Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Top 10 Most Amazing Inventions by Leonardo da Vinci!







Transcript Provided by YouTube:

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From machine guns and helicopters, to 15th century tanks, Leonardo da Vinci
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created and designed of a lot of things in his life but you might be surprised
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with how just ahead of time this Italian native really was. Stay tuned to number
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one to see which of his 15th century inventions you use every day!
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Number 10: The First Machine Gun.
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In school, most of us learned that da Vinci
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was a painter, a composer, and a man of the arts. We’re here to tell you today
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that good old Leonardo might actually have been a good deal more hardcore than
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you might think! While he’s still the same man who painted classics such as
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Mona Lisa and the most famous depiction of the Last Supper, da Vinci also
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invented what some considered being the first machine gun. To make this feat even
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more impressive, he did this in a century where people were really unsure as to
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what gunpowder’s place might be in the future of warfare. The reason that
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gunpowder didn’t really take off until a few centuries later is simple no one had
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figured out how to make it safe and reliable for use in the 1400s. Cannons
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were big and heavy things that took ages to reload,
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they just weren’t all that practical. Da Vinci wasn’t having such arbitrary
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limitations in his own inventions, however. His triple barrel cannon was
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lightweight and mounted on a carriage for easy transport. The groundbreaking
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weapon could also be reloaded from the front rather easily. Did we mention it
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had three barrels? Well, yep, it did! Making da Vinci the inventor the closest
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thing to the world’s first machine gun. You know that you’re doing something
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right when it takes the rest of the world around 500 years to catch up to
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you!
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Number 9: A Portable Bridge.
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Back in da Vinci’s day, warfare included a lot of
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walking. Soldiers didn’t have the luxury of being transported by train, or car, or
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plane. No, they had to rely on their own two feet and animals that they could
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train. Having to get everywhere on the “heel/toe express” really made the issue
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of rivers and waterways a problem for ancient armies. No company of soldiers
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likes being wet, after all. In Leo’s time, typical warfare involved a lot of city
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and castle sieging, and what do castles have? Moats! Which are a big enough problem all
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on their own. We already told you that da Vinci was a military engineer, as well as
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an artist. Well when it came to his military designs…Leonardo was
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for valuing efficiency. It’s no surprise, then, that he would tackle the problem of
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soldiers having to walk through every bit of water that was stuck in their way.
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To solve for this the inventor did no less than create a wheeled, portable, and
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revolving bridge that armies could drag along behind them. In his personal notes,
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Leonardo described this invention of his bridge as “light, yet rugged.” We bet the
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soldiers that got to use the bridge loved him for this one, since it meant no
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more wet uniforms or rusty swords for them!
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Number 8: A Giant Horse.
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Among one of his many sculpting projects, da Vinci was hired by one of his patrons to
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create a 24 foot tall horse. The Duke of Milan funded this project, even despite
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it requiring an exorbitantly expensive amount of bronze. There was so much
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material that needed to be applied to the sculpture that Leonardo was forced to
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create a new casting technique to make sure that the horse’s bronze shell would
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be immune to cracks or faults. Unfortunately, the Duke of Milan was put
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in a tight spot when the King of France invaded Italy. The Duke ended up having
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to offer nearly 40 tons of bronze – meant for da Vinci’s sculpture – to the invading
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monarch as a bribe. Leonardo was somewhat upset about not being able to complete
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his final project and died never being able to complete it. Luckily, though, it
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does have a happy ending. Leonardo’s horse was later completed, and the man
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who had done so donated the sculpture to da Vinci’s birth country of Italy!
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Number 7: A Robot Knight.
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A good number of da Vinci’s designs included the use of
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ropes and pulleys, but none more so than the robotic Knight that he created for
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the pageant in Milan. The robot was designed without a single unneeded part
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and could sit down, stand up, and even raise its visor! Leonardo’s designs were
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so finely formulated that some of NASA’s robots are designed after his work on
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the robotic Knight. And we thought his invention of the machine gun was impressive!
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Number 6: The Parachute.
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Da Vinci isn’t actually credited with the invention of the parachute, but he was definitely one
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of the first men to ever think of it. For years, scientists doubted whether
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Leonardo’s design would actually work, though. This was because, based on the
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inventors notes, Leonardo’s parachute was to be
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constructed a good deal differently than how we create parachutes in the modern
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day. Some researchers are known to have stated that his design would just be too
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heavy, and his shape was too wrong for it to actually work. For the longest time
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there was no proof to argue against these naysayers,
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either. As like with many of his ideas, Leonardo never actually built or tested
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a parachute himself. Still, the great inventor would be proved right in the
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end. In the year 2000, the world was shocked when a daredevil named Adrian
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Nichols constructed and tested da Vinci’s design for the fun of it. And, to
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everyone’s surprise, Leonardo’s parachute actually worked!
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Nichols even said it felt smoother falling with the ancient design then
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compared to its modern-day counterparts. Now, coming from a man who was so tired
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of modern parachutes that he tested an ancient one just for the thrill…we’d say
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he’d probably know. Maybe parachute designers nowadays should take a closer
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look at what the world’s most well-known Renaissance man was doing back in the 1400s.
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Number 5: Ancient tank.
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This is one of the most famous of all da Vinci’s
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inventions, so we just had to put it in the top five of our list!
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Leonardo’s armored car was to be powered by eight men who were to be constantly
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turning cranks that rotated its many wheels. Even though it’s often referred to
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as an armored car or tank, this invention really looked more like a giant metal
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top than anything else. Da Vinci’s armored car was circular in
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design, with metal plates enclosing its wooden frame. These plates were affixed
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on a sloped surface so that they could better deflect arrows and other
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projectiles. If you’re wondering how this enclosed behemoth would actually fire,
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though, we will tell you! The ancient war machine was to have light cannons
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placed inside it at all angles. There was also a signing scope at the very
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top of the wooden and metal tank to allows operators to fire and aim in all
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directions. It’s no wonder da Vinci noted that this
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invention would be best used for crowd control and to scatter enemies. It
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would have been terrifying on ancient battlefield!
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Number 4: Scuba Gear
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DaVinci loved the world around him. He painted it, he investigated it, and he
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built things to better interact with and explore it. Leo is well known for his
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fascination with the air, but he also invented a great many things that
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revolved around water, as well. While living in Venice, the great inventor
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created an early diving apparatus that would allow man to stay underwater for a
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lot longer than he could hold his breath. Leonardo designed a leather suit that
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was attached to a hollow cane tube. The cane tubes were also connected to a cork
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diving bell that provided air from the surface to the diver. da Vinci didn’t
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just stop with allowing a man to stay under the water, however. He also affixed
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the suit with a balloon that allowed its wearer to control his descent and
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could also assist with bringing the diver back to the surface quickly, if
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needed. Smart thinking if you ask us!
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Number 3: The First Car.
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We’ve established the da Vinci was way ahead of his time. We’ve listed scuba gear,
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tanks, and more! But, he also invented something that the rest of us rely on
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every day the car da Vinci’s car really wasn’t for transport, though, it was a bit
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limited. It could be programmed to push itself either straight or at angles, but
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really couldn’t be steered. That said, Leonardo’s self propelled car did
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exactly what its inventor wanted it to. He actually designed it for theater and
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show, and not for transport. Even though da Vinci’s car wasn’t all that drivable,
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it was something that we’re sure gave the residents of Europe quite a thrill…
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just like Leonardo would have wanted it to!
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Number 2: A Helicopter.
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DaVinci not only wanted to conquer the
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water and ground, but also the sky! So it’s no shock to us, then, that he developed
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and designed a primitive helicopter, of sorts.
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The inventor described the machine as working by compressing air, and then
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using the force generated to spin his helicopter powerfully and rapidly into
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the sky. Just like with his parachute design, though, DaVinci never actually
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built or tested his plans for a flying machine. Also, because of what it would
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weigh, many researchers doubt its ability to ever even get off the ground. But hey…
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the experts were wrong about da Vinci’s parachute design, so maybe there’s hope.
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Who’s going first?
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Number 1: The Ball Bearing.
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Ball bearings are found in cars, laptops, and almost all modern inventions and
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appliances. They reduce friction and allow machines to spin without
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overheating or outright ripping themselves apart. Many of Leonardo’s
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inventions were controlled by pulleys and levers, but in the twilight of his
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life da Vinci bridged the gap between ancient and modern technology and
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rediscovered the ball bearing. Okay, the ball bearing was actually (as far as
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we can tell) first used in the Roman Empire, but it was subsequently lost
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along with Rome’s fall. It was da Vinci that rediscovered the ball bearing just
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a decade or two before his death. We remember Leonardo da Vinci as one of the
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greatest painters and inventors to ever have lived, but, thanks to his discovery
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of the ball bearing…in a way we all use one of his many inventions almost every day!
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Florence to open Michelangelo's Secret Room

https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/florence-to-open-michelangelos-secret-room.html?fbclid=IwAR2l9wYfQ6KYzvyFTumh1ENQF7wKoL-dfoDeSTbhuxXTNnZ8weEguXJme80


Florence to open Michelangelo's Secret Room


Michelangelo Buonarotti, the Italian High Renaissance master, gifted the world a stunning artistic legacy from the Sistine Chapel frescoes to magnificent sculptures such as the Pietà, David, Moses and Laocoön.
However not many people have heard of his so-called "Secret Room" in Florence, a tiny chamber with sketch-filled walls, which is reportedly set to open to the public in 2020.
During the summer of 1530 Michelangelo went "off-radar" for about three months, with no official trace of the artist's whereabouts on record.
Michelangelo was in fact holed up in a secret chamber, below the Medici Chapels in the Basilica of S. Lorenzo, in hiding from the Medici on their return from exile.

Man Quits His Aeronautical Job, Now Travels The World And Here’s What His Notebook Looks Like

Jose Naranja turns ordinary notebooks into highly detailed works of art. The artist uses watercolors, stamps, writing, elements of photography and drawings to turn each notebook into a one of a kind masterpiece.
Jose has worked as an aeronautic engineer for many years but eventually decided to quit and devote his life to art and travels. The artist developed his passion for notebook art in 2005 when he discovered Moleskine pocket journals. As hard as it may be to believe, Jose is a self-taught artist, but his skills are remarkable. So far the artist has filled in 12 notebooks and recently has begun binding his own, to make his art even more personal.
If you would like to flip through the pages of one of Jose’s unique notebooks, you can buy one in his shop. Check out the artist’s amazing notebook art in the gallery below!
More info: josenaranja h/t





Friday, January 31, 2020

Monday, April 15, 2019

Marking the passing of Tony Buzan

Tony Buzan - Mind Map Inventor, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee & Author of over 150 books on mind mapping, memory & creativity died of a heart attack on 13th April 2019. He was 76.



Monday, May 28, 2018

The Mojoptix Sundial

No batteries, no motor, no electronics...

The Mojoptix Sundial displays the time inside its shadow, with actual digits. The shape of the sundial has been mathematically designed to only let through the right sun rays at the right time and angle. This allows to display the actual time with sunlit digits inside the sundial's shadow.