mesa232323
Enlightened
The Chevrolet Corvair
What is the single most greatest machine mankind has ever built?
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StarHalo
Flashaholic
You didn't even specify the turbocharged Monza Spyder convertible edition.. (The bad news: this highest-performing model is slower than a Toyota Prius)
mesa232323
Enlightened
The Prius is actually quicker than people think. Haha
JCD
Enlightened
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Wow! I never thought I would ever hear anyone try to argue that simple machines aren't really machines. :shakehead
idleprocess
Flashaholic
The definition of "fast" or "quick" car is a moving target.
+
That was aimed directly at me, ok then
Once forces are included into the equation to complete a task, then you have a machine.
Those forces can be from just about anything.
A stick just laying on the ground is just a stick,,
once you pick up that stick and put it to work, that's different.
I have to be honest . . . When I think of a "machine," I think of something that has moving parts inside. Either moving on their own or when properly manipulated by someone.
I'd have to put the mechanical watch as a very close 2nd to my original answer.
I'd have to put the mechanical watch as a very close 2nd to my original answer.
JCD
Enlightened
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By that logic, a car sitting in a driveway is not a machine, and a clothes washer is not a machine if it isn't running.
JCD
Enlightened
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Cars, bicycles, clothes washers, wedges, and screws are all machines, even when not in use.
gadget_lover
Flashaholic
But... You didn't even specify the ORIGINAL Toyota Prius! While it's not the greatest machine made, it did show that you can build a usable, reliable and affordable car that used electricity as well as gas. My belief is that it's success has helped the public accept other innovations such as the Tesla.
Just as a side note, the humble ORIGINAL Prius has a faster 0-60 time than the Ford F150 pickup and the base model of the Ford Mustang. Yeah... I was surprised by that too. It has so much torque that it will accelerate cleanly and quickly to max speed (105 MPH) on a 5% grade after having to slow down for a truck that pulled out to pass another at 25 MPH.
Daniel
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gadget_lover
Flashaholic
Might the DNA sequencer be the greatest machine? It will enable us to conquer many diseases that plague mankind and limit our lifespan.
Daniel
Daniel
idleprocess
Flashaholic
In that vein mitochondria may well be the greatest machines created given their key role as the cell's powerplant, generating the overwhelming majority of ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) - the "unit of currency" in cellular metabolism.
StarHalo
Flashaholic
True story: Heading back across town this afternoon after a visit to the grocery store, turning into the intersection and heading the other way was ...a red Chevrolet Corvair Spyder. What a coinkydink..
HighlanderNorth
Flashlight Enthusiast
It's hard to say whats the overall greatest invention, but I'd say the atlatl because it was the worlds first force multiplier and the first true weapon "system", that allowed hunting large game at greater distance. Unlike many early invention which are only found in one or two regions, and not across oceans or completely separate regions, the atlatl has been found on every continent, used by almost every civilization through history, even though many of those civilizations had no way to communicate with each other. Atlatls were supposedly used as far back as 40,000 years ago, and maybe earlier. From that time forward they were used as recently as a few hundred years ago by Latin American civilizations, who never developed the bow and arrow to replace the atlatl as most other civilizations began to do at least 15,000 years ago.
Although not a machine, I'd have to say that bread could be one of the most significant inventions, because it can be stored and eaten later without spoiling like most fruits, veggies and meat. But it baffles me how early humans actually figured out the idea of turning grains into bread to begin with. Think about it, it's easy to figure out the concept of killing and eating an animal, or picking and eating berries or whatever other plant based food conveniently growing nearby, but imagine coming across some overgrown grassy weed, which contains dry, fairly lousy tasting seeds which would seem useless to most people, but somehow somebody thought to grind up the seeds after drying them, adding water, kneading out some dough, then cooking it. All with a bunch of useless looking seeds that taste horrible and dry on their own! That's quite an impressive feat for very early humans IMO.....
Although not a machine, I'd have to say that bread could be one of the most significant inventions, because it can be stored and eaten later without spoiling like most fruits, veggies and meat. But it baffles me how early humans actually figured out the idea of turning grains into bread to begin with. Think about it, it's easy to figure out the concept of killing and eating an animal, or picking and eating berries or whatever other plant based food conveniently growing nearby, but imagine coming across some overgrown grassy weed, which contains dry, fairly lousy tasting seeds which would seem useless to most people, but somehow somebody thought to grind up the seeds after drying them, adding water, kneading out some dough, then cooking it. All with a bunch of useless looking seeds that taste horrible and dry on their own! That's quite an impressive feat for very early humans IMO.....
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PCC
Flashlight Enthusiast
Air conditioner and a related product, the refrigerator.
Hooked on Fenix
Flashlight Enthusiast
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I'm going to go with the satelite. It can see into the far reaches of space. It can warn us of an incoming CME so we know when our electronics are in danger. It can run a G.P.S. tracking system to keep you from getting lost, coordinate with our military's aircraft and ships, and guide nuclear and conventional missles accurately to their destination. It can help you receive a call in the farthest reaches of the planet. And most importantly, it can bounce a signal to and from earth and send a coded signal to your television which then decodes it and turns it into moving pictures on the screen giving you hundreds to thousands of channels to watch sent from space.
EZO
Flashlight Enthusiast
Sort of in line with Hooked on Fenix's post, but in a different vein I would nominate The Voyager spacecraft(s). They could well end up being the only machines that an extraterrestrial civilization ever sees from Earth.
