Technology
Discover facts about technology. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Technology
Venetian blinds tilt their slats using hidden strings
Pulling the tilt rod turns a small gear in the top rail, twisting a ladder of cords that flips the slats together.
Discover moreWhat happens when a computer process is orphaned
When a parent process exits while its child tasks are still running, those tasks become orphan processes. The operating system reassigns them to a system…
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The internet was once tested with carrier pigeons
RFC 1149 describes how to transmit IP packets via avian carriers, and researchers successfully tested the idea with real pigeons in 2001.
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Game Boy photos inherited the weakness of receipts
The Game Boy Printer made images on heat-sensitive paper rather than using ink. Heat, light, and storage conditions can damage or fade that image over time. A…
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The vi editor put cursor movement on H, J, K, and L
Those letters move left, down, up, and right without taking the hand far from its typing position. The layout reflects the terminal environment in which vi…
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Solar phone chargers require absolutely agonizing wait times
Small backpack panels may provide only a trickle of power: after an afternoon in direct sun, a dead phone might gain just 3% battery.
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Air-gapped computers never connect to outside networks
With no network connection, they’re isolated from remote attacks, but a malicious removable drive can still carry an attack into the room.
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The creepy dancing baby that went viral in 1996
A 3D baby dancing in a hypnotic loop became an early viral hit, spreading through email chains before appearing on “Ally McBeal.”
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A mirror can fool machine vision
A mirror reflects a scene rather than showing the surface textures that some vision systems use to judge depth. The software can interpret the reflection as a…
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Hand drills convert a crank rotation into a spinning chuck
A large vertical gear meshes with a smaller horizontal one attached to the bit, turning each crank rotation into faster rotation at the chuck.
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Through-hole components stick long metal legs into boards
Each component’s leads pass through holes in the board and are soldered on the other side, making the parts sturdy but bulky.
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The solid crystals that replaced vacuum tubes
Transistors replaced bulky, fragile vacuum tubes with solid semiconducting crystals, making smaller circuitry possible.
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Video game villagers live by meaningless routines
To make a game world feel lived-in, its villagers may follow set schedules and repeat chores like sweeping floors or hammering at walls. The routines create…
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Cellular roaming relies on complex global routing tables
When you roam abroad, your carrier routes the connection through international gateways and uses signaling protocols to verify your subscription before…
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That screen protector might be your actual display
Some foldable phones have a protective film that's part of the display assembly, so peeling it off can damage the screen. Check the manufacturer's guidance…
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Old PCs had a button for being less fast
Turning Turbo mode off slowed some PCs so older software would run at the speed it expected. Games that tied timing to processor speed could become unplayably…
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Hydroelectric dams spin metal wheels with falling water
A dam holds water in a reservoir, then channels it through lower pipes called penstocks. The flowing water spins turbines before continuing downstream.
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Jean Armour Polly coined the phrase surfing the internet
Librarian Jean Armour Polly used “surfing the internet” in a 1992 article, giving web browsing a metaphor that stuck.
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When a computer had no screen or keyboard
The Altair 8800 had no monitor or keyboard: users programmed it by flipping tiny toggle switches and read its output in LED flashes.
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The keyboard letters that won't rub off
On high-end keycaps, the letters are made from a second colored plastic molded through the cap, so they won't rub off through typing.
Discover moreCarmen Sandiego made geography feel like a game
The game sent kids chasing a thief across countries, prompting them to look up locations in physical encyclopedias to figure out where she had gone.
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Voyager calls Earth with about 20 watts
The spacecraft aims its faint radio transmission with a dish antenna, while enormous antennas on Earth collect the tiny fraction that reaches us. Slow data…
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Airplane mode helps charging by making your phone do less
Turning off cellular connections reduces the power spent staying connected or hunting for a signal. More of the incoming charge can then go toward the…
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Why birds don't get shocked on power lines
With both feet on the same wire, there’s little voltage difference across a bird’s body to drive current through it.
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