7 continents and science- Asia-part 1

This is the third article of the series and the focus is on the continent of Asia. As one of the largest continents on the planet, it comprises about 50 countries with a total of 4.6 billion people calling it home. Even though Japan is well known for its advancements in technology, China and India have also started investing a lot of their resources in developing science and technology. Apart from these 2 giants, several smaller countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan have also started focusing on scientific research and development. Since it will be hard to cover scientific advancements of all 50 countries in this article, I will try to highlight some of the advancements from countries which are rarely in the news due to their science and inventions.  I will be splitting this article into 2 parts and  here is the 1st part of the article.

Myanmar: This small country can’t ignore the presence of 2 giant’s India and China as its neighbors. It ranks 130 among 140 with regard to technological preparedness. However, this hasn’t dampened the spirits of the youth in their pursuit of technological advancement. The main challenge facing the country is lack of experienced scientists and technologists, hence any development has to depend on the curious minds of the youth. One of the exciting new inventions which has emerged from this country is the ‘smart pill box’, an automatic pill sorter which also reminds people not to forget to take their medications. 

Bhutan: This little country known for its Gross National Happiness is aiming to become the first country in the world to adopt 100% organic agriculture by 2035. Apart from these, they also take credit for inventing an electric bike, grain sorting machine, cotton spinning machines. 

Sri Lanka: Of all the inventions that has come out this island, my research for this article got my interest directed towards use of scientific applications to resolve human-elephant conflicts. Elephants approaching agricultural lands for food and water pose a constant and dangerous threat to both humans and elephants alike. The Sri Lankan government is proactively trying to use scientific approaches to resolve this conflict. Scientists are studying methods of restoring water in water reservoirs within the forest which have long dried up and identifying fast growing native grasses to help feed these magnificent animals. They are also implementing drone surveillance to assist railway departments thus reducing elephant collision with trains. 

Philippines: Filipinos are credited with many inventions which has impacted our daily lives all over the world. Inventing two-way video phones, to bamboo incubators for premature born babies, microchips and life saving erythromycin antibiotics are some of the few worth mentioning. The latest invention which is really fascinating is by  an electrical engineer Carvey Maigue who has invented panels which can be attached to buildings to harness the solar energy. These panels can capture the UV rays of the sun and convert them into visible light thus generating electricity, a task which the traditional solar panels are unable to perform today. Apart from this, the panels themselves are made of waste of  the crops mainly turmeric, thus paving way to next-gen solar panels.  

Vietnam: A small country with huge challenges in developing their science and technology base within the country. However, there has been great efforts made to have Vietnam on the map of the science world. One of the inventions that I thought was cool (pun intended!) is the snow ice maker from sea water. Apart from this, many Vietnamese inventors have influenced our lives such as the ATM machine which was invented by  Do Duc Cuong, and fuel saving device for motorbikes. 

Cambodia: Cambodian researchers have discovered a new species of blind and legless lizard (belonging to species:Dibamus dalaiensis), is the first reptile to be exclusively discovered and published in a scientific journal by a Cambodian scientist.

I hope our readers have enjoyed reading some of the facts about these Asian countries which are usually below the radar and the links are provided to dive deeper into information discussed.

 

Royalty free images were used for this article.