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Help is on the way!
President Bush will soon sign an historic measure that provides tax relief for every taxpayer to encourage economic growth and job security.
“We’ve worked so hard over the last months to give working families some tax relief,” said Wilson. “Repealing the marriage penalty and the death tax, increasing the child tax credit, and expanding the earned income credit that many lower income New Mexicans rely on have all been priorities since I came to Congress. This is a real victory for New Mexico families.” |
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| True or False: The forefather of modern fiber optic technology was developed in 1880. |
TRUE!
Bell`s Photophone
On June 3, 1880, Alexander Graham Bell transmitted the first wireless telephone message on his newly-invented "photophone." Bell believed the photophone was his most important invention. The device allowed for the transmission of sound on a beam of light. Of the eighteen patents granted in Bell`s name alone, and the twelve he shared with his collaborators, four were for the photophone.
Bell`s photophone worked by projecting voice through an instrument toward a mirror. Vibrations in the voice caused similar vibrations in the mirror. Bell directed sunlight into the mirror, which captured and projected the mirror`s vibrations. The vibrations were transformed back into sound at the receiving end of the projection. The photophone functioned similarly to the telephone, except the photophone used light as a means of projecting the information, while the telephone relied on electricity.
Although the photophone was an extremely important invention, it was many years before the significance of Bell`s work was fully recognized. Bell`s original photophone failed to protect transmissions from outside interferences, such as clouds, that easily disrupted transport. Until the development of modern fiber optics, technology for the secure transport of light inhibited use of Bell`s invention. Bell`s photophone is recognized as the progenitor of the modern fiber optics that today transport over eight percent of the world`s telecommunications. |
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