What do you think has been the most important invention...

Undoubtedly language. Undoubtedly.

But I've been pondering stairs for a while. Think about it....these tidy right angle slices cut into a slope. Very interesting. And the human body is built perfectly for descending or ascending them. Wonderful! I love stairs.

 

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Some critters walk, while others swim, fly, creep, or crawl to get around. Not the stomatopod, though. This tiny, shrimplike marine animal from the Pacific beaches of Panama rolls. And it's the only known species in the animal kingdom that does.

So says Robert Full, an associate professor of integrative biology at the University of California in Berkeley, who has videotaped the strange cartwheeling crustaceans which were discovered by a colleague who brought several back to the United States for laboratory study.

Full says the creatures, whose Latin name is Nannosquilla decemspinosa, normally live in underwater burrows so cramped that they may have gradually learned to roll because evolution taught them that was the only way to turn around. Periodically waves or tides wash them ashore, and it is there, when surprised, that they arc their bodies tail-over-head into a ring and roll back to the safety of the water at a glacial 3.5 centimeters per second.

While the stomatopod can handle grades of 10 percent, it is unable to maneuver around obstacles and can only move in a straight line. It's in a free roll less than half of the time, according to Full's observations. The rest of the crustacean's time is spent generating power by pushing off with its head and tail, the same way we use our legs.

"The results of 350 million years of evolution tell us that wheellike movement is a possible but improbable method of locomotion on land," says Full, noting that the curious rolling facility could have some practical applications in locomotion mechanics for tiny robots. "By studying the mechanisms of locomotion and learning how the muscles and skeleton work--looking at exceptions to rules like this--we could get some biological inspiration for robotics."

 

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it's a tie between the universe and cheese

 

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for the human species:

cooking

 

If important does not necessarilty mean "good" the I would have to go with either the computer or God.

Good observation, by the way, Dr Lou.
Quite insightful.

 

Hey yeah, good point

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I didn't think of that.

 

What about soap?

 

alcohol! and it is not debatable.

 

I see One Raven got in before me with God. I'll have to say roll-up papers then.

 

I just noticed your post about the rolling crustacean spooks. They made a mistake though with the "only roller" comment as there is also a desert(sp?) spider that rolls down sand dunes to avoid being attacked by paralysing wasps.
Its awesome to see.
But yeah, the point remains the same that there were "wheels" way before we made them. We probably got the idea off tumbleweeds or something.

 

What about rolly pollies, no idea what the real name is. There are also thouse plants something a like bush that roll in the wind of the desert thats sort of a wheel.

This is mine: math. I don't think any other animals do math. It also lets us design and creat just about everything.

 

Wow, I havent seen rollie pollies since I was a kid (perhaps because I no longer look for them

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). That's a defense mechanism. They are unable to actually roll like that. They just kind of sit there.

As for the wheel, I'd say it was logs. You cut down a dozen trees, and place your heavy objects on them and you can roll your object. True, you eventually have to move the back log to the front, but it works! Then someone figures out, hey, maybe we don't need the rest of the long in between, maybe just the ends. He cuts them off and has a wheel. An axes is just a normal extension of the original idea of the rolling log. Now for the supercharged 800 HP engines...not sure what in nature we got that from

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-AntonK

 

I know chimps can at least count. Not sure if that counts as Math, but its the first step we took.

-AntonK

 

best invention - hmmmm

the best invention has to be that which has created the most language to describe its use... that which requires the most language to describe its use, has been the most thought provoking through adpated uses and thus should qualify as the best invention ever... any ideas

that is of course unless you define best as being most useful without requiring drastic upgrades and updates (that leaves the computer out of the mix) - my suggestion... the humble pen... what invention still survives today in almost its original format...

 

The Lie

Hey without it we really couldnt sit here debating this stuff... i know i couldnt since i lied just this morning to get me the chance to come on here

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God

The greatest invention of mankind was the (idea of) god.

 

Nobody's mentioned electricity yet! Well, controlled electricity, not lightnin' or whatever. It has allowed me to hide out in this dingy basement of mine.
*I shout "Hurray" with wavering enthusiasm*

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Gurglo

 

I think fire was the greatist invention. Without it there would be no cicivilization.

 

soap/antiseptics =P duh

 

deoderant/perfume. god knows where we would be without them.