Professor Walter's History Lessons

An aspirin by any other name...

In 1897 Chemist, Felix Hoffmann at Bayer in Germany, synthesized a stable chemical that relieved his father's rheumatism.  That chemical would become the active ingredient in aspirin named - "a" from acetyl, "spir" from the spirea plant (which yields salicin) and "in," a common suffix for medications.  In it's original powder form Aspirin would quickly become the best selling drug in the world, and a boom for Bayer.  In 1915 Aspirin was available in tablet form without a prescription from Bayer.  However the success of Bayer Aspirin would not be seen until after WWI saw its use for the Spanish Flu, and the end of its trademark in the United States.

The trademark for Aspirin was lost in the Treaty of Versailles, after Germany's surrender.  As part of the war reparations specified, Aspirin along with Heroin lost all status as registered trademarks in France, Russia, the UK, and the United States.  From that moment on the drug could be sold as aspirin.  Today the trademark for Aspirin is still honored on over 80 countries across the globe, but aspirin is generally the generic name used, even in those countries.  No word on Bayer's ownership of the trademark on Heroin.

-Professor Walter

Nikola Tesla, the enabler of the couch potato

According to Wikipedia

"A couch potato is a person who spends most of his or her free time sitting or lying on a couch. This stereotype often refers to a lazy and overweight person who watches a lot of television. Generally speaking, the term refers to a lifestyle in which children or adults don't get enough physical activity."

The tool of the couch potato is the remote control.  With this item a person may change channels without leaving their seat.  Millions of people use remote controls, yet few are aware that they are over 100 years old.

On July 1st 1898, Nikola Tesla applied for a patent for the first remote control.  The US Patent office issued him U.S. Patent 613,809 in November of that year for his invention.  That year he demonstrated it at Madison Square Garden by controlling a small boat he had dubbed a "teleautomaton".  Tesla's invention was enhanced and used to pilot planes in the years that followed and in 1939 the Philco Mystery Control was released as the first powered remote control for a consumer product.  In 1950 the Zenith "Lazy Bones" was the first television remote control, although it was wired.  In 1956 the Zenith Space Command became the first wireless remote control.

Today the remote control is a core component of every home entertainment system opening up a world of programming without ever needing to leave your seat.

-Professor Walter

The unexpected risk of high efficiency traffic lights

There is a large effort across the United States to replace traditional light bulbs with LED lights.  LED lights last longer, use less power, and are more efficient.  Some of the areas where they have become prevalent include flashlights, vehicle lights, and traffic lights.  Unfortunately, while these new innovations do perform as expected, there are benefits to the traditional lights that are often overlooked.

In 2009 Wisconsin had deployed some of these newer traffic lights.  In December, as the winter came on full, the value of inefficiency became apparent.  Traditional lights draw more power than they release in light.  The remaining power is released as heat.  With the new efficient lights, there is no heat release.  As such, the ice and snow that falls during a storm builds up on the lights obscuring the glow.  Without the heat to melt it the traffic lights vanish in the storm.  City workers have had to resort to climbing up and scraping the ice during the storms to keep the roads safe. 

While the new lights have saved thousands in electricity bills, thee benefit of the inefficiency of the older bulbs was never considered and the lack of heat created it's own problems.  A final solution is still pending.

-Professor Walter

How can you tell what your purchasing power is over the globe?

One of the greatest challenges for anyone traveling abroad is determining what their purchasing power really is.  A drink in one place my cost twice as much in another.  Economists wrestle with this issue every day, luckily for the rest of us there is McDonald's and The Economist. 

In 1986 The Economist's columnist Pam Woodall created a semi-humorous illustration displaying the Big Mac Index.  In this illustration was the value of a Big Mac anywhere in the world.  The success of the initial publication has caused The Economist to continue publishing the Big Mac Index every year.  With that knowledge any person may travel to virtually any place and know how much a Big Mac costs.  The index allows anyone to quickly determine the purchasing power parity between two currencies and exchange rate.  An exampled of of the index can be used is:

• the price of a Big Mac was $3.57 in the United States
• the price of a Big Mac was £2.29 in the United Kingdom (Britain) (Varies by region)
• the implied purchasing power parity was $1.56 to £1, that is $3.57/£2.29 = 1.56
• this compares with an actual exchange rate of $2.00 to £1 at the time

• [(1.56-2.00)/2.00]*100= -22%

• the pound was thus overvalued against the dollar by 22%

-Professor Walter