Technology
Discover facts about technology. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Technology
Why Phillips screws strip so easily
Your endless household frustration with stripped screw heads is a feature, not a bug. They were heavily engineered to magically cam out so overzealous factory…
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Broken laser pointer was the very first item successfully sold on eBay back when the site was called AuctionWeb
The internet's primary garage sale started with literal garbage. In 1995, Pierre Omidyar listed a broken laser pointer on his new site for $1. It surprisingly…
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Android was first designed for digital cameras
Google's omnipresent mobile OS was originally designed for a product category that smartphones effectively murdered. In 2003, Andy Rubin and his team designed…
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Anodizing artificially thickens natural aluminum oxide
Making lightweight metal permanently pretty just involves forcing it to rapidly rust in an acid bath. Running an electric current through submerged aluminum…
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Neodymium magnets can crush fingers when they meet
Playing with shiny rare-earth elements is fun until they accelerate into your fingers at terminal velocity. Formed by compounding iron, boron, and neodymium,…
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Nuclear reactors are giant steam engines
Splitting the atom sounds incredibly futuristic until you realize it merely boils water. Beneath all the glowing rods and ominous radiation shielding, a…
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Bessemer process blows oxygen into iron to burn impurities
Purifying brittle iron ironically requires blowing massive amounts of oxygen directly into the inferno. Because excess carbon makes the metal weak, engineers…
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How static electricity makes powder paint stick
Painting metal without messy liquids requires shocking colored dust with electricity so it aggressively clings on for dear life. A special spray gun applies a…
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Why blacksmiths quench hot steel in oil
Dunking aggressively glowing steel directly into cold water makes it frantically warp and shatter, so blacksmiths use oil to slow down the thermal shock. The…
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Your biodegradable cup may need an industrial composter
Throwing that eco-friendly cup in the woods does absolutely nothing without a massive industrial melter. Most plant-based polymers require continuous…
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Some ships stay in place without anchors
Deepwater extraction platforms refuse to drift away because they continuously use giant spinning propellers to fight the ocean. Instead of dropping an…
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How fracking cracks rock open
Extracting stubborn fuel requires aggressively blasting the earth crust with a slurry of wet sand. By pumping extreme volumes of specialized liquid directly…
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Burning coal releases radioactive material into the air
Fear of glowing green rocks is hilarious when you realize burning fossil fuels emits far more radioactive waste into the atmosphere. Natural coal contains…
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How plastic threads become carbon fiber
Creating ultra-lightweight supercar materials requires roasting standard plastic threads in a total vacuum so they do not instantly combust. By slowly heating…
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Decaf coffee is made with pressurized carbon dioxide
Removing the only good part of your morning brew requires literal toxic gas forced under massive pressure. By turning carbon dioxide into a weird state that…
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Why power lines hum
That ominous humming above your head is not alien activity, it is just localized atmospheric ionization. The electric field around massive cables is so…
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Why solar panels work worse in extreme heat
Irony at its finest dictates that the objects built to capture the sun actually hate being baked by it. Photovoltaic cells require excited electrons to flow…
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Why wind turbines need electricity before making it
The ultimate green energy paradox requires a dirty power grid just to get out of bed. Massive industrial turbines contain enormous heavy components and…
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Earth’s heat is partly powered by radioactive decay
That wholesome natural hot spring is heated by literal radioactive elements slowly breaking down deep underground. The immense thermal output keeping our…
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Why alternating current won the electricity war
Thomas Edison lost the electricity war because his rival figured out how to easily pump up the pressure. Direct current required massive cables and frequent…
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Tunnel boring machines push forward using hydraulic jacks
Carving through a massive mountain is accomplished by a giant mechanical worm violently pushing off its own installed waste. As the spinning cutter head chews…
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Artificial banana flavor comes from a nearly lost variety
That intensely fake chemical flavor tastes weird purely because the original fruit was essentially wiped out by a vicious fungus. The synthetic compound…
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How solar plants save sunlight for after dark
Harnessing the immense power of the sun involves aiming thousands of giant mirrors at a central tower until the dense salt inside boils. This glowing vat of…
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Sandblasting utilizes propelled grit to strip surface rust
Scrubbing stubborn paint off a solid metal hull involves forcefully shooting tiny rocks at it until the surface finally submits. By accelerating abrasive…
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