You seem to think you (Americans) have a monopoly on geniuses. So, here is a short list of Canadian
inventions:

Zipper (be glad it's there to hold your pants)
Java computer language
light bulb (in Canada 1 year before Edison "invented it)
Frozen meals (two years before it went for sale in the U.S.)
Wonder Bra (ask your wife if she appreciates it)
Snow blower (not that you care)
Snowmobile
Finger prints readers
Insuline
Blackberry (the phone, not the fruit)
Sonar (yes, another great Canadian invention)
Telephone (woman's best friend)
AIDS medication 3TC
G-Suits (ask your Air Force if they appreciate)
Electron microscope
Electric wheelchair
Canada arm (really appreciated on the space shuttle)
Artificial hand (myo-electric)
Baseball (yes, it was played in Canada before migrating to the U.S.)

And I could bring many more.
There's a joke that goes like that:

In January, the Americans announce an invention
In February, the Russians announce they invented it 20 years before
In March, the Japaneses put it on the market.

It is true you have quite a few geniuses in the States, but some other countries also do.

Now, I hope this pi$$es you off too.

Actually it really doesn't *piss me off*. You should be proud of the accomplishments of your fellow countrymen. Except for that baseball thing all the rest were pretty good inventions.

But as for the zipper:

The design used today, based on interlocking teeth, was invented by an employee of Whitcomb Judson's, Swedish born scientist Gideon Sundback. In 1913 and patented as the "Hookless Fastener" and after more improvements patented in 1917 as the "Separable Fastener". Only after Gideon Sundbach, had remodeled Judson's fastener into a more streamlined and reliable form, was the fastener a success.

And the light bulb:

The first electric light was made in 1800 by Humphry Davy, an English scientist. He experimented with electricity and invented an electric battery. When he connected wires to his battery and a piece of carbon, the carbon glowed, producing light. This is called an electric arc.

Much later, in 1860, the English physicist Sir Joseph Wilson Swan (1828-1914) was determined to devise a practical, long-lasting electric light. He found that a carbon paper filament worked well, but burned up quickly. In 1878, he demonstrated his new electric lamps in Newcastle, England.

In 1877, the American Charles Francis Brush manufactured some carbon arcs to light a public square in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. These arcs were used on a few streets, in a few large office buildings, and even some stores. Electric lights were only used by a few people.

The inventor Thomas Alva Edison (in the USA) experimented with thousands of different filaments to find just the right materials to glow well and be long-lasting. In 1879, Edison discovered that a carbon filament in an oxygen-free bulb glowed but did not burn up for 40 hours. Edison eventually produced a bulb that could glow for over 1500 hours.

Snowmobile I think is a draw:
The Inventor of the Snowmobile

There seem to have been two paths to the invention and development of the modern snowmobile (snow machine, skidoo, snow mobile). Carl Eliason has to be listed as inventor of the snowmobile, since his patent is 30 years earlier than the other contender for that honor, Joseph Armand Bombardier. Carl Eliason of Sayner Wisconsin built what is basically a motorized toboggan in 1924, which was patented in 1927. The other path to development started when Joseph Armand Bomdardier of Valcourt Quebec built his first snow coach in the 1930s.

The G-Suit: I don't think so

Inventor of G-Suit Dies
Dr. Earl Wood was Mayo pioneer in aerospace medicine

Monday, March 23, 2009

Rochester, Minn. — Earl Wood, M.D., Ph.D., the Mayo Clinic investigator credited with inventing the high-altitude pressure suit worn by pilots and astronauts, died March 18 in Rochester, Minn. He was 97.

"As both a physician and researcher, Dr. Wood provided nearly five decades of outstanding leadership to Mayo Clinic and scientific advancements to the world," says Denis Cortese, M.D., Mayo Clinic president and CEO. "His achievements made manned spaceflight possible and contributed to American national defense since WWII. His legacy of discovery will benefit society for decades to come."

Dr. Wood was born January 1, 1912, in Mankato, Minn. A 1934 graduate of Macalester College, he also earned an additional bachelor's degree, master's degree, as well as Ph.D. and M.D. degrees from the University of Minnesota. After serving as a National Research Council fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, he taught Pharmacology at Harvard University where he met Charles Code, M.D., who offered him a position at Mayo Clinic.

SONAR:

Sonar is a system that uses transmitted and reflected underwater sound waves to detect and locate submerged objects or measure the distances underwater. It has been used for submarine and mine detection, depth detection, commercial fishing, diving safety and communication at sea. The Sonar device will send out a subsurface sound wave and then listens for returning echoes, the sound data is relayed to the human operators by a loudspeaker or by being displayed on a monitor.

Daniel Colloden

As early as 1822, Daniel Colloden used an underwater bell to calculate the speed of sound underwater in Lake Geneva, Switzerland. This early research led to the invention of dedicated sonar devices by other inventors.

Lewis Nixon

Lewis Nixon invented the very first Sonar type listening device in 1906, as a way of detecting icebergs. Interest in Sonar was increased during World War I when there was a need to be able to detect submarines.

Paul Langévin

In 1915, Paul Langévin invented the first sonar type device for detecting submarines called an "echo location to detect submarines" using the piezoelectric properties of the quartz. He was too late to help very much with the war effort, however, Langévin's work heavily influenced future sonar designs.
The first Sonar devices were passive listening devices - no signals were sent out. By 1918, both Britain and the U.S had built active systems, in active Sonar signals are both sent out and then received back. Acoustic communication systems are Sonar devices where there is both a sound wave projector and receiver on both sides of the signal path. The invention of the acoustic transducer and efficient acoustic projectors made more advanced forms of Sonar possible.

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Last edited by graphicgr8s; 10-07-2009 at 09:50 AM.

[nickthetasmaniac]

How delightfully odd.

Apparently a woman from my town (Launceston, Tasmania; small town in a small state) won a Nobel Prize for Science! This being a big deal, we get excited when it rains....

[Blue]

Best Place to Live: List of Countries on 2009 UN HDI | NowPublic News Coverage

I'm all for moving the UN head quarters and overhead costs to a Canadian province of your choice. That would knock one hell of a dent in our annual deficit.

[Blue]

The trouble is there are also the other talking heads that are pissing and moaning how bad the U.S. is and the context of most of the time, that's who the guys you list are directing their "shouting" at those groups and not people out side of the country. At the end of the day, I don't give a damn what anyone, north or south of the boarder thinks about what I had for dinner or drove to work earlier in the day. I am thankful for having something to feed my family, and fortunate enough to drive to the University every day.

But it doesn't come across as funny most of the time. And it's not because it's lost in the written word either. I was watching The Daily show the other day and JS was making fun of the various Right wing talking heads. O'Reilly, Beck, Limbaugh etc

The clips he played over and over again was them screaming at the top of their lungs hw great America is. The quoted phrase was "America is one of the greatest, no, correct that, THE greatest country ever on the face of the earth."

This sentiment is repeated everywhere. Tourists who come to visit will say it, the media repeats it all the time. Frankly it's arrogant and it's inccorect. There are plenty of countries all over the place that are just as great to live in. Maybe for different reasons but equally great. Plus who gives a shit? If you have to puff up your chest and shout it from the roof that you are so great, then you are hiding something that would tell us otherwise.

As the old saying says. "Actions speak louder than words"

It's fine to be proud of where you live*, I clearly am of my home (see my avatar) but but I don't try to convince you of that or shove it down your throat. Most of the rest of us feel that's what a percentage (not all to be fair) of Americans do and it doesn't sit well.

* and guess what? I do think the US is a great place. Fantastic landscape, great people, lots of opportunity. Just no better than dozens of other great places.

It could be GT but being as it's a camera part, it works here too. You are absolutely right Gr8. If it wasn't for the USA nothing would have ever happened and we would all be living in caves. Thank Goodness for America. What would we do without you?

Damn you P*ss me off sometimes.....

Be speaking German for one.

* and guess what? I do think the US is a great place. Fantastic landscape, great people, lots of opportunity. Just no better than dozens of other great places.

Well up until 2006 when the libs took over it WAS better than most places.