Publicly-Funded Research in America and its Benefits

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Category: Prosperity

  • Touchscreen

    Touchscreen

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    Before touchscreens became the standard form of interaction with our phones, devices, and electronics, they were the Ph.D. thesis project of a graduate student at the University of Delaware, who was funded by a scholarship from the National Science Foundation. Wayne Westerman’s dissertation developed the multi-touch capability that was necessary for touchscreens to take off…

  • Internet

    Internet

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    The Internet is fundamental to many aspects of our lives (communications; commerce; entertainment; etc.) It began as the ARPANET, a project funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense, and as NSFNET, funded by the National Science Foundation. This government-funded work, built initially to connect researchers to each other, now connects…

  • GPS

    GPS

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    Today, GPS is engrained in our lives, from figuring out the best route home after a road closure to making sure a loved one reached their destination safely. The modern system, which now consists of 31 satellites orbiting the earth, five ground control stations located around the globe, and many receivers which are found in…

  • CDs

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    For years, information like music, software, or movies were primarily stored on CDs. If you grew up listening to music in the 80s or 90s, or watching movies stored on DVDs, then you have benefitted from technology originally invented at the federally funded Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. There, James T. Russell first developed the idea…