Technology
Discover facts about technology. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Technology
Lorentz forces accelerate ionized gas for deep space travel
A thruster sends an electric current through conductive plasma inside a magnetic field; the resulting Lorentz force drives the plasma out the exhaust to…
Discover moreWhen drones mistake harmless objects for threats
Poor lighting and obscured views can confuse object-recognition software, leading drones to flag harmless infrastructure—or even a tractor—as a threat. Human…
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How bulletproof glass stops a speeding bullet
The outer glass cracks and deforms the bullet, absorbing some of its energy; a flexible polycarbonate layer behind it catches the projectile.
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Why early gas stoves scared people
Early gas burners could be hard to see in bright kitchens, leaving people worried that an invisible flame might set their sleeves alight.
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The first supermarket UPC scan was a pack of chewing gum
In 1974, a Wrigley's gum package passed over a scanner at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio. The barcode identified the item so a computer could retrieve its…
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Orbiting internet transmitters drastically reduce latency
Because they orbit much closer to Earth than traditional satellites, the signal has less distance to travel, reducing connection delay.
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The helicopters that eject their own rotor blades
Before the pilot ejects, explosive charges sever the rotor blades so they won't strike the pilot on the way out.
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Shoelace tips were once made of glass
Before plastic aglets became common, some shoelace tips were made of glass—fragile ornaments swinging just above the ground.
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Why stationary bikes still feel like a headwind
On magnetic-resistance bikes, a flywheel spins near magnets; moving them closer increases the drag and makes pedaling harder.
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Why your laptop overheats on your lap
Many laptops draw in cooling air through vents on the bottom. Set one on your lap, bed, or couch, and the fabric can block the airflow, causing it to overheat.
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Electrocardiograms measure voltage changes in heart muscle
Electrodes on the skin detect tiny voltage changes produced by the heart muscle, allowing an ECG to record the heart’s electrical activity.
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How compressed air makes both hot and cold streams
A shaped tube spins compressed air into a vortex: the outer layer heats up while the inner core cools. Separate outlets release hot and cold streams, with no…
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Gamers run spy networks and political coups
In crowded sandbox games, players have built elaborate power structures with spies, diplomats, and traitors. Some even use espionage and spreadsheets to plot…
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Hyper-threading splits physical cores into virtual ones
A physical core is presented to the operating system as two logical cores, letting it work on two instruction threads at once—but both still share one…
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Why clocks move the way sundial shadows do
On a conventional horizontal sundial in the Northern Hemisphere, the shadow sweeps around the dial in the direction clock hands later made familiar. Early…
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Your internet can hit a traffic jam beyond your home
A connection shares parts of its route with other users, and a busy link can become a bottleneck. Congestion may occur in the provider's network, at a remote…
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Email still carries a ghost of carbon paper
A sheet of carbon paper once transferred keystrokes onto another sheet underneath, creating a carbon copy. Email kept the abbreviation CC. BCC adds a hidden…
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Ancient Romans used combination locks too
Archaeologists have found ancient locks that used rotating rings aligned in a specific pattern to secure small puzzle boxes.
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Caps Lock began as a typewriter shortcut
Early typewriters made typists hold down a heavy Shift key to type capitals. A metal latch locked it in place, giving the key its name.
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Winamp's llama slogan arrived in an email
Creator Justin Frankel said the famous 'whips the llama's ass' line came to the team by email, inspired by musician Wesley Willis. They used it in the…
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Why retro games looked better on old CRT screens
On CRTs, the glow of phosphors and the scanlines softened pixel edges, blending the blocky shapes together. Modern sharp screens reveal details those old…
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Steam engines are giant kettles pushing pistons
A coal fire boils water, and the expanding steam is routed into a cylinder, where it pushes a piston. It’s the same basic pressure-driven idea as steam…
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Trollface started as a Microsoft Paint doodle
A college student drew the grinning face in Microsoft Paint for a video-game comic. Its exaggerated expression became a fitting emblem of online arguments and…
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That check-engine light might mean a loose gas cap
A loose cap can let fuel vapor escape, triggering the evaporative-emissions warning. Tightening it until it clicks may be all that’s needed.
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