10 surprising day jobs of famous inventors and scientists
Famous inventors and scientists submission to the daily grind
19 April, 2019
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
- Albert Einstein worked as a patent clerk for seven years.
- In between painting and inventing, Leonardo da Vinci made war machines for the Duke of Milan.
- Isaac Newton was almost forced to forget mathematics and become a farmer.
<p>Many of the greatest inventors and scientists weren't able to work on their craft and subjects all the time. They were subject, like many of us, to the usual mundanities of everyday life. This meant working a full-time day job oftentimes not even close to their main inventive pursuits. Even so, they were able to <a href="https://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/top-20-greatest-inventions-of-all-time" target="_self">create some of the greatest inventions of all time.</a></p><p>Here are some of the most surprising jobs of famous inventors and scientists.<span></span></p>
Benjamin Franklin
<p>Benjamin Franklin is one of the <a href="https://bigthink.com/technology-innovation/inventor-biographies" target="_self">most famous inventors</a>, statesmen, and philosophers of the early American era. Not only was Franklin a productive inventor, he also worked a number of interesting and challenging day jobs. </p><p>Throughout his life he worked as the Postmaster of Philadelphia and would later go on to become the Ambassador to France. Of course, no one can forget that he was one of the Founding Fathers of America as well.</p><p>As an inventor, his famous kite experiment immortalized his inventive genius into almost mythical proportions. Franklin would go on to create a number of inventions both patented and sealed away in his own personal papers.</p>Leonardo da Vinci
<p>The <a href="https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/think-like-a-renaissance-man" target="_self">archetype of the Renaissance Man,</a> Leonardo da Vinci embodied the spirit of his era. Scientist, inventor, painter, polymath, and overall curious spirit, we still <a href="https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/5-leonardo-da-vinci-books" target="_self">can't get enough of Leonardo's genius. </a>For a man of so many talents and aspirations, it comes as no surprise that he had a number of interesting odd jobs. For 17 years he was in the service of Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan. It was here where he worked as a military engineer, crafting death machines, and defensive fortresses. </p><p>Amongst his many conceptions, were early ideas of a tank, crossbows, helicopters, and even scuba diving gear. Few of what he invented was created in his time, but would go on to inspire many inventors of the future. Aside from his contributing inventions and advances in both science and the medical field, da Vinci is one of the most accomplished and revered artists of all time.</p>Jane Goodall
<p>There has never been a scientist like Jane Goodall. A renowned figure who dedicated most of her life to pursue of knowledge of our closest relatives. The greatest expert on chimpanzees, Goodall's 55-year study on the social and primitive dynamics of wild chimpanzees is an unmatched study. Yet throughout the years, she wasn't always a great apes scientist.</p><p>Her first job was as a secretary working for her aunt who ran a children's orthopedic clinic. Her job was to take down notes shorthand and type them out. Eventually she'd go on to become a secretary at the Registry Office at Oxford University. Finally, making her way to Africa she remarked on her final job before studying the great apes full time:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"When invited to Africa, I earned money by being a waitress in a hotel around the corner from my home in Bournemouth — very hard work indeed. And the last job prior to my career was to be secretary for Louis Leakey at the Natural History Museum in Nairobi. So the boring secretarial course was certainly worth it in the end!"</p>John Deere
<p>Born in the early 1800s, John Deere grew up and worked as a Blacksmith before going on to invent one of the most revolutionary pieces of farming equipment, a steel plow. The invention would go on to become such a great success, that John later founded the business we know today as John Deere and Company. </p> <p>To this day, they're still at the forefront of developing farming equipment and other assorted machines. John would later spend his time working on civil and political issues. At one point even serving as the Mayor for the town of Moline.</p>Michio Kaku
<p>Famed science popularizer and theoretical physicist wasn't always<a href="https://bigthink.com/videos/universe-in-a-nutshell-the-physics-of-everything-with-michio-kaku" target="_self"> pondering the mysteries of the universe.</a> During World War Two when his father was in a Japanese internment camp, his father was working as a gardener. He went along with him and started working mowing lawns, watering plants and throwing down some fertilizer. </p><p>On the subject of this time in his life, <a href="https://www.streetinsider.com/Reuters/Weird+Science%3A+First+jobs+of+some+leading+scientists/13079578.html" target="_blank">Kaku remarked</a>: </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"As a child I basically had a choice of two paths: One, my father wanted me to take over the gardening business. And two, I wanted to become a physicist. After that gardening job, I decided I would much rather work with my mind."</p>Marie Curie
<p>The first woman to win a Nobel Prize for work on radioactivity — as well as the first person and only woman to win the Nobel Prize a second time — once worked as a governess taking care of a family in a little factory village north of Warsaw. </p><p>With a limited education and some scientific training from her father, Curie was largely self-taught. Working in difficult and poor laboratory conditions during her early years, she would eventually go on to expand on the works of Henri Becquerel in the field of radioactivity. Her research would led to the isolation of the chemical element polonium, named after the country of her birth.</p>Isaac Newton
<p>One of the most famed men of the scientific sphere — Isaac Newton, the inventor of calculus who developed the laws of motion, gravity, and classical mechanics — and so on — was once led by his mother to become a farmer. After his mother had divorced for the second time and Isaac was around 16 years old, Isaac quit school and was supposed to work as a farmer.</p><p>That didn't quite go as planned. Newton would go on to develop one of the first practical telescope, develop the theory of the color spectrum and advance the sciences into an entirely new paradigm of inquiry.</p>Albert Einstein
<p>The ever-prevailing need for day jobs and other more menial pursuits seemed to have even dragged Albert Einstein down. In 1902, Einstein started working as a technical expert for the Federal Office for Intellectual Property in Bern, or more commonly known as the patent office. </p><p>Einstein jokingly referred to this profession as his "cobbler's trade." This turned out to be a good job for the scientist as it was undemanding work that let him focus on his more lofty scientific pursuits. At the time of his work, his schedule was said to be eight hours of regular work, eight hours of scientific work followed by a healthy eight hours of sleep. Which in the case of the latter was often exchanged for writing his manuscripts and letters.</p><p>Einstein referred to his time working at the patent office as "that worldly cloister where I hatched my most beautiful ideas."</p>Samuel Morse
<p>Samuel Morse gives his namesake to the famous technology we now know as Morse code. Born in a relatively modest household and regular upbringing, Morse was fond of art and painting. He excelled in portraiture and at the time was even commissioned to paint a few famous figures. Some of these works include portraits of John Adams and James Monroe.</p> <p>While painting was his mainstay of work and life, he also dabbled in the realm of electromagnetism. After his wife died, he was inspired to work on a long distance device which would turn out to be the single wire telegraph.</p>Robert Fulton
<p>Robert Fulton invented one of the first successful steamboats. He also built the famous boat commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte, the Nautilus. Born to a family of Irish Immigrants in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he was sent to a Quaker school at the time he was 8 years old. </p><p>Fulton started off as an apprentice jeweler where he painted little portraits on lockets and rings. Eventually he'd begun work in Europe where he developed early conceptions for inland water transportation. On top of the Nautilus he created and gifted to the French in 1800, Fulton also developed early torpedoes in 1804.</p>
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The Interstellar Object Passing By Is Not Like Anything We’ve Seen
For the first time, an object from outside our solar system is observed traveling through our neighborhood.
22 November, 2017
Artist’s concept of object (EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY/M. KORNMESSER)
The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) telescope is located near the summit of the Haleakala volcano on Maui, and on October 19, 2017, post-doctoral researcher Rob Weryk noticed something odd moving west at an unusual 6.2° angle. Not sure what it was, he checked the observatory’s backlog and discovered an image of it from the night before. A team led by Karen Meech of University of Hawaii's Institute of Astronomy next examined October 22 imagery of the object captured by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) on the big island at Maunakea. The object’s unique angle of trajectory signified that it had to come from outside our solar system.
<p></p><p>NASA’s <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/about-us/leadership/Thomas-Zurbuchen" target="_blank"><span>Thomas Zurbuchen</span></a> <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/solar-system-s-first-interstellar-visitor-dazzles-scientists" target="_blank"><span>says</span></a>, “For decades we've theorized that such interstellar objects are out there, and now — for the first time — we have direct evidence they exist. This history-making discovery is opening a new window to study formation of solar systems beyond our own.” The <a href="https://www.iau.org" target="_blank"><span>International Astronomical Union</span></a> had to invent a new category for it, and designated it as A/2017 UI.</p> <p></p><p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MTI4My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3NDIxNTM4NX0.id-JHUO20sX7wYeuq-AN_s33XAZZ0qjoL8MtNa3Lb8s/img.jpg?width=980" id="248a1" width="1000" height="667" data-rm-shortcode-id="417248e558f9589d612051881d50ee4f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><br><span style="color: #737d83; font-size: 13px;">PAN-STARRS1 at sunset (ROB RATKOWSKI)</span></p> <p></p><p>Though it was first thought to be a comet, the October 22 CFHT images had been time-resolved to the A/2017 UI’s rate of motion and revealed a lack of cometary traits, leading to the conclusion that it’s an asteroid.</p> <p></p><p>That unique trajectory is just one of the odd things about the asteroid: Its physical appearance is also surprising. Astronomers observed that it varied in brightness by a factor of ten due to spinning on its axis every 7.3 hours. “This unusually big variation in brightness means that the object is highly elongated: about ten times as long as it is wide, with a complex, convoluted shape,” according to Meech. NASA estimates that it’s “up to one-quarter mile (400 meters) long and highly elongated — perhaps 10 times as long as it is wide.”</p> <p></p><p>And it’s very old. The team saw that A/2017 UI “had a reddish color, similar to objects in the outer solar system, and confirmed that it is completely inert, without the faintest hint of dust around it.” It’s thus believed to be composed exclusively of rock and metals without any water or ice, its color being produced by exposure over hundred of millions of years to cosmic-ray radiation as it wandered across the galaxy and into our view. The U of H team named the asteroid <em>'Oumuamua</em>, (pronounced “oh MOO-uh MOO-uh”) which roughly, and hauntingly means, "a messenger that reaches out from the distant past."</p> <p></p><p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MTI4NC9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTkwNTQxOX0.r4_dcDnJlmbj1ZCcnqwGHKV9Jp7rco_n_K1bitWKUCo/img.gif?width=980" id="49715" width="1599" height="877" data-rm-shortcode-id="09ab1916f90e1182de6385983a643b36" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p></p><p><span style="color: #737d83; font-size: 13px;">(NASA/JPL-CALTECH)</span></p> <p></p><p>Coming from somewhere in the vicinity of the star Vega — though it was there before Vega was — Oumuamua continues its lonely journey unattached to any system. NASA estimates that as of November 20 it’s moving about 85,700 miles per hour or 38.3 kilometers per second. By mid-December 2017 it will pass from our view on its way out of our solar system, in the direction of the constellation Pegasus.</p>
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Why Philosophy Is so Important in Science Education
Why do scientists look down on philosophers? And are they right to do so?
21 November, 2017
Both Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson are known to have dismissed philosophy as rather useless. Here, they're shown attending the premiere of 'Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey' in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
Each semester, I teach courses on the philosophy of science to undergraduates at the University of New Hampshire. Most of the students take my courses to satisfy general education requirements, and most of them have never taken a philosophy class before.
<p>On the first day of the semester, I try to give them an impression of what the philosophy of science is about. I begin by explaining to them that philosophy addresses issues that can’t be settled by facts alone, and that the philosophy of <em>science</em> is the application of this approach to the domain of science. After this, I explain some concepts that will be central to the course: induction, evidence, and method in scientific enquiry. I tell them that science proceeds by induction, the practices of drawing on past observations to make general claims about what has not yet been observed, but that philosophers see induction as inadequately justified, and therefore <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/it-s-time-for-science-to-abandon-the-term-statistically-significant" target="_blank">problematic</a> for science. I then touch on the difficulty of deciding which evidence fits which hypothesis uniquely, and why getting this right is vital for any scientific research. I let them know that ‘the scientific method’ is <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-scientific-method-came-from-watching-children-play" target="_blank">not</a> singular and straightforward, and that there are basic <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/why-should-science-have-the-last-word-on-culture" target="_blank">disputes</a> about what scientific methodology should look like. Lastly, I stress that although these issues are ‘philosophical’, they nevertheless have real <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/when-does-science-finally-take-no-for-an-answer" target="_blank">consequences</a> for how science is done.</p> <p>At this point, I’m often asked questions such as: ‘What are your qualifications?’ ‘Which school did you attend?’ and ‘Are you a scientist?’</p> <p>Perhaps they ask these questions because, as a female philosopher of Jamaican extraction, I embody an unfamiliar cluster of identities, and they are curious about me. I’m sure that’s partly right, but I think that there’s more to it, because I’ve observed a similar pattern in a philosophy of science course taught by a more stereotypical professor. As a graduate student at Cornell University in New York, I served as a teaching assistant for a course on human nature and evolution. The professor who taught it made a very different physical impression than I do. He was white, male, bearded and in his 60s – the very image of academic authority. But students were skeptical of his views about science, because, as some said, disapprovingly: ‘He isn’t a scientist.’</p> <p>I think that these responses have to do with concerns about the value of philosophy compared with that of science. It is no wonder that some of my students are doubtful that philosophers have anything useful to say about science. They are aware that prominent scientists have stated publicly that philosophy is irrelevant to science, if not utterly worthless and anachronistic. They know that STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education is accorded vastly greater importance than anything that the humanities have to offer.</p> <div class="video-callout-placeholder" data-slug="bill-nye-on-philosophy" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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</div> <p>Many of the young people who attend my classes think that philosophy is a fuzzy discipline that’s concerned only with matters of opinion, whereas science is in the business of discovering facts, delivering proofs, and disseminating objective truths. Furthermore, many of them believe that scientists can answer philosophical questions, but philosophers have no business weighing in on scientific ones.</p> <p><span class="ld-dropcap">W</span>hy do college students so often treat philosophy as wholly distinct from and subordinate to science? In my experience, four reasons stand out.</p> <p>One has to do with a lack of historical awareness. College students tend to think that departmental divisions mirror sharp divisions in the world, and so they cannot appreciate that philosophy and science, as well as the purported divide between them, are dynamic human creations. Some of the subjects that are now labelled ‘science’ once fell under different headings. Physics, the most secure of the sciences, was once the purview of ‘natural philosophy’. And music was once at home in the faculty of mathematics. The scope of science has both narrowed and broadened, depending on the time and place and cultural contexts where it was practised.</p> <p>Another reason has to do with concrete results. Science solves real-world problems. It gives us technology: things that we can touch, see and use. It gives us vaccines, GMO crops, and painkillers. Philosophy doesn’t seem, to the students, to have any tangibles to show. But, to the contrary, philosophical tangibles are many: Albert Einstein’s philosophical thought experiments made Cassini possible. Aristotle’s logic is the basis for computer science, which gave us laptops and smartphones. And philosophers’ work on the mind-body problem set the stage for the emergence of neuropsychology and therefore brain-imagining technology. Philosophy has always been quietly at work in the background of science.</p> <p>A third reason has to do with concerns about truth, objectivity and bias. Science, students insist, is purely objective, and anyone who challenges that view must be misguided. A person is not deemed to be objective if she approaches her research with a set of background assumptions. Instead, she’s ‘ideological’. But <em>all</em> of us are ‘biased’ and our biases fuel the creative work of science. This issue can be difficult to address, because a naive conception of objectivity is so ingrained in the popular image of what science is. To approach it, I invite students to look at something nearby <em>without any presuppositions</em>. I then ask them to tell me what they see. They pause… and then recognise that they can’t interpret their experiences without drawing on prior ideas. Once they notice this, the <a href="https://aeon.co/videos/models-are-always-imperfect-and-the-ones-we-choose-greatly-shape-our-experience" target="_blank">idea</a> that it can be appropriate to ask questions about objectivity in science ceases to be so strange.</p> <p>The fourth source of students’ discomfort comes from what they take science education to be. One gets the impression that they think of science as mainly itemising the things that exist – ‘the facts’ – and of science education as teaching them what these facts are. I don’t conform to these expectations. But as a philosopher, I am mainly concerned with how these facts get selected and interpreted, why some are regarded as more significant than others, the ways in which facts are infused with presuppositions, and so on.</p> <p><span class="ld-dropcap">S</span>tudents often respond to these concerns by stating impatiently that <em>facts are facts</em>. But to say that a thing is identical to itself is not to say anything interesting about it. What students mean to say by ‘facts are facts’ is that once we have ‘the facts’ there is no room for interpretation or disagreement. </p> <p>Why do they think this way? It’s not because this is the way that science is practised but rather, because this is how science is normally taught. There are a daunting number of facts and procedures that students must master if they are to become scientifically literate, and they have only a limited amount of time in which to learn them. Scientists must design their courses to keep up with rapidly expanding empirical knowledge, and they do not have the leisure of devoting hours of class-time to questions that they probably are not trained to address. The unintended consequence is that students often come away from their classes without being aware that philosophical questions are relevant to scientific theory and practice.</p> <div class="video-callout-placeholder" data-slug="neil-degrasse-tyson-the-best-tactic-for-science-education-leverage-the-power-of-pop-culture" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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</div> <p>But things don’t have to be this way. If the right educational platform is laid, philosophers like me will not have to work against the wind to convince our students that we have something important to say about science. For this we need assistance from our scientist colleagues, whom students see as the only legitimate purveyors of scientific knowledge. I propose an explicit division of labour. Our scientist colleagues should continue to teach the fundamentals of science, but they can help by making clear to their students that science brims with important conceptual, interpretative, methodological and ethical issues that philosophers are uniquely situated to address, and that far from being irrelevant to science, philosophical matters lie at its heart.<img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQxMDczMi9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MzE5ODIyNH0.mtT5G8X5vuBb4YfLRGv9d7ZJN78feD891CmN_ITtX-Q/img.gif?width=980" id="99bf2" width="1" height="1" data-rm-shortcode-id="b29c6754277780431f17d19c25a45a8a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p>Subrena E Smith</p> <p>--</p> <p>This article was originally published at <a href="https://aeon.co" target="_blank">Aeon</a> and has been republished under Creative Commons.</p>
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NASA Scientists Discover “Kittens” Within Saturn’s F Ring
NASA scientists are sifting through some of the last transmissions from Cassini. And what they’re finding are kittens. You read that right.
27 September, 2017
Saturn’s rings are iconic. But it’s far from the only planet to have them. Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune all have rings. Theirs however aren’t as prominent, and thus they’re harder to see.
<p>The 6<sup>th</sup> planet’s famous formations go from A to G. The rings aren’t in alphabetical order but were named <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6681" target="_blank" title="NASA">in the order in which they were discovered</a>. From a distance they look so smooth you could skate on them. In actuality, they’re made up of a multitude of ice particles and ice-covered rocks ranging from an inch or so long to about the size of a mid-size sedan.</p> <p>These rings were formed when comets, asteroids, <a href="http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/ask/107-How-did-Saturn-get-its-rings-" target="_blank" title="CalTech ">perhaps even a whole moon</a> was pulled into this gas giant’s herculean grip. Whatever bodies they were soon crumbed apart, due to the oppressive gravity. The detritus began orbiting the planet, encircling it and over time formed the ring-like pattern we recognize today. The rings are thought to be <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-41091333" target="_blank">relatively young</a>, compared to the age of the universe. So if we lived eons ago, Saturn might not have had them.</p> <p>The Hubble telescope gave us our first up-close views of Saturn’s rings and allowed us to understand their composition. Recently the Cassini spacecraft ended its 20 year mission in a wholly dramatic fashion. It burned up in a fiery free-fall through the planet’s gaseous atmosphere. First launched in 1997, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/09/15/the-cassini-spacecraft-just-crashed-into-saturn/?utm_term=.6111983dba6c" target="_blank" title="The Washington Post ">Cassini entered Saturn’s orbit in 2004 and there it remained until September 15, when it took its nosedive.</a> In all that time, the spacecraft transmitted home oodles of information about Saturn and its rings.</p> <p>Particularly, Cassini allowed us to better understand the material that makes up the rings and <a href="https://www.space.com/38167-cassini-spacecraft-plunges-into-saturn.html" target="_blank" title="Space.com">how the pieces interact with one another.</a> Cassini also gave us a good look at Titan and Enceladus, two of Saturn’s moons which could possibly harbor life, though perhaps the unicellular kind, huddling around volcanic vents, deep beneath the liquid seas of each. The Cassini spacecraft even launched the Huygens probe which visited Titan.</p> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDYwMi9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1Njc4NDM3M30.ygoMtnY-Zk3i1M_yENDxuevJoZ7gokcqsKWkJ6_8Ra8/img.gif?width=980" id="3b108" width="1800" height="1012" data-rm-shortcode-id="1baa90802bd8423b26ffcd26f0066185" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><em>Saturn’s rings. The F ring marks the outer boundary of the main system. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute</em></p> <p>Now, NASA scientists are sifting through some of the last transmissions from Cassini. And what they’re finding are kittens. You read that right. Saturn’s F ring has 60 identified “kittens,” thus far. These are moonlets or baby moons and other clumps of detritus that get mashed together within the ring when they collide. Each kitten is considered to be about 72 ft. to 2.3 miles (22m to 3.7km) across. When enough of these clumps have come together and the body is a sufficient size, it becomes a moonlet.</p> <p>Saturn’s F ring is estimated to contain approx. 15,000 mid-size kittens. NASA scientists, being the hoot they are, decided to unofficially name these bodies things like Garfield, <span>Sylvester, </span>Socks, Fluffy, and Whiskers. Each has an official title as well. For instance, there's Alpha Leonis Rev 9 which has been nicknamed Mittens.</p> <p>Cassini took photos of the kittens. NASA scientists are now evaluating them through a process known as stellar occultations. This is when a star passes behind Saturn’s rings. From Cassini’s point of view, such an event illuminated the particles and rocks that make up the rings.</p> <p>Kittens are hard to make out. "The cameras aren't good enough to see the features we're finding, except maybe the very largest ones," Larry Esposito told <em>Space.com</em>. He’s the Cassini scientist in charge of finding and naming them. During its 13 years in orbit, Cassini witnessed 150 such occultations.</p> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDYwMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3NDYxODE4M30.oPZxiazkqm_DVDB0gqatdZu6vEjt_pf1n59cCasUOO0/img.jpg?width=980" id="6ff0e" width="800" height="533" data-rm-shortcode-id="1fe8102b26c0270ccf7a2b468e2312bb" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><br><em>A Titan-sized moon may have broke up in Saturn’s orbit, forming the rings. Steven Hobbs © 2010. CICLOPS. Cassini Imaging. NASA.</em></p> <p>Esposito explained how they assess such moonlets: "We use the flickering of light to measure the structure in the rings just as if you were on your porch watching a car drive by at night where the headlights go past the picket fence. The headlights would blink on and off, and then you could tell how many pickets there were and how wide they were."</p> <p>Although the rings aren’t exactly uniform like fence posts. Albeit an imperfect system, “You could tell how much light went through at every moment and use that to determine the amount of material at that position in Saturn's rings," he says.</p> <p>Unfortunately, the kittens aren’t permanent fixtures. The environment in the F ring is such that fragments are bouncing off one another all the time, forming clumps and then getting smashed apart again. Keeping track of particular kittens may prove impossible.</p> <p>Despite uncovering the mysteries surrounding its rings, there are still plenty of things we don’t know about Saturn. The exact length of one of Saturn's days <a href="https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/07/why-we-still-dont-know-how-long-a-day-is-on-saturn/" target="_blank">isn’t currently known</a>, for example. There are also weird goings on in its magnetic field that astronomers don’t quite get, yet. Future missions will likely expand our understanding.</p> <p>To see some of the best new photos Cassini took on its swan dive into oblivion, click here: </p> <p class="flex-video"><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a26607968e10c3841633bd077da5fce9"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qKyZrDsLEXE?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span></p>
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9 inventors who were killed by their inventions
Science gone horribly wrong. This infographic presents inventors where wiped out by their own creations.
29 August, 2017
The deadly Hunley submarine (NAVSOURCE.ORG)
Yes, we know, “no pain, no gain,” but too much of a good thing…
<p><a href="https://www.accidentclaimsadvice.org.uk" target="_blank">Accident Claims Advice</a> has <a href="https://www.accidentclaimsadvice.org.uk/inventors-killed-by-their-own-inventions/">put together</a> an infographic of inventors who wound up being killed by their inventions, or as the infographic puts it, “Inventing your own demise.” No doubt not what these folks intended, but, hey.</p> <p>For every <a href="https://www.biography.com/people/marie-curie-9263538" target="_blank">Marie Curie</a>, discoverer of radioactivity who died of exposure to the materials with which she bravely worked, there’s a <a href="http://www.duhaime.org/LawFun/LawArticle-1409/Horace-Lawson-Hunley-1823-1863-Submarine-Innovator.aspx" target="_blank">Horace Lawson Hunley</a>, the inventor of a hand-powered submarine who decided to take command during a test run and promptly drowned everyone on board, including himself.</p> <p>The full <a href="https://www.accidentclaimsadvice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/inventors-killed-by-their-invention.jpg" target="_blank">infographic is here</a>. All the excerpts below were researched and created by Accident Claims Advice.</p> <h2><a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=thomas+midgely&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8" target="_blank">Thomas Midgely, Jr.</a> (1889-1944)</h2> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDMzMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTU0NTQ0NH0.-rz9tp43nnxTPYq65bM2NWCVCzI-Ruys5ACPRhgOdjg/img.jpg?width=980" id="9ce66" width="1080" height="888" data-rm-shortcode-id="478cfc97da104b804e47c68f9dde0371" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDMzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3Nzc4MjYzNX0.Te_RRXnHUOfGXfPZpluOkclp1pInoc1gAnzobn6FKm8/img.jpg?width=980" id="215df" width="550" height="600" data-rm-shortcode-id="4127ecd1ffbf504065be4a1327511f55" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><span style="color: #737d83; font-size: 13px;">Midgely, prior to hospitalization and being hoisted by his own petard.</span></p> <p><strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Reichelt" style="font-size: 1.5em;">Franz Reichelt</a><span style="font-size: 1.5em;"> (1879-1912)</span></strong></p> <p><span style="font-size: 1.5em;"><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDMzNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNzg3NTQ2MH0.08RYeSKNd90iSJrZOxnWGKCOzgryadJaR_0wZi3e3DI/img.jpg?width=980" id="185dd" width="1080" height="997" data-rm-shortcode-id="ab5381119b62844266395cb419b3d26e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><br></span></p> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDMzNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzM1MTI4NH0.6TQp_RspEPc2O8uLBv4DmlWOGlenmo_aa33gWQkDP7E/img.jpg?width=980" id="16b0f" width="587" height="600" data-rm-shortcode-id="83607098a7b3a74272cc06118a673133" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><span style="color: #737d83; font-size: 13px;">It probably seemed like a good idea for a little while, anyway.</span></p> <p><strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bullock_(inventor)" style="font-size: 1.5em;">William Bullock</a><span style="font-size: 1.5em;"> (1813–1867)</span></strong></p> <p><span style="font-size: 1.5em;"><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDMzNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MjI2ODk1NX0.g5smpuVIGDfFXyhgXA74DJAhsjtGy6TMZPy8le_t4ec/img.jpg?width=980" id="d1523" width="1080" height="952" data-rm-shortcode-id="96f1f0e55b8ff76e3162774cbbc8fa09" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><br></span></p> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDMzOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyODA4ODU1NH0.Yx9r_pj3veuytu3z7osCWXNnD6XgZr7_bcwY04wJos8/img.jpg?width=980" id="e9b37" width="492" height="600" data-rm-shortcode-id="1a745ced4b5377734e3116d3637ee9e3" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><span style="color: #737d83; font-size: 13px;">Tripped up.</span></p> <p><strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerian_Abakovsky" style="font-size: 1.5em;">Valerian Abakovsky</a><span style="font-size: 1.5em;"> (1895-1921)</span></strong></p> <p><span style="font-size: 1.5em;"><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDM0MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MzEwOTgzNn0.LAA-WIVHFPFe1bELiW15e_RswJWGX1JPwEhqsozYvSw/img.jpg?width=980" id="9b438" width="1080" height="952" data-rm-shortcode-id="29f68f7da235616be2d2c631367d09af" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><br></span></p> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDM0MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1Mjc2MDYxMX0.ETVKtosmmrqMwUzqqlumJAMUE2SZztZEQyoXpza_Oi4/img.jpg?width=980" id="6aed9" width="524" height="600" data-rm-shortcode-id="a4586d9263c7566ce641319baecf889a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><span style="color: #737d83; font-size: 13px;">The problem was when his Aerowagon went aeroborne.</span></p> <p><strong><a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/31341/flying-pinto-killed-its-inventor" style="font-size: 1.5em;">Henry Smolinkski</a><span style="font-size: 1.5em;"> (1933-1973)</span></strong></p> <p><span style="font-size: 1.5em;"><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDM0Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMTkxNzUyM30.y4xkXl4RhRr7J-zUrBFKNqx5spxaYnY6YBSGfHLSOm8/img.jpg?width=980" id="439bf" width="1080" height="996" data-rm-shortcode-id="4b01bf9630f3bdbd29962e07ae72fa99" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><br></span></p> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDM0My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3Njc0NDg5Mn0.PuA7xm8BAF6TVEchNHnNjuPl4C0vAjrsMw7C7clrUV4/img.jpg?width=980" id="98011" width="900" height="600" data-rm-shortcode-id="3af14b78f70464f950fc38eb2ddba323" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><br><span style="color: #737d83; font-size: 13px;">The AVE Mizar.</span></p> <p><strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Valier" style="font-size: 1.5em;" target="_blank">Max Valier </a><span style="font-size: 1.5em;">(1895-1930)</span></strong></p> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDM0NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNjE5MjA1MX0.3x07pQTn7qF950wYQLLQmzZgP4HnucQdc3FI3GZdqEE/img.jpg?width=980" id="db036" width="1080" height="941" data-rm-shortcode-id="1a5d678ff6bace906f523975c10e9805" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDM0NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2OTkxNzUzMn0.0_PNcfZ9hA9-SvfRwn45EwVn7D6fgRfsfEbV4u9gSYQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="b87f0" width="839" height="600" data-rm-shortcode-id="f42f7417c5e3ce8fd219575f9ec91887" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><span style="color: #737d83; font-size: 13px;">Valier in one of his rocket-powered cars.</span></p> <h2><a href="http://www.duhaime.org/LawFun/LawArticle-1409/Horace-Lawson-Hunley-1823-1863-Submarine-Innovator.aspx" target="_blank">Horace Lawson Hunley</a> (1823-1863)</h2> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDM0Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3NzgxMjY1Mn0.X2_kURW6zS8XjgbRSM_4Yv579KpRwrWSu0RSUFd5f-I/img.jpg?width=980" id="b4b85" width="1080" height="964" data-rm-shortcode-id="aacde6988425f3c674161fa26cd60707" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDM0Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMDU3ODg4M30.uPtlghVjwDvs_aIbA6tjvgW3Zapd13LD4f3Yx6FkLEM/img.jpg?width=980" id="3f0f4" width="508" height="600" data-rm-shortcode-id="55877d3cb00f19649bb669e6895a5ed6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><span style="color: #737d83; font-size: 13px;">Might've let someone else drive.</span></p> <h2><strong><a href="https://www.biography.com/people/marie-curie-9263538" target="_blank">Marie Curie</a> (1867–1934)</strong></h2> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDM0OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMzgyNTA3NH0.k7-OQXjifqYcg9ywcmuDrITmswS03tZ7o9ZHq6jutSE/img.jpg?width=980" id="c9ee8" width="1080" height="968" data-rm-shortcode-id="ebaf23399e7cd6d7f703b135113d806f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDM0OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyODA3MTkwMX0.zC_8fVmkzSmkx78YFSXGFmcLo4SljPO3ioCwBl0cJhg/img.jpg?width=980" id="635f9" width="453" height="600" data-rm-shortcode-id="0c9bfba105d3a446f110e77e7de1332f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><br><span style="color: #737d83; font-size: 13px;">The legendary scientist.</span></p> <h2><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazen_bull" target="_blank">Perillos of Athens</a></h2> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDM1MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNzAzNzEyOX0.g2CvHSqB8PA4vD1f7dD_68A17qucEPWDwlvK8lvjluc/img.jpg?width=980" id="cd672" width="1080" height="921" data-rm-shortcode-id="0606c744a58d25b0be17525267ff292f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDM1MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTAyMTk5MH0.6reubtLVvditPztwUrHnzjtYnWvocHg7e5iFXekODoU/img.jpg?width=980" id="f1658" width="409" height="600" data-rm-shortcode-id="9776b8fff056b208150f43fe3bac04dd" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><br><span style="color: #737d83; font-size: 13px;">Kind of looks like he's saying, "Oh, whatever."</span></p> <div class="image-caption"></div> <p>History is full of intrepid individuals who gave their lives in pursuit of their science, some more amusingly so than others. What they share, though, is a belief in their own creativity and a certainty that moving humankind forward requires personal courage and sometimes, sacrifice.</p> <div class="video-full-card-placeholder" data-slug="the-future-of-innovation-is-you" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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