Light Bulb

Here I am again with another amazing invention that changed the world. We definitely all have light bulbs in our homes and let’s face it, we can’t imagine living without them. We all go insane when we have temporary black outs while it’s dark outside.   When all you have is natural light, we are very limited to do anything  to daylight hours. Light bulbs changed the world by allowing us to be active at night. The first light bulb was invented throughout the 1800s but the light bulbs had a short life period, they wouldn’t last longer than a few hours. Wasn’t until 1879, when Thomas Edison created a completely functional lighting system which consisted of having a generator and wiring as well as a carbon-filament bulb. 

Light bulb created by Thomas Edison

 As the years passed, more people were interested on the functionality of the light bulb and with research they succeeded to create even better light bulbs. Now we see a whole bunch of different light bulbs with different varieties of functions and shapes. Here are the different types of light bulbs that we can find on the market today:

Incandescent: this type of light bulb produces light when an electric current passes through a filament and causes it to light up. This is the common type of bulbs we find in homes because they're cheap and are kind of bright.

Incandescent light bulbs

 Fluorescent: this type of light bulb produces light when an electric arc passes between metals  from the periodic table that conduct electricity  to excite the mercury and other gasses in the light bulbs producing radiant energy, and this energy is converted in to a visible that we can see. We are starting to see more and more of these types of bulbs in homes because they last longer and don't need a lot of electricity to light up a room.

Fluorescent light bulbs

      High-Intensity Discharge (HID): produces light when electricity passes between metals that can conduct electricity in a pressurized tube. They have long lives and are extremely energy efficient. You can find these on cars that have a different color headlights. I myself just installed HID lights on my dad's SUV and this type of light bulb is very bright. 

HID light bulbs

Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs):  this type of light bulb produces light when voltage is applied to negatively charged semiconductors to create light. You most often find these types of light bulbs on cars that have neon lights. I find it amazing how we can produce light with a variety of colors now.

LED light bulbs

I’ve pretty much covered all the basic things you need to know about the invention of light bulbs and where we are now with the advancement of this invention. If you want to know more about this amazing invention feel free to do more research and I’m sure all your questions will be answered or you can even ask me a question by writing a comment! Stay tuned for more wonderful and exciting inventions that changed the world!

Sources: 

1) https://www.americanlightingassoc.com/Lighting-Fundamentals/Light-Sources-Light-Bulbs.aspx

2) http://www.livescience.com/33749-top-10-inventions-changed-world.html 

3) http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/edison/lightbulb.shtml

Glasses

Everyone knows or has seen that family in which every family member wears glasses. Yet, most of us never question if they all wear glasses because of a genetic trait they share or because of the environment they live in. Studies have proven that poor eyesight does run in families. Although, that doesn't mean that the environment doesn't have a role with people’s poor eyesight. Another interesting thing is that we all appreciate the invention of glasses but we never take a moment to question who invented them or when they were invented.

First pair of glasses ever invented

The inventor of the first pair of glasses remains unknown. Most historians believe that the first form of eyeglasses was produced in Italy around 1285-1289. These magnifying lenses (glasses) for reading were shaped like two small magnifying glasses and set into bone, metal, or leather mounting that could be balanced on the bridge of noses. Of course before that time they had something to help them see, but it wasn't as advanced as the glasses. After the invention of the first pair of glasses, people were amazed with the design of it and how you can magnify whatever you want without having to hold anything in your hand. The design of the first glasses was great except that after years and years of just having a plain piece of metal with lenses in it, they deiced to make a few changes to it to make it better for them. They shaped it to make it fit better around the ears and they also made it possible to fold the pair of glasses to fit in places where the normal pairs couldn’t fit. 

Standard pair of glasses

Google has recently come out with a special pair of glasses they call ‘Google Glass’. Google glass is basically a computer that you can wear as glasses. It can display information that you would normally use your phone or computer to see. With this invention, you don’t even need your phone anymore, because you can answer your texts; emails; calls and much more with the new Google Glass. Some people have some concerns about this high tech inventions because these glasses allow you to invade other people's privacy. In example, it has a camera that's able to do 'face recognition' and with this type of technology you can find out many things about people without them even knowing. Which is why Google Glass is illegal in many countries. 

New Google Glass

We've advanced so much with glasses over the past few years. It all began with a simple objective which was to help people read and see better and now we're able to use our glasses to search the web and communicate with others. Personally, I want the Google Glass because I find it incredible that they were able to put so much technology on a small pair of glasses. Although, I wouldn't want anyone else to have one because I wouldn't want someone to invade my privacy and look at my information just by facing a camera that's on his glasses at me in public. 

Sources: - http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventions/a/glass_3.htm

              -  http://www.glasseshistory.com/

              -  www.google.com (images)