The Mexican inventions Such as color television, chocolate or the contraceptive pill, demonstrate the talent and creativity of Mexicans, despite the economic and historical difficulties that the country has experienced.
Often when you have less you are more likely to invent something, as the ingenuity is sharpened to use the few resources that exist. In fact, it is a technique that have been used by great artists to perform their works.
Here is a list of the most outstanding inventions that Mexican people have made and that are used both in Mexico and internationally.
Color television
In 1940, at the age of 22, Guillermo González Camarena developed a system of transmission of color images for television: the STSC System.
He financed it with the royalties paid him for a song he had written:"Colorado River." In 1942, it obtained the patent, and four years later it made the first color diffusion, from some offices in the City of Mexico.
He also founded the Majestic brand of televisions. The legacy of Camarena is still alive in the initials of the station that he founded in 1952: XHGC, Channel 5.
Chocolate
As everyone knows, chocolate is a typically sweet preparation, usually brown that comes from the seeds of Theobroma cacao, roasted and ground.
It is made in the form of a liquid, paste, or in a block, or used as an ingredient that spices other foods.
What not many know is that cocoa has been cultivated by many cultures for at least three millennia in Mesoamerica.
Earlier evidence of usage dates back to the Mokaya (Mexico and Guatemala), with evidence of chocolate beverages dating back to 1900 BC. In fact, most people of Mesoamerica made chocolate drinks, including the Mayas and Aztecs, and turned them into a drink known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning"bitter water".
Tortilla Machines
At the beginning was a head with rolled rollers and a conveyor chain that worked to transfer the product to a comal iron.
Everardo Rodríguez Arce and Luis Romero created it in 1904 and produced 16,000 tortillas a day. In 1947, Fausto Celorio developed a model that carried out the entire process automatically, allowing the industrialization of production.
The"auto shutter Tico"
In 1790, José Antonio de Alzate invented the automatic shutter, which avoids overflowing in water tanks, cisterns and toilets. In 1790, José Antonio de Alzate, a philosopher, priest, theologian, cartographer, historian, naturalist, botanist, geographer and journalist.
A true character in his time, religion and scientific research were vital to Alzate.
Anticonceptive pill
In 1951, as a young chemist, Luis Ernesto Miramontes was invited to synthesize a progesterone that could replace injections for women who suffered miscarriages.
He achieved norethindrone, a substance extracted from the Mexican Dioscorea tuber, capable of stopping ovulation. It was the basis of the contraceptive pill.
Although he worked with George Rosenkran (director of the laboratory) and Carl Djerassi (research director), Miramontes was the one who synthesized the complex.
Tridylose
In 1962, left-wing engineer and left-wing politician Heberto Castillo created a three-dimensional steel and cement structure that can withstand extremely heavy roofs.
The low-cost construction system also works well as thermal and acoustic insulation. The Torre de Chapultepec and the WTC (previously Gran Hotel de México) were built with this system.
Anti-graffiti painting
Deletum 3000, a registered trademark of paint that causes spray paint to slip on any surface, has been manufactured industrially since 2002.
Developed by the Center for Advanced Technology and Physics of UNAM, at its campus in Juriquilla, Querétaro, the biodegradable product helps combat graffiti.
Indelible ink
This substance, which is absorbed by skin cells and lasts up to 24 hours, has helped prevent electoral fraud.
It is believed that its creator was Filiberto Vázquez Dávila, an engineer of the National School of Biological Sciences of the National Polytechnic Institute, that obtained diverse recognition by this development.
The indelible ink was first used in the 1994 elections, its success made this substance quickly acquired by other countries to ensure electoral transparency. Dominican Republic, Honduras and El Salvador, were the first interested parties.
Sound 13
Sound 13 is also a Mexican creation of the musician Julián Carrillo, who in 1926 wanted to break with musical theory. Its objective: to experience new sounds and to transcend the musical scale of 12 notes, five flat and seven pure, distanced by half tone.
Carrillo then created what he called microtones or 13 sound, which represent non-traditional units within the musical scale and are located between traditional halftones.
This new musical theory had great expansion and influenced mainly in musicians of Belgium, Germany, France and Switzerland. The Prelude to Columbus is the first composition that shows new musical theory.
Catalan Nanomedicine Tica
Tessy López Goerne, a physic chemist at the Metropolitan University, applied nanotechnology to the treatment of brain cancer, with astounding results.
Using microscopic particles filled with titanium and zirconium medicines, he designed therapies to attack brain tumors without the need for surgery or chemotherapy.
The research of Dr. López Goerne has created a whole school of medical, technological and chemical research: the catalytic nanomedicine.
Breakwater
The Mexican engineer Mauricio Porras invented a fast and economic system of piers, piers and breakwaters, based on the filling of sacks in the sea with sand and cement.
3D television
Seeing 3D images on a television or computer is possible thanks to the work of the Mexican engineer Manuel R. Gutiérrez Novelo.
In 2003, the Mexican created a device called TD Vision, with which it is possible to visualize images in three dimensions.
From the outset, companies such as Texas Instruments, Microsoft, Motorola and even NASA showed an interest in the invention, which has been used in a wide variety of fields, from the military industry to medicine, as well as for architecture, engineering Civil, space industry and video games.
The guitar Mexican
It is a six-string deep-bodied cello, traditionally played in mariachi bands.
Although similar to the guitar, it is not a derivative of that instrument, but it was developed independently. Because its large size gives it volume, it does not require electrical amplification for performances in small places.
Popcorn
The popcorn was invented by the Zapotec people and later presented to Hernán Cortés by the Aztecs.
Chewing gum or gum
The Aztecs used chewing gum as a base to make a substance that was used to pick up everyday objects. Women, in particular, used this gum to freshen their mouths.
Molcajete
It is a stone tool, the traditional Mexican version of mortar and pestle, similar to the South American batán. It is used to grind various foodstuffs.
Gnome
What would an operating system be without a graphical environment? Miguel de Icaza, together with the support of Mexican tambourine Federico Mena, founded the GNOME project, seeking to create a graphical desktop environment with a free software license.
At first it was called the GNU Network Object Model Environment (GNOME) and was launched in 1999, becoming one of the most popular free interfaces.
Kahlua
It's a coffee flavored liquor from Mexico. The drink contains rum, corn syrup and vanilla. Pedro Domecq began to produce Kahlúa in 1936. It was named Kahlúa, which means"Casa del Pueblo Acolhua"in the Veracruz language Nahuatl spoken before the Spanish conquest.
Kahlúa was Hispanized as Ulua, forming the name of the modern fortress of San Juan de Ulúa.
The company merged in 1994 with Allied Lyons to become Allied Domecq. In turn, this company was partially acquired in 2005 by Pernod Ricard, the world's largest liquor distributor since its merger with Vin & Sprit in March 2008.
Since 2004, the alcoholic content of Kahlúa is 20.0%. Earlier versions had 26.5%. In 2002, a more expensive, high-end product called"Special Kahlúa"became available in the United States, Canada and Australia after having been previously offered only in duty-free markets.
Made with premium Arabica grains grown in Veracruz, Mexico, Kahlúa Especial has an alcohol content of 36%, a lower viscosity, and is less sweet than the regular version.
Margaritas
The margarita is a drink that is made from tequila, triple sec, and lemon or lemon juice, and is often served with salt or sugar on the rim of the glass.
The drink has several ways to prepare: you can either shake with ice, mix with ice (the so-called frozen margarita), or serve without ice.
Although it has become acceptable to serve a margarita in a wide variety of types of glass, ranging from cocktails and wine glasses to pint glasses and even large schooners, the drink is traditionally served in the margarita eponymous glass, a variant Of staggered diameter of a cocktail glass or champagne glass.
The nachos
Nachos are a Mexican-Mexican dish from the north of Mexico. The dish is made up of tortilla chips (or totopos) covered with cheese or cheese-based sauce, and is often served as an appetizer. More elaborate versions add more ingredients and can be served as a main course.
Ignacio"Nacho"Anaya faith credited with the creation of the dish in 1943. The original nachos consisted of fried corn tortillas topped with melted cheese and sliced jalapeno peppers.
paddle
Paddle is a racquet sport that, in the United States and Canada, is known as Paddle.
The paddle should not be confused with so-called platform tennis, a winter sport typically played in US and Canadian clubs. The court, rules and styles of play are very different.
The sport was created in Acapulco, Mexico by Enrique Corcuera in 1969. It is currently more popular in Spanish-American countries like Argentina and Mexico, as well as in Spain and Andorra, although it is now beginning to spread rapidly across Europe and other continents.
The silhouette metá Lica
The metal silhouette is descended from an old Mexican sport, dating back to the early 1900s, where live game animals were pitched at varying distances as targets.
In 1948, animal metal cuts were used instead of live animals, and the first metal silhouette match was held in Mexico City.
Due to the Mexican roots of sport, in the United States the silhouettes are often referred to by terms of several varieties of American Spanish, namely Gallina, Boar, Guajalote and Borrego.
The Three Card Monte
Also known as the three card trick, it is a"trusted"game in which the victim, or spectator, is fooled into betting a sum of money, assuming that they can find the"money"between three playing cards face down.
Intersection of continuous flow
Also called left shift, it is an alternative design for a road level crossing.
Vehicles that attempt to cross the opposite direction of traffic (left in driving jurisdictions on the right) cross before entering the intersection. No turn signal is needed to the left at the intersection.
Instead, vehicles traveling in both directions may continue, even through vehicles and those turning to the right or left, when a traffic signal permits.
The amparo appeal is a resource for the protection of constitutional rights, which is found in certain jurisdictions.
In some legal systems, predominantly those of the Spanish-speaking world, the remedy of amparo or action is an effective and cheap instrument for the protection of individual rights.
Amparo, generally granted by a supreme or constitutional court, has a dual protective purpose: it protects the citizen and his basic guarantees, and protects the constitution itself by ensuring that its principles are not violated by statutes or state actions that undermine the basis of Rights enshrined in the constitution.
It resembles, in some respects, constitutional remedies such as the Mandado de Segurança (Security Mandate) available in Brazil and the constitutional complaint procedure (Verfassungsbeschwerde) available in Germany.
Ball game
The Mesoamerican ball game was a sport with ritual associations played by the pre-Columbian peoples of ancient Mesoamerica.
The sport had different versions in different places during the millennia, and a more modern version of the game, ulama, that still is played in some places by the native population.
The rules of the game are not known, but judging by his descendant, ulama, were probably similar to racquetball, where the goal is to keep the ball in play.
A metate
A metate is a type or variety of grinder by hand, a soil stone tool used to process grain and seeds.
In traditional Mesoamerican culture, metates were typically used by women grinding lime-treated maize and other organic materials during food preparation (eg making tortillas). Similar artifacts are found all over the world, including China.
Pulque
Pulque is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey (agave) plant. It is traditional in central Mexico, where it has been produced for millennia. It has the color of milk, a somewhat viscous consistency and a bitter yeast flavor.
The history of the drink goes back to the Mesoamerican era, when it was considered sacred, and its use was limited to certain classes of people.
Vulcanization
Although vulcanization is a nineteenth-century invention, the history of rubber cured by other means goes back to prehistoric times.
The name of the first important civilization in Guatemala and Mexico, the"Olmec", means"rubber people"in the Aztec language. Ancient Mesoamericans, ranging from the ancient Olmecs to the Aztecs, extracted latex from Castile Elastica, a type of rubber tree in the area.
The juice of a local vine, Ipomoea alba, was then mixed with this latex to create rubber processed as early as 1600 BC.
In the western world, rubber remained a curiosity, although it was used to produce waterproofed products, such as the Mackintosh raincoat.
Guacamole
Known worldwide, guacamole is an avocado or salad created by the Aztecs in what is now Mexico.
In addition to its use in modern Mexican cuisine, it has also become part of American cuisine as an ingredient, seasoning or salad.