Mental_Floss has compiled a list of six remarkable medical gadgets and how they were invented.

As a young medical-school student in 19th-century Paris, Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec developed a knack for hearing and interpreting the different sounds made by the heart and lungs when he placed his ear on patients’ chests. This method only worked if the patient was sufficiently slender, of course. One afternoon, Laennec saw some children playing with wooden boards. One tyke would scratch or tap softly on one end, while another put his ear on the other end of the board to hear the sound. Laennec went back to his office – presumably after removing a splinter from the tyke’s ear – and constructed a long tube out of several pieces of rolled-up paper. By placing the end of the cylinder directly on a patient’s chest or back, he discovered that he could hear sounds much more clearly than before. After experimenting with different materials and designs, he came up with the stethoscope. In 1819, the medical community began to recognize the use of the gadget as a valuable diagnostic tool.

The beautifully preserved remains of a 47-million-year-old, lemur-like creature is described as the most complete primate fossil ever found.

The preservation is so good, it is possible to see the outline of its fur and even traces of its last meal.

The female animal lived during an epoch in Earth history known as the Eocene, which was crucial for the development of early primates – and at first glance, Ida resembles a lemur.

Hundreds of papyrus scrolls found at a villa in Herculaneum are about to be read for the first time since 79AD using the latest technology.

Now, a computer scientist from the University of Kentucky hopes that modern digital technology will allow him to peer inside two of the fragile scrolls – without physically opening them – and unlock secrets they have held for almost 2,000 years.

Brent Seales, the Gill professor of engineering in UK’s computer science department, will use an X-Ray CT scanning system to collect interior images of the scrolls’ rolled-up pages. Then, he and his colleagues hope to digitally “unroll” the scrolls on a computer screen so scholars can read them.

The handle of a water pitcher has been found in Jerusalem with an ancient Hebrew inscription of the name “Menachem.”

Scientists at the Israel Antiquities Authority are now trying to decipher the identity of the “Menachem,” whose name is inscribed in ancient Hebrew. 

“This important finding joins similar names that were found in archaeological digs in the ancient east, particularly in the Land of Israel,” said Dr. Ron Be’eri, who is supervising the dig for the IAA. “The names ‘Menachem’ and ‘Yenachem’ express comforting, perhaps over the death of loved ones.”

Advanced dentistry techniques allowed Native Americans to inset gemstones to their teeth as far back as 2,500 years ago.

The early dentists used a drill-like device with a hard stone such as obsidian, which is capable of puncturing bone.

“It’s possible some type of [herb based] anesthetic was applied prior to drilling to blunt any pain,” Jiménez said.

The ornamental stones—including jade—were attached with an adhesive made out of natural resins, such as plant sap, which was mixed with other chemicals and crushed bones, Jiménez said.