Let's see...…..the computer, laser (cataract surgery), cell phone and potato peeler. Computer was a HUGE help to me on my job in Purchasing and Inventory Management. Laser for cataract surgery is much easier than using a scalpel blade. Cell Phone for any and all reasons. Potato Peeler...….better than wasting part of the potato using a paring knife.
Polio vaccine. "The two vaccines have eliminated polio from most of the world,[2][3] and reduced the number of cases reported each year from an estimated 350,000 in 1988 to 33 in 2018." "The first effective polio vaccine was developed in 1952 by Jonas Salkand a team at the University of Pittsburgh that included Julius Youngner, Byron Bennett, L. James Lewis, and Lorraine Friedman, which required years of subsequent testing." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polio_vaccine Administration of the polio inoculation, including by Salk himself, in 1957 at the University of Pittsburgh, where his team and he had developed the vaccine
Love the post and indeed, the polio vaccine was to me, one of the greatest developments that did and still does benefit all of mankind. But,....not to be trivial, that was 67 or so years ago and not within the last 50. Maybe Ken’l change his OP to 70 years and then you’d probably win the big prize that is undoubtedly awaiting! .
Well after reading all these possibilities it dawned on me that 50 years ago is different for us all.
Plastic has been with us since 1907, 112 years ago, when Bakelite was invented by chemist Leo Baekeland. Hal
Too many to name just one. I watched a doco last nite on Australia's contribution to the world thru her many inventions and innovations. There were even some I was not aware of. We know of the black-box flite recorder, bionic ear, polymer bank note, electronic pacemaker and Google maps (all in the past 50 years) but were you aware Australia invented the refrigerator. In 1854, James Harrison created a commercial ice-making machine in Geelong, Australia which he then expanded to create a vapour-compression refrigeration system, for which he was awarded a patent in 1855. What made this refrigeration system unique was the use of a compressor to force vaporised ether into a condenser for cooling, where it turned back into liquid. This liquid then made its way through the the refrigeration coils and turned back into gas, which cooled down the insides of the system.
DNA - The Molecule of Life American James Watson, Englishman Francis Crick and New Zealand-born Maurice Wilkins presented the structure of the DNA-helix in 1962 to the world..sharing the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine that same year. Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA is the hereditary material present in the cells of all humans and other living organisms. DNA is a nucleic acid generally regarded as a blueprint, a recipe or a code of an organism. The blueprint contains instructions which enable development of cells in to body. And also controls the characteristics featured in a fully functional living structure through genes. The very first cell in a living being is formed when egg and sperm get mingled. At that point DNA molecule renders the entire genetic code to be used for the formulation of cells forever in that creature. These cells divide and replicate themselves perfectly to construct the body structure. They continue to do that for body maintenance as well i.e. formation of new blood cells or skin cells. The Nucleotides are the basic structural unit of DNA. Each Nucleotide is a pair of polymers with backbones made up of sugar and phosphate groups connected by ester bonds. The two anti-parallel strands run freely in the nucleus. Four types of bases are attached to each sugar. The arrangement of these bases along the backbone encrypts information which is accessed through transcription using the genetic code.
We probably have to go back more than 50 years to find the greatest inventions. Beyond the plastic and fluff. NOTE: Sliced bread was invented in 1928!
Yes, many of these responses contain inventions not created in the "last 50 years." And DNA isn't "an invention."