The 10 inventions created in Mexico or by Mexicans

(CNN Spanish) – Mexico is recognized for its wealth, diversity and gastronomy, which was registered as Intangible Heritage of Humanity by the Unesco. However, the Latin American country has also contributed to the history of humanity with various inventions. We tell you which ones bear the “Made in Mexico” stamp.

Bath float (1790)

The toilet float, a mechanism that controls the flow of water, was invented in 1790 by José Antonio Alzate y Ramírez, according to the book Origin Mexico, edited by Paola Gonzáles Vargas and released in 2019.

This Mexican engineer from Ozumba, State of Mexico invented the «floating automatic shutter», better known as a float, in order to avoid wasting water.

«If care is not taken to cut off the communication of the pipe, either by means of the instrument they call a key, or by any other arbitration, the fountain is continually filling up with water, and it loses as much of what it receives without the neighborhood use the much excess quantity, which is lost to the unclean conduits », wrote Alzate and Ramírez in the Volume 2 of the Mexican Literature Gazette, before describing the details of his invention.

Tortilla Machine (1904)

The tortilla is part of the Mexican food base, and although its origin is not exactly known, its preparation has changed over time thanks to various inventions. The Information System of the Industrial Property Gazette (SIGA) has several patents to their names.

According Origin Mexico, the first tortilla machine was invented in 1904 by Everardo Rodríguez Arce and his partner Luis Romero. This machine produced square tortillas, something that was later modified after not being well received. The Information System of the Industrial Property Gazette (SIGA) has several patents to their names. However, SIGA also has several patent applications registered in the name of Rodríguez Arce and Romero since 1903 regarding the production of new tortilla machines and procedures.

Since the emergence of the first tortilla makers, they have had several changes and innovators. For example, Origin Mexico stipulates that in 1957, Fausto Celorio Mendoza invented the first automatic machine capable of producing 16,000 tortillas per day. SIGA has the record of the granting of a patent in 1947 for a tortilla cooker and the granting of a patent for an automatic tortilla maker in 1952. Both in the name of Fausto Celorio Mendoza. The government of Mexico recognizes Celorio Mendoza as one of the first creators of the tortilla machines or tortilladoras.

Color television (1940)

In 1940, the engineer Guillermo González Camarena patented in Mexico a ‘trichromatic field sequence system’, which used primary colors for image capture and reproduction. Later, in 1942, González Camarena obtained the US patent, which according to american embassy it would be “a key patent for the development of color television.”

Although González Camaera invented a simplified color television system, he was not the first or the only one in the world. For example, in 1928, it was awarded to Vladimir K Zworykin the patent for a system for reproducing images in “their natural colors”; and in 1940, the American Peter goldmark, who worked for CBS television, applied for a patent for a color television system. The patent was granted in 1942.

In the 60s González Camarena invented the Mexican simplified bicolor system as a much simpler and cheaper alternative to the analog television system, better known by its initials NTSC. This system would be used by NASA on the Voyager mission in 1979.

So while González Camarena was not the main or only inventor of color television, he did obtain public recognition for his contributions.

Contraceptive Pill (1951)

On October 15, 1951, Luis Ernesto Miramontes Cárdenas made a contribution “comparable to those who have achieved the Nobel Prize” according to a bulletin published by the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), by synthesizing norethisterone, the active ingredient in the contraceptive pill.

In 1951, Miramontes Cárdenas, who was a university student at the time, was under the direction of Syntex Corp. CEO George Rosenkranz and researcher Carl Djerassi.

Carl Djerassi, George Rosenkranz and Luis Miramontes Cárdenas received the US patent for “oral contraceptives” on May 1, 1956. The first oral contraceptive, Norinyl, was manufactured by Syntex Corp.

According to a UNAM publication, the Mexican Academy of Sciences concluded IN 2005 that the synthesis of norethisterone by Miramontes Cárdenas is the greatest scientific contribution of Mexico.

Indelible Ink (1994)

The biochemical engineer graduated from the National School of Biological Sciences (ENCB) of the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), Filiberto Vázquez Dávila, is the creator of the indelible liquid which has been applied since 1994 during electoral processes in Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua and other Latin American countries.

According to Conacyt Information Agency, a scientific dissemination agency that closed in 2019, the development of “the indelible mark” started from a call by the Federal Electoral Institute – now the National Electoral Institute – for the creation of an indelible ink that would be used in the federal elections of 1994.

According to Conacyt, Vázquez Dávila had the idea of ​​developing a skin pigmentor that would chemically react with the epidermis. The IFE conducted tests and the researcher was notified that his skin pigmentor had been the winner.

Anti-graffiti painting (2001)

In 2001, the Institute of Physics of the UNAM, developed the anti-graffiti painting. In accordance with UNAM Foundation, this paint contains a hydrophobic agent, a substance that cannot be mixed with water.

This invention is registered under the name Deletum 3000, and its objective is to reduce the investment destined to the cleaning of graffiti or paint from buildings.

Solid rain

According to Conacyt Information Agency, the industrial chemical engineer Sergio Jesús Rico Velasco, a researcher at the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), created solid rain in order to take advantage of rainwater, thus solving the problem of lack of water for crops.

Basically, solid rain turns water into solid to reduce waste by seepage or evaporation. According to the government exaggeration, Rico Velasco explained that with liquid water irrigation systems “the plant manages to capture between 10 and 15 percent of the water supplied, since between 85 and 90 percent of the water is lost or evaporated.” .

According Origin Mexico, solid rain is used successfully in Israel, Argentina, Spain, France, Russia and India.

Flying belt

The flying belt, also known as Mexican jet pack, It was invented by the Mexican engineer Juan Manuel Lozano Gallegos, founder of the company Mexican Aerospace Technology (TAM).

However, the creation of the first jet pack dates back to 1919, when Russian Alexander Fedorovich Andreev filed a patent for a rocket housed in a backpack, and although this idea never materialized, the idea became popular. Wired in a report.

Among the best known jet pack models is that of the North American Wendell Moore, a Bell Aerosystems engineer who was awarded the patented a jet pack in 1962.

In addition to the flying belt, Lozano Gallegos has also built a rocket bike, a turbine boat, and a personal helicopter.

Translucent concrete (2005)

In 2005, civil engineering students, Joel Sosa Gutiérrez and Sergio Omar Galván Cazares, applied for a patent for the translucent concrete manufacturing method, which allows light to pass through. According to the documents presented to the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property, this concrete creates better-lit environments and significant reductions in installation and maintenance costs.

According to their data sheetAmong the advantages are its high resistance and durability, the reduction in lighting costs and its translucency can be moderate from the moment of its manufacture.

Catalytic Nanomedicine for Cancer Treatment (2019)

Dr. Tessy María López Goerne, professor-researcher at the Xochimilco Unit of the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM), is recognized for its work in catalytic nanomedicine capable of eliminating cancerous tumors. In 2019, López Goerne applied for the patent before the IMPI.

According to the UAM, López Goerne has her multiple patents, books and more than 300 international articles, for which she was recognized as the scientist with the highest number of citations to her work in 2009, receiving the Scopus-Conacyt Prize.

She was also awarded by the Weizmann Institute of Sciences of Israel, UNESCO, the OAS, the Mexican Academy of Sciences and received the Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla medal, among other distinctions.