I would like the nominate something so common most of us don't even realize how amazing it is. The tire. Yup, that which we have on our automobiles, buses, trucks, aircraft , etc. I recently went to Discount Tire to replace some original equipment tires on my Chevy with 81,000 miles ( 131,000 km ). They were 4 years, 4 months old and mostly driven in southern Nevada where a cool day is 85 degrees farenheit. In summer we will be routinely above 100 farenheit or about 40+ celsious from now till late September. And that is ambient air heat. The temperature where the road asphalt / concrete is much higher. Yet the set of Bridgestones never gave me any trouble even though sometimes the road was not smooth, paralell parking could be sometimes rough when the tire hit/scraped the curb, car washes, unexpected road debris . etc. etc. The engineering and science involved to make something which is routinely abused in normal situations in ungodly terrain is really quite amazing. I got a new set of Pirellis and after taxes, installation, waste disposal fees, etc, etc it only cost me $520.00 for a set of four. Not bad, says I. They are warranted for 85,000 miles and Discount Tire will repair, replace, rotate and keep inflated for free as long as I own the vehicle. Since I own a car for at least 10 years, it's a pretty good deal. So if you think about it, tires are a Modern Marvel.
