In Mexico there has always been artistic, musical and cultural talent, but what few know is that there’s a great technological potential that has given life to many outstanding inventions.
Mexican inventions have always stood out for their innovation, creativity and impact in every day’s life. However, few of them are known for being originally from this country.
These are inventions that have surged in the country and that are characterized for having that Mexican wit.
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Color Television
In the 1940s, engineer Guillermo González Camarena was about to show the world what Mexican engineering could do. During those years, he patented his “Field Sequential Trichrome System” and made the first color transmissions in the Alameda Movie Theatre. Since then, his systems were used by great institutions in different countries and González Camarena made his own channel in Mexican television.
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Jet Pack
What would have happened to Agent 007 without his jet pack? This backpack was invented by the Aeronautical Physics engineer and aviator pilot Juan Manuel Lozano Gallegos. This machine works with a mechanism with propulsion that allows whoever uses it to impulse through the air and fly for a few moments in a controlled way.
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Indelible ink
To avoid electoral fraud, the INE (National Electoral Institute) made a contest in 1994. This was to find someone who made an ink that wouldn’t be erased easily, so the box officials could locate those who already voted. The winning ink was Filiberto Vázquez’s, an organic chemistry professor who participated with his students. Since then, it’s the ink that more than painting it sticks on the skin, and it’s used in elections in other countries, too.
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Gnome System
Gnome is one of Linux’s operative systems’ desktop environments most used. It was created by the Mexican developers Federico Mena and Miguel de Icaza in 1999. Currently, it is found in over 50 languages and is characterized by its versatility.
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Birth control pill
In October 1951, the chemical engineer Luis Ernesto Miramontes and George Rosenkranz created the birth control pill. This was made because the Mexican discovered norethisterone, a compound that today is one of the main components of oral contraceptives. Thanks to them, thousands of women around the world were benefitted.
