NPR's Robert Krulwich has a challenge for you: Can you name an invention or tool from the dawn of humanity until now that has become entirely extinct? The question is based on a bet that he made with the founding editor of Wired magazine,Kevin Kelly. In a recent NPR conversation with Krulwich, Kelly said, "I say there is no species of technology that have ever gone globally extinct on this planet." That's a bold assertion, but try as he might, Krulwich couldn't find an example to prove him wrong. As Krulwich explains on his blog:
If you listen to our Morning Edition debate, I tried carbon paper (still being made), steam powered car engine parts (still being made), Paleolithic hammers (still being made), 6 pages of agricultural tools from an 1895 Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue (every one of them still being made), and to my utter astonishment, I couldn't ...
