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Pakistan is a relatively new nation with just a 67
year old history. Once the center of development and scientific
discovery, our true identity has been muddied! But work goes on behind
the scenes, work that does not get any attention, work that is lost to
your eyes and mine. It’s time to take a look at some of the greatest
Pakistani inventions. These inventions are the REAL reason, we have an
identity. Time to be proud!
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Brain – Chip Connection
We have all seen the movies and heard the concept – mind integration
with computers. Our very own Dr. Naweed Syed, a biomedical engineer and
faculty of the University of Calgary, was the first scientist to connect
the human brain with a silicon chip! This groundbreaking step has paved
the way for major scientific breakthroughs like giving people control
over their artificial limbs, reversing memory loss, curing blindness
etc. |
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Community Sanitation
Professor Sohail Khan had a dream. The dream was to provide
community-led total sanitation so that third world countries which are
plagued with disease due to lack of modern sewage system, could improve.
So he led a team from Loughborough University and designed a lavatory
that turned human waste into charcoal and minerals. The minerals can be
used to enrich the soil while the process also produces clean water. Now
THAT is what you call an invention. |
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Sagar Veena
Raza Aslam started working on this variation of the Veena, called the
Sagar Veena, in 1970. His daughter who helped him test it, is currently
the only person who has complete mastery over it. So what is Sagar Veena
(Ocean Chordophone)? It’s not any Veena, it is a unique design with an
unmatched range of timbres and pitch registers. The sound has an
extremely high resonating quality and the instrument provides artists an
extensive palette of sounds to evoke human emotion. There is nothing
like classical music accompanied by the music from the Sagar Veena! |
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The Human Development Index
Anyone in touch with Economics knows about the Human Development Index.
Well, it was developed by a Pakistani, Mahbub-ul-Haq in 1990. When it
was developed, it revolutionized how economists and policymakers viewed
the World. Focus shifted from just income (a hugely misleading quotient)
to human centered indices. HDI takes into account factors like health,
education and living standards to measure the development. |
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Cheap Electricity
A young boy from Quetta, Shahzaib, was just in Grade 11 when he made
this breakthrough. He created a non-metal device that can use normal
electricity and make more from it. Exhibit A – He lit 44 LED lights that
normally require 3 watts, using just 1.5 watts that were passed through
his invention. The invention is still in the prototype stage and work is
in progress to make it into something huge. Watch this space…
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Ommaya Reservoir
The Ommaya Reservoir is named after… a Pakistani neurosurgeon by the
name of Ayub K. Ommaya. The Ommaya Reservoir is a system through which
chemicals can be injected into the brain of a patient suffering from
brain tumor. Before the Ommaya Reservoir, the treatment for brain tumors
was nowhere. Kudos to Mr. Ommaya.
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Water Generator
Rehan Aziz Farooqi, an Engineer from Swat has invented a unique power
generator that runs solely on water. But that is not all, the generator
allows for any engine (whether it runs on diesel, petrol or gas) to run
on water as well. The generator does this by separating the hydrogen and
oxygen in the water and converting them into power. The invention is
real, but due to the presence of the highly explosive hydrogen in the
process, Rehan Aziz wants to make sure it is perfectly safe before
making the generator available in the market.
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SMB Probe
Anything to do with Nuclear Power is dangerous. Some of the biggest
disasters in history have been due to accidents at nuclear facilities,
toxic waste from these facilities and insufficient precautions at these
facilities. Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood invented the SMB Probe which cuts
down the chances of these disasters by a significant percentage. What it
does is, it keeps the power plant operations in check by ensuring that
there are no heavy water leakages and thus reducing the chances of
accidents. |
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(c) Brain
Farooq Alvi Brothers from Lahore were the creators of one of the first
and most powerful boot sector viruses ever. The virus was called (c)
Brain and it is widely used still. You must be wondering, what can a
virus be useful for. The (c) Brain is one of the most powerful programs
to deter piracy and prevent hacking.
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