Technology
Discover facts about technology. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Technology
Asymmetrical encryption pairs public and private keys
Anyone can use your public key to encrypt a message for you, but only your private key can decrypt it. The private key stays on your device, so you don’t have…
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Your carbon monoxide detector won't last forever
The sensor inside a carbon monoxide detector degrades as it reacts with room air. Once it reaches its expiration date, it may no longer detect the gas.
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Why sarcasm confuses sentiment algorithms
Sentiment tools can mistake sarcasm for praise because they may score positive and negative keywords without recognizing context. A review calling a product…
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Why games reward you with a tiny burst of music
A brief flourish after opening a chest or clearing a room makes the reward feel satisfying—and can keep players chasing the next one.
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EarthBound's copy protection could wait until the final battle
Some anti-piracy checks increase enemy encounters rather than stopping play immediately. If a detected copy reaches Giygas, another check can crash the game…
Discover moreChuck Norris facts started as Vin Diesel jokes
The meme began on an online forum as absurdly tough “facts” about Vin Diesel after The Pacifier. Users later voted to replace his name with Chuck Norris,…
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A single Lego brick can withstand enormous force
A single brick can withstand more than 900 pounds of force before crushing. Theoretically, a tower made from enough bricks could rise over two miles before…
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Sega's airplane console borrowed the screen in your seat
Japan Airlines began lending the Mega Jet on international flights in 1993. The controller and console were combined, but the picture appeared on the seat's…
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Laminators melt plastic pouches to permanently seal paper
Heated rollers press the pouch's heat-activated adhesive around the paper, fusing it into a sealed plastic covering.
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Screws hold things together by converting rotation to push
Its spiral thread acts like an inclined plane wrapped around a cylinder: turning the screw converts rotation into forward force that clamps materials together.
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How supercomputers can heat people's homes
Facilities in places like Sweden and Switzerland pipe excess heat from data processing into municipal heating grids instead of venting it.
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Shigetaka Kurita created the original set of one hundred seventy six emojis in the year 1999
Each icon fit a 12-by-12-pixel grid and was designed to make pager weather forecasts and messages easier to understand.
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Why identical processors perform differently
Tiny manufacturing differences mean identical processor models can handle heat and voltage differently. One may overclock successfully while another crashes…
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You can carry an offline Wikipedia without carrying its pictures
Kiwix packages encyclopedic content into compressed, searchable files, including versions without images. The edition and date determine the size, rather than…
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Digital support menus trap frustrated users in endless loops
Generic menu choices can keep routing users back to the start instead of connecting them to a person, turning a help line into a frustrating loop.
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When one missed parry means replaying 15 minutes
After a miss, you’re sent back to the foggy entrance and must repeat the memorized dodges before you can attempt the parry again.
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Hello world is the universal ritual to test a setup
A tiny program that prints “Hello, world” is a common first test: if it runs, the basic setup can compile and display output.
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Digital watermarking hides invisible ownership data
Digital watermarks make tiny changes to audio or video that audiences can’t detect, while tracking systems scan for the embedded ownership signature.
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A deleted Linux file can keep using disk space
Removing a filename doesn't necessarily end a program's access to the file. If the program still has it open, the filesystem keeps its data until that last…
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Colossal data centers span across millions of square feet
Their windowless, humming buildings can dwarf major shopping malls, all devoted to storing data.
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Random forest algorithms combine trees to make choices
Each tree is slightly randomized, and the forest combines their votes so one poor prediction is less likely to dominate.
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Why gold can't improve an optical cable
Optical cables carry sound as pulses of light through fiber, so gold plating on the connector can’t improve the signal traveling inside.
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Copper can be recycled without losing conductivity
Pure copper can be melted down and reshaped into new wire without losing its conductivity, unlike materials that degrade during recycling.
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Massive fan systems suck carbon dioxide directly out of air
Chemical sorbents capture CO₂ from ambient air, and the captured gas can then be stored underground. Large fan arrays move air through the system.
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