My nomination for today’s Wikipedia article of the day is over the life and times of W. Daniel Hillis.
He founded Thinking Machines in 1982 with the end goal of using parallel processing and Marvin Minsky-ish approach to create dynamic AI (coincidentally, Minsky worked at TM at one point).
The best known product (aside from its data mining software which was later sold to Oracle) was the Connection Machine. It was comprised of thousands of simple microprocessors working in parallel to crack encryption and solve the meaning of life.
Be sure to also see the work of John Koza and genetic algorithms.
Giving credit where credit is due
While human space flight has certainly changed the way mankind looks at itself in the cosmos, NASA has also been incorrectly credited to being the inventor of numerous widgets ranging from personal computers to freeze-dried ice cream.
Tang, the flava flav
Originally created by General Foods Corporation in 1957, it initially suffered poor sales. NASA used it in their Gemini missions starting in 1965 (astronaut John Glenn apparently liked its taste); it was then forever incorrectly associated as their own creation. For more, see also The Straight Dope and Kukucachoo.
Velcro, a trapper-keeper’s best friend
Originally invented in 1948 by Georges de Mestral, was a Swiss engineer/mountaineer who noticed burrs stuck to his wool pants while he hiked. He worked with a French weaver to design the nylon hooks. And it predated NASA’s use by more than a decade. However, NASA popularized its use; astronauts could move about freely and attach tools to their spacesuits. See also “NASA Plan Needs a Little Spin” from Boston University.
Microwave Oven… made hot pockets a reality
Originally invented by Percy Spencer, an engineer at Raytheon in 1945. It initially did not sell well and failed to penetrate mainstream markets until the late ’60s. Spencer was running some experiments with radar equipment and accidentally melted a chocolate bar. Popcorn was the next logical guinea pig.
Teflon, what Ozzie Osborn has been sniffing
Discovered by Roy Plunkett of DuPont in 1938. Reportedly, he was trying to make a new CFC refrigerant. Teflon cooking pans were common in households prior to Yuri Gagarin’s flight, let alone the Apollo missions.
Microprocessors and those newfangled computer things
The integrated circuit was originally developed by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments in February of 1959. The Apollo orbiters did not even use these. Furthermore, other firms such as Intel played a key role in the research and development of the microprocessor, none of which involved NASA.
The Intarweb
Originally called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), this cross-country, packet-switching computer network was developed in part by the US Department of Defense, not NASA. And while some urban legends claim the original purpose for ARPANET was to allow institutions to communicate with one another in the event of disastrous war, this is a myth. Charles Herzfeld, who was director of ARPA at the time, has noted that it was designed to effectively and efficiently manage and utilize relatively scarce computing resources across the country. See also Klein.
Coda
This all ties into the quote of the day regarding the innovations (or lack thereof) taking place on the International Space Station,
Some of NASA’s critics say closing down the space station’s science program wouldn’t be such a bad thing. “There is no meaningful research on the ISS to shut down,” said University of Maryland physicist Robert Park.
In terms of economics, trying to gauge the negative redistribution effects on productive resources to this human space flight program involves the real-world analysis of Broken Windows and opportunity costs. For this economic discussion see: 1 2 3
Does anyone have the skinny on Fruit-of-the-Loom underwear and astronauts?
Digg it!
Addendum: due to popular demand (based upon emails), I should also note that the NASA space pen/Russian pencil story is also a myth.
