Technology
Discover facts about technology. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Technology
What a screen protector really protects
Slapping a thin piece of glass onto a thousand-dollar smartphone provides a delightful illusion of invincibility. In reality, these covers only prevent tiny…
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Who curved TVs were really made for
Television manufacturers briefly convinced the public that subtly bending the screen would create an impossibly immersive visual experience. In truth, the…
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The tiny switches that controlled arcade games
Before complex setup menus existed, arcade owners controlled extreme difficulty spikes using a tiny block of microscopic physical switches soldered directly…
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Premium computer cases focus more on airflow than silence
Slapping thick sound-dampening foam onto every internal panel seems like a luxury upgrade, until everything inside starts cooking. High-end builds ditch the…
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Mesh systems force internet signals to endlessly relay
Throwing expensive boxes around your house does not magically create more internet. Mesh network stations act as a frantic game of telephone, capturing a…
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Google mapped a desert with a camel
When an omniscient tech monopoly wants to map the entire globe, they refuse to let silly things like paved roads stop them. To get authentic street view…
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The artificial heart meant to last only hours
When a mechanical pump was first jammed into a human chest cavity, doctors just wanted to buy the patient a few hours to find a donor. The device worked…
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Why centering a box was once so hard
Before modern layout modules came along, perfectly aligning a simple box in the middle of a screen required actual black magic. Developers had to use bizarre…
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The word podcast was coined as a throwaway
An entire industry of comedians and true-crime buffs owes its terminology to a rushed Guardian newspaper article. Hammersley was writing about the new trend…
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Dropped PC screws vanish into thin air
Physics breaks down entirely inside a computer chassis. Dropping a tiny silver screw into the dark abyss of a desktop activates a localized wormhole, ensuring…
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The internet depends on code maintained for free
Trillions of dollars in digital infrastructure silently depend on free, open-source codebases. When a random hobbyist maintaining a crucial networking package…
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This powerful game console was barely bigger than two CD cases
Released in Japan in the late eighties, this mighty machine was roughly the size of two stacked jewel cases. It packed an incredible graphical punch despite…
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Why chess engines sacrifice pieces for a distant checkmate
Watching a supercomputer throw away its strongest unit looks like madness until you realize it is just thinking fifty moves ahead. Advanced tactical…
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Hardware bottlenecks happen when one component holds back
Pairing a massive processor with an incredibly slow hard drive guarantees terrible overall performance. A computer can only process information as fast as its…
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Task managers lack the authority to close kernel processes
The ultimate force-quit utility is completely powerless against the deepest levels of the operating system. While you can easily brutally terminate a frozen…
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Resin 3D printers use toxic goo cured by ultraviolet light
If you ever wanted to sculpt with cancer-causing slime, this is the technology for you. Instead of melting plastic, these machines dip a build plate upside…
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Snow plows use heavy angled steel blades to push snow aside
There is no complex gathering mechanism here, just aggressive geometry. The massive steel wall is mounted at a distinct angle, converting the forward momentum…
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World of Warcraft has a secret island
Gods need a place to hide from their creations. Deep within the vast oceanic void of the game map, there is a secluded, unmapped island that regular players…
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How a vocoder turns voices into robots
Turning a human into a robot requires aggressive signal crossover. A vocoder analyzes the specific frequency bands of a spoken voice and uses those exact…
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Why HTML isn't a programming language
Despite what angry internet commentators claim, structuring a webpage does not make you a programmer. The fundamental building blocks of the web can only…
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What happens when AI learns from itself
Feeding an artificial intelligence its own output is the digital equivalent of making a photocopy of a photocopy. When massive datasets accidentally ingest…
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IBM once sold cheese slicers
Before they dominated enterprise computing, the International Business Machines corporation was deeply invested in deli meats. They originally sold commercial…
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State machines rigidly lock software into specific modes
To prevent applications from doing impossible things, developers use rigid mathematical structures that strictly define what transitions are legal. It ensures…
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How tree shaking cleans useless code
Modern applications import thousands of external toolkits, bloatware, and unused functions. Compilers use a technique called 'Tree Shaking', metaphorically…
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