Alternatively, you may have to open a web browser, such
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as Firefox or Internet Explorer, and copy the link over into the address bar.
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%0A%0Ahttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions
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/future-of-science/8206596/Five-unpopular-amazing-ideas.html %0A%0AFor the
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best content online, visit www.telegraph.co.uk
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[5]: javascript:print()
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[6]: http://twitter.com/share?via=Telegraph
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[7]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions
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/future-of-science/
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[8]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/
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[9]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/
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[10]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions/
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[11]:
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http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01766/Ford_in_asso_1766175a.jpg
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[12]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions
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/future-of-science/8206698/Celebrating-the-Hubble-Space-Telescope.html
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[13]: /sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions/future-of-
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science/8206679/Win-a-copy-of-Hubble-Window-on-the-Universe.html
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[14]:
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http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01786/hubble1_1786847e.jpg
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[15]: /sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions/future-of-science/8206698
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/The-Hubble-Space-Telescope-the-big-picture.html
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[16]: /sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions/future-of-science/8207252
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/Images-from-the-Hubble-Space-Telescope.html
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[17]:
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http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01787/hubble3_1787067e.jpg
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[18]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions
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/future-of-science/8207121/Graphene-our-miracle-material.html
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[19]: /sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions/future-of-science/8207121
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/Graphene-our-miracle-material.html
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[20]:
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http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01787/graphene_1787024e.jpg
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