Chinese Chopsticks

Chinese Chopsticks

Chinese Chopsticks
(Zhu) (Kuaizi)
Related Resources • Yixing Teapot • Chinese Dumpling • Chinese Teahouse • Food & Recipes • Dictionary • Chinese Characters • Chinese Names • Dragon & Phoenix • Chinese Story • Articles by Topic Chopsticks play an important role in Chinese food culture. Chopsticks are called "Kuaizi" in Chinese and were called "Zhu" in ancient times (see the characters above). Chinese people have been using kuaizi as one of the main tableware for more than 3,000 years. It was recorded in Liji (The Book of Rites) that chopsticks were used in the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC - 1100 BC). It was mentioned in Shiji (the Chinese history book) by Sima Qian (about 145 BC) that Zhou, the last king of the Shang Dynasty (around 1100 BC), used ivory chopsticks. Experts believe the history of wood or bamboo chopsticks can be dated to about 1,000 years earlier than ivory chopsticks. Bronze chopsticks were invented in the Western Zhou Dynasty (1100 BC - 771 BC). Lacquer chopsticks from the Western Han (206 BC - 24 AD) were discovered in Mawangdui, China. Gold and silver chopsticks became popular in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). It was believed that silver chopsticks could detect poisons in food. Chopsticks can be classified into five groups based on the materials used to make them, i.e., wood, metal, bone, stone and compound chopsticks. Bamboo and wood chopsticks are the most popular ones used in Chinese homes. There are a few things to avoid when using chopsticks. Chinese people usually don't beat their bowls while eating, since the behavior used to be practiced by beggars. Also don't insert chopsticks in a bowl upright because it is a custom exclusively used in sacrifice. If you are really interested in chopsticks, you may want to visit the Kuaizi Museum in Shanghai. The museum collected over 1,000 pairs of chopsticks. The oldest one was from the Tang Dynasty.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1999

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1999

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1999

Günter Blobel

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1999

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Günter Blobel

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1999 was awarded to Günter Blobel "for the discovery that proteins have intrinsic signals that govern their transport and localization in the cell".

RADAR and Doppler RADAR Invention and History

RADAR and Doppler RADAR Invention and History
Christian Andreas Doppler
Doppler RADAR is named after Christian Andreas Doppler. Doppler was an Austrian physicist who first described in 1842, how the observed frequency of light and sound waves was affected by the relative motion of the source and the detector. This phenomenon became known as the Doppler effect.

This is most often demonstrated by the change in the sound wave of a passing train. The sound of the train whistle will become "higher" in pitch as it approaches and "lower" in pitch as it moves away. This is explained as follows: the number of sound waves reaching the ear in a given amount of time (this is called the frequency) determines the tone, or pitch, perceived. The tone remains the same as long as you are not moving. As the train moves closer to you the number of sound waves reaching your ear in a given amount of time increases. Thus, the pitch increases. As the train moves away from you the opposite happens.

Alexander Fleming and Antibiotics.

Antibiotics transformed medicine. The discovery of antibiotics began by accident. On the morning of September 3rd, 1928, Professor Alexander Fleming was having a clear up of his cluttered laboratory. Fleming was sorting through a number of glass plates which had previously been coated with staphyloccus bacteria as part of research Fleming was doing. One of the plates had mould on it. The mould was in the shape of a ring and the area around the ring seemed to be free of the bacteria staphyloccus. The mould was penicillium notatum. Fleming had a life long interest in ways of killing off bacteria and he concluded that the bacteria on the plate around the ring had been killed off by some substance that had come from the mould.






Sir Alexander Fleming



Further research on the mould found that it could kill other bacteria and that it could be given to small animals without any side-effects. However, within a year, Fleming had moved onto other medical issues and it was ten years later that Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, working at Oxford University, isolated the bacteria-killing substance found in the mould - penicillin.



In 1941, a doctor, Charles Fletcher, at a hospital in Oxford had heard of their work. He had a patient who was near to death as a result of bacteria getting into a wound. Fletcher used some of Chain’s and Florey’s penicillin on the patient and the wound made a spectacular recovery. Unfortunately, Fletcher did not have enough penicillin to fully rid the patient’s body of bacteria and he died a few weeks later as the bacteria took a hold. However, penicillin had shown what it could do on what had been a lost cause. The only reason the patient did not survive was because they did not have enough of the drug - not that it did not work.



Florey got an American drugs company to mass produce it and by D-Day, enough was available to treat all the bacterial infections that broke out among the troops. Penicillin got nicknamed "the wonder drug" and in 1945 Fleming, Chain and Florey were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Post-1945 was the era of the antibiotics.

Invention of Sctch Tape.

Packaging Tape

Scotch tape was invented in 1930 by banjo playing 3M engineer Richard Drew. Scotch tape was the world's first transparent adhesive tape. Richard Drew also invented the first masking tape in 1925, a two-inch-wide tan paper tape with a pressure sensitive adhesive backing.



Richard Drew - Background

In 1923, Richard Drew joined the 3M company located in St. Paul, Minnesota. At the time, 3M only made sandpaper. Drew was product testing 3M's Wetordry brand sandpaper at a local auto bodyshop, when he noticed that auto painters were having a hard time making clean dividing lines on two-color paint jobs. Richard Drew was inspired to invent the world's first masking tape in 1925, as a solution to the auto painters' dilemma.



Brandname Scotch

The brandname Scotch came about while Richard Drew was testing his first masking tape to determine how much adhesive he needed to add. The bodyshop painter became frustrated with the sample masking tape and exclaimed, "Take this tape back to those Scotch bosses of yours and tell them to put more adhesive on it!" The name was soon applied to the entire line of 3M tapes.

Scotch Brand Cellulose Tape was invented five years later. Made with a nearly invisible adhesive, the waterproof transparent tape was made from: oils, resins, and rubber; and had a coated backing.



According to 3M

Richard Drew, a young 3M engineer, invented the first waterproof, see-through, pressure-sensitive tape, thus supplying an attractive, moisture-proof way to seal food wrap for bakers, grocers, and meat packers. Drew sent a trial shipment of the new Scotch cellulose tape to a Chicago firm specializing in package printing for bakery products. The response was put this product on the market! Shortly after, heat sealing reduced the original use of the new tape. However, Americans in a depressed economy discovered they could use the tape to mend a wide variety of things like torn pages of books and documents, broken toys, ripped window shades, even dilapidated currency.



John A Borden - Tape Dispenser

John A Borden, another 3M engineer invented the first tape dispenser with a built-in cutter blade in 1932. Scotch Brand Magic Transparent Tape ® was invented in 1961, an almost invisible tape that never discolored and could be written on

INVENTION OF SCOTCH TAPE.

3M Tape




Scotch tape was invented in 1930 by banjo playing 3M engineer Richard Drew. Scotch tape was the world's first transparent adhesive tape. Richard Drew also invented the first masking tape in 1925, a two-inch-wide tan paper tape with a pressure sensitive adhesive backing.




Richard Drew - Background

In 1923, Richard Drew joined the 3M company located in St. Paul, Minnesota. At the time, 3M only made sandpaper. Drew was product testing 3M's Wetordry brand sandpaper at a local auto bodyshop, when he noticed that auto painters were having a hard time making clean dividing lines on two-color paint jobs. Richard Drew was inspired to invent the world's first masking tape in 1925, as a solution to the auto painters' dilemma.



Brandname Scotch

The brandname Scotch came about while Richard Drew was testing his first masking tape to determine how much adhesive he needed to add. The bodyshop painter became frustrated with the sample masking tape and exclaimed, "Take this tape back to those Scotch bosses of yours and tell them to put more adhesive on it!" The name was soon applied to the entire line of 3M tapes.

Scotch Brand Cellulose Tape was invented five years later. Made with a nearly invisible adhesive, the waterproof transparent tape was made from: oils, resins, and rubber; and had a coated backing.



According to 3M

Richard Drew, a young 3M engineer, invented the first waterproof, see-through, pressure-sensitive tape, thus supplying an attractive, moisture-proof way to seal food wrap for bakers, grocers, and meat packers. Drew sent a trial shipment of the new Scotch cellulose tape to a Chicago firm specializing in package printing for bakery products. The response was put this product on the market! Shortly after, heat sealing reduced the original use of the new tape. However, Americans in a depressed economy discovered they could use the tape to mend a wide variety of things like torn pages of books and documents, broken toys, ripped window shades, even dilapidated currency.



John A Borden - Tape Dispenser

John A Borden, another 3M engineer invented the first tape dispenser with a built-in cutter blade in 1932. Scotch Brand Magic Transparent Tape ® was invented in 1961, an almost invisible tape that never discolored and could be written on

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2000

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2000

Arvid Carlsson

Paul Greengard

Eric R. Kandel

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2000 was awarded jointly to Arvid Carlsson, Paul Greengard and Eric R. Kandel "for their discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system".

Bharat Ratna Award

Bharat Ratna Award

Bharat Ratna Awards

Established: By the President of India, 2 January 1954. The regulations were revised 8 January 1955 (to alter the design) and amended 26 January 1957 (to alter the depiction of the devices on the obverse and reverse). From 13 July 1977 to 26 January 1980, awards of the Bharat Ratna were suspended.

Obverse: A toned bronze pipal leaf design, 2-5/16 inches x 1-7/8 inches, "stem" downwards. (note, however, comments on the original design, above.) In the center, a platinum sunburst with the name of the decoration in silver-gilt in Sanskrit/Hindi "Bharat Ratna" (roughly, "Jewel of India") below. In 1957, the sun and motto were changed to burnished bronze. Worn around the neck from an oval suspender. Worn around the neck from an oval suspender.

Reverse: In the center, the state emblem in platinum and the motto in silver-gilt. In 1957, this was altered to burnished bronze.

Ribbon: 2 inches, white moire.

Awards: To date, there have been thirty-three recipients of the Bharat Ratna, and many other names have been raised in public discussion.

The provision of Bharat Ratna was introduced in 1954. The first ever Indian to receive this award was the famous scientist, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. Since then, many dignitaries, each a whiz in varied aspects of their career has received this coveted award. In fact, our present President, Shri A. P. J Abdul Kalam is also a recipient of this esteemed honour (1997). There is no written provision that Bharat Ratna should be awarded to Indian citizens only. The award has been awarded to a naturalized Indian citizen, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa (1980) and to two non-Indians – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Nelson Mandela (1990). It is also not mandatory that Bharat Ratna be awarded every year. The last time Bharat Ratna Award was given in 2001, to Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar and Ustad Bismillah Khan.

List of Bharat Ratna Award Winners

Name of Recipients	Year	Name of Recipients	Year
C Rajagopalachari (1878-1972)	1954	Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975)	1954
Dr. C.V. Raman (1888-1970)	1954	Dr. Bhagwan Das (1869-1958)	1955
Dr. M. Visvesvaraya (1861-1962)	1955	Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964)	1955
Govind Ballabh Pant (1887-1961)	1957	Dr. Dhondo Keshave Karve (1858-1962)	1958
Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy (1882-1962)	1961	Purushottam Das Tandon (1882-1962)	1961
Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963)	1962	Dr. Zakir Hussain (1897-1969)	1963
Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane (1880-1972)	1963	Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904-1966) (Posthumous))	1966
Indira Gandhi (1917-1984)	1971	Varahagiri Venkatagiri (V.V. Giri) (1 884-1980)	1975
Kumaraswami Kamraj (1903-1975) (Posthumous)	1976	Mother Teresa (1910-1997)	1980
Acharya Vinobha Bhave (1895-1982)	1983	Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890-1988)	1987
Marudu Gopalan Ramachandran (1917-1987) (Posthumous)	1988	Dr. Bhim Rao Ramji (B.R) Ambedkar (1891-1956) (Posthumous)	1990
Dr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918- )	1990	Rajiv Gandhi (1944-1991) (Posthumous)	1991
Sardar Vallabhai Patel (1875-1950)	1991	Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (1869-1995)	1991
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958) (Posthumous)	1992	Jahangir Ratanji Dadabhai (J.R.D) Tata (1904-1993)	1992
Satyajit Ray (1922-1992)	1992	Aruna Asaf Ali (1909-1996) (Posthumous)	1997
Gulzari Lal Nanda (1898-1997) (Posthumous)	1997	Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (1931-)	1997
Madurai Shanmukhavadivu (M.S) Subbalakshmi (1916- )	1998	Chidambaram Subramaniam (1910-2000)	1998
Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan ( 1902-1979) (Posthumous)	1999	Professor Amartya Sen (1933- )	1999
Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi (1890-1950) (Posthumous)	1999	Pandit Ravi Shankar (1920-)	1999
Lata Mangeshkar (1929- )	2001	Bissmillah Khan (1916- )	2001

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More Indian Awards

Who was inventor of stretothoscope "devicefor measuring rate of heart beat"?to whic country scientist belong? - Yahoo! Answers India

Who was inventor of stretothoscope "devicefor measuring rate of heart beat"?to whic country scientist belong?

Who was inventor of stretothoscope "devicefor measuring rate of heart beat"?to whic country scientist belong?

The stethoscope was invented by the French physician R.T.H. Laënnec. René Théophile Hyacinthe Laënnec is generally considered to be the father of chest medicine.


History of the Stethoscope
One day in 1816, Laennec was invited by children to hear to the scratching of a pin transmitted through the length of a wooden beam. He is thereby inspired to fashion a paper tube to listen to the chests of his patients.

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Printing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Printing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main article: History of printing

Woodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns that was used widely throughout East Asia. It originated in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later on paper. As a method of printing on cloth, the earliest surviving examples from China date to before 220 AD, and from Roman Egypt to the 4th century.

The intricate frontispiece of the Diamond Sutra from Tang Dynasty China, 868 AD (British Museum)

Main article: History of typography in East Asia

The earliest surviving woodblock printed fragments are from China and are of silk printed with flowers in three colours from the Han dynasty (before 220 AD), and the earliest example of woodblock printing on paper appeared in the mid-7th century in China.

In Middle East

Woodblock printing on cloth appeared in Roman Egypt by the 4th century. Block printing, called tarsh in Arabic was developed in Arabic Egypt during the 9th-10th centuries, mostly for prayers and amulets. There is some evidence to suggest that the print blocks were made from a variety of different materials besides wood, including metals such as tin, lead and cast iron, as well as stone, glass and clay. However, the techniques employed are uncertain and they appear to have had very little influence outside of the Muslim world. Though Europe adopted woodblock printing from the Muslim world, initially for fabric, the technique of metal block printing remained unknown in Europe. Block printing later went out of use in Islamic Central Asia after movable type printing was introduced from China.^[1]

[edit] In Europe

Block printing first came to Christian Europe as a method for printing on cloth, where it was common by 1300. Images printed on cloth for religious purposes could be quite large and elaborate, and when paper became relatively easily available, around 1400, the medium transferred very quickly to small woodcut religious images and playing cards printed on paper. These prints were produced in very large numbers from about 1425 onwards.

Around the mid-century, block-books, woodcut books with both text and images, usually carved in the same block, emerged as a cheaper alternative to manuscripts and books printed with movable type. These were all short heavily illustrated works, the bestsellers of the day, repeated in many different block-book versions: the Ars moriendi and the Biblia pauperum were the most common. There is still some controversy among scholars as to whether their introduction preceded or, the majority view, followed the introduction of movable type, with the range of estimated dates being between about 1440 and 1460.^[2]

Movable type printing

Jikji, "Selected Teachings of Buddhist Sages and Son Masters", the earliest known book printed with movable metal type, 1377.

Movable type is the system of printing and typography using movable pieces of metal type, made by casting from matrices struck by letterpunches. Movable type allowed for much more flexible processes than hand copying or block printing.

Around 1040, the first known movable type system was created in China by Bi Sheng out of porcelain.^[3] Sheng used clay type, which broke easily, but Wang Zhen later carved a more durable type from wood by 1298 CE, and developed a complex system of revolving tables and number-association with written Chinese characters that made typesetting and printing more efficient. However, the main method in use there remained woodblock printing.

But around 1230, Korea first invented a metal type movable printing. The Jikji, published in 1377, is the earliest known metal printed book.

Around 1450, Johannes Gutenberg introduced what is regarded as an invention of movable type in Europe (see printing press), along with innovations in casting the type based on a matrix and hand mould. Gutenberg was the first to create his type pieces from an alloy of lead, tin and antimony – the same components still used today.^[4]

A case of cast metal type pieces and typeset matter in a composing stick.

Johannes Gutenberg's work on the printing press began in approximately 1436 when he partnered with Andreas Dritzehen — a man he had previously instructed in gem-cutting—and Andreas Heilmann, owner of a paper mill.^[5] It was not until a 1439 lawsuit against Gutenberg that official record exists; witnesses testimony discussed type, an inventory of metals (including lead) and his type mold.^[5]

Compared to woodblock printing, movable type page setting was faster and more durable. The metal type pieces were sturdier and the lettering more uniform, leading to typography and fonts. The high quality and relatively low price of the Gutenberg Bible (1455) established the superiority of movable type, and printing presses rapidly spread across Europe, leading up to the Renaissance, and later all around the world. Today, practically all movable type printing ultimately derives from Gutenberg's movable type printing, which is often regarded as the most important invention of the second millennium.^[6]