Technology
Discover facts about technology. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Technology
When boredom became a video game feature
Some extreme driving simulators make players spend eight real-time hours hauling cargo along a barren virtual highway, turning the tedium of a long haul into…
Discover more
Answering machines once needed a record and a wire
The Electronic Secretary used a record for the outgoing greeting and magnetic wire to capture incoming messages. Playing a message and recording a caller…
Discover more
Power strips lack space for adapter blocks
Oversized adapter blocks can cover neighboring outlets, leaving some sockets unusable even on a six-outlet strip.
Discover more
The command that makes your computer obey
Prefixing a command with “sudo” asks the operating system to run it with elevated privileges, rather than simply bypassing every rule.
Discover more
Caller ID used the silence between rings
On traditional U.S. landlines, caller-ID data traveled between the first and second rings. The phone decoded a brief signal into a number while you heard a…
Discover more
Escalator steps are really a moving floor
Each step is a wedge-shaped block on tracks: when the tracks rise, the blocks form stairs; when they level out, the blocks align into a moving floor.
Discover more
STACKY FOR IPHONEA bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.
Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.
Why drones refuse to fly too high
Their software limits them to a few hundred feet, helping keep them away from commercial airliners.
Discover more
Some transparent candy wrappers start as cellulose
Cellophane is made by processing cellulose into a thin, clear film. The same broad class of material that gives plant tissues structure can become a…
Discover more
Mechanical keyboards use distinct colored tactile switches
The colors identify different switch types, including variations in spring resistance, giving typists plenty to debate about which one feels fastest.
Discover more
APIs intentionally throttle requests to prevent overload
By rejecting requests beyond a set limit, a server helps keep one overactive application from overwhelming the system.
Discover more
How hardware surveys shape the games you play
Game platforms survey users' computer specs each month to show developers what hardware players actually use. If a particular GPU has become rare, studios may…
Discover more
Sweden once recognized file sharing as a religion
A group of Swedish activists registered a religion centered on copying and sharing digital information, which they considered sacred.
Discover more
Why laptops once had a red nub between G and H
The TrackPoint let users move the cursor without reaching for a touchpad, and many business users defended it for decades.
Discover more
Screen notches take a bite out of the display
Shrinking the screen borders meant moving some of that border into the display. The cutout makes room for front-facing hardware but takes up part of the screen.
Discover more
Time division slicing shares one frequency among users
It assigns each user a brief time slot in turn, cycling through them so quickly that the shared channel seems continuous to everyone.
Discover more
A two-stage snowblower feeds snow to a mechanical thrower
An auger gathers the snow and sends it to a fast-spinning impeller, which throws it through the chute. Air is not doing the main pushing. Splitting collection…
Discover more
Electronic resistors exist solely to bottleneck electricity
A resistor deliberately limits current, helping a circuit deliver the right amount of electricity to other components.
Discover more
How photocopiers use static electricity to print
A charged photosensitive drum keeps its charge where dark text blocks the light. Oppositely charged toner sticks to those areas, then heat fuses it to the…
Discover more
Poma lifts drag passengers upward via a plastic disc
A Poma drag lift pulls skiers uphill with a pole ending in a plastic disc, which they place between their legs and hold as the cable carries them over the…
Discover more
Security wands find concealed items using magnetic fields
A handheld metal detector creates an electromagnetic field; conductive objects disturb it, triggering a signal in the wand. That can expose even a forgotten…
Discover more
Data caching requires complex invalidation rule sets
Copying data speeds up loading, but developers have to set rules for when those copies go stale. Without them, users might see yesterday’s information.
Discover more
Why game controllers use their own wireless signals
Some consoles use custom wireless signals tuned for low input lag, so button presses register quickly instead of arriving half a second late.
Discover more
Why expensive digital cables usually change nothing
For a digital connection, a pricier cable won't improve picture quality if a cheaper one already delivers the signal reliably.
Discover more
The software bug that points developers the wrong way
A “Jedi bug” sends developers chasing the wrong cause: the error message points to one file even though the failure is happening elsewhere.
Discover more