People often say, “they don’t make them like they used to,” and they are both right and wrong for different reasons. A good example of items that have great build quality is the electronics that were made in the mid-20th century. This is really hard to find in modern hardware and inspires nostalgia in many people and dedication in others, like Michael Park. He decided to build a calculator that will use the best HP design with modern advancements.

The Calculator Design Mimics That of the HP-29

The first thing Michael wanted to recreate in his calculator was the great feel of the keys that the classic units have. He also wanted to experiment with other layouts without having to do a lot of rewiring, so he decided to create keys that have individual displays. As it turns out, the parts that could be found on the market were very expensive, so Michael decided to do something else. He used a single touchscreen and a switch mounted underneath it to create tactile feedback carried out by a special scissor-arm guide mechanism. The new design also includes individual see-through plastic overlays.

The MP-29 Calculator Has a Fully Reconfigurable Pad

The pad has 30 keys that have dynamically updatable labels, and the scissor mechanism helps the touch screen move linearly to engage the tactile switch without twisting, regardless of the button that was pressed. It’s a truly creative choice that looks and feels highly satisfying to use. It has all the tactile benefits that come with individual keys, including the keypresses and the ability to navigate the keypad without actually looking at it. Thanks to the touch screen, this combines nicely with the benefits that come with reconfigurable keys.

For the most part, the calculator design mimics the HP-29, but Michael is also willing to experiment with alternative layouts. The calculator community has plenty of disagreements over usability, and most of those concerns are over which side of the pad carries out the arithmetic functions.

With many smart devices on the market these days, the demise of the standalone calculator is regrettable but apparently not final, at least as long as enthusiasts like Michael keep reinventing it.

While having a sense of smell is definitely beneficial, there are moments when it can be a real pain. That includes when you’re around someone with strong body odor, or BO, a phenomenon that scientists believe they’ve now identified the cause of.

Discovering The Enzyme

At the University of York, research was carried out to identify why BO happens. The work eventually led scientists to discover a BO enzyme known as C-T lyase. Located in the Staphylococcus bacteria typically found in armpits, this enzyme essentially helps the production of thioalcohol, which plays a significant role in body odor.

The Fight Back Begins

Dr. Michelle Rudden, one of the scientists involved in this research, stated that their discovery is a significant step forward in understanding body odor. Now that they understand the structure of C-T lyase, they’ve been able to identify how odor molecules are created inside bacteria. Moving forward, they have a good chance of working out how to prevent BO from developing without doing any harm to people’s armpits. While they want to try and stop bad body odor, they don’t want to do anything that will negatively affect the microbiome in this region.

We’ve Evolved With It

This BO enzyme is seemingly something we were always destined to have given that it’s been around in certain Staphylococcus bacteria since before humans existed. That means there’s a good chance that the creatures from which we evolved from probably also struggled with BO. Given that smells typically play a more prominent role in animal communication than it does for us, body odor probably wasn’t as big of a deal for them. Perhaps they even liked it.

It’s incredible the things that scientists can discover nowadays, thanks to all this new technology and research. It makes you wonder what other secrets about the human body they might uncover next.