Technology
Discover facts about technology. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Technology
Apple's famously terrible handwriting tablet
The 1993 Newton MessagePad's handwriting recognition was so inaccurate it became a pop-culture punchline, including on The Simpsons.
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The first 3D feature was shown in 1922—and is now lost
The Power of Love received a stereoscopic preview in Los Angeles using anaglyph projection. It later circulated in a flat version under another title, but the…
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A tough cable jacket doesn't make the connector indestructible
Braiding can protect the length of a charging cable, but repeated bending still concentrates stress where the flexible cord meets the rigid plug. That's why a…
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How NFTs became expensive hyperlinks
An NFT can preserve a record of token ownership even when the image linked to it loses most of its market value. When speculation fades, owners may be left…
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Motorola originally gained corporate fame by inventing the first portable walkie-talkie in 1940
During World War II, Motorola developed the SCR-300, a durable two-way radio carried in a heavy backpack and nicknamed the “walkie-talkie.”
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Fluidic amplifiers use liquid pressure jets to perform tasks
A main jet of water or air can be steered into different output paths by tiny perpendicular control jets, using the Coandă effect. This lets fluid pressure…
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Why electric toothbrushes have no exposed charging contacts
A charging base transfers energy through the plastic using an alternating magnetic field, so the toothbrush needs no exposed metal contacts that could get wet.
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This Linux prank punishes a typo by trying to delete its files
Suicide Linux modifies command handling so an unrecognized command can trigger a destructive deletion attempt. It turns ordinary error recovery into the…
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An accurate emulator sometimes has to preserve the bugs
Old games can depend on precise hardware timing or odd behavior that developers built around. An emulator that tidies those quirks away may run the software…
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YAML configuration files break if you use tab characters
Their double reeds give them a piercing, hard-to-ignore sound that suits outdoor festivals.
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The best electrical conductor is not copper
Silver conducts electricity better than copper because it has lower electrical resistance. Its cost and tendency to tarnish make it impractical for most bulk…
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Garbage collection aggressively deletes unused data
In software, garbage collection reclaims memory occupied by data that an application no longer uses, helping free space for active tasks.
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The first USB sticks held only 8 megabytes
In 2000, an 8-megabyte USB stick cost about $50—enough space for roughly two high-quality photos.
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Power supplies physically convert alternating current
They convert the outlet’s alternating current into the steady direct current computer components need, while regulating voltage to protect them from power…
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Ultrawide monitors replace dual-screen desktop setups
One ultrawide screen avoids the bezel between two monitors and gives you room to view several spreadsheets side by side.
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Normalization ruthlessly hunts down duplicate data
By storing information once and linking other records to it, normalization prevents conflicting copies. A name change, for example, can be made in one place…
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An early autopilot demo took the pilot's hands off the controls
In 1914, Lawrence Sperry demonstrated a gyroscopic stabilizing system in France. It kept the aircraft balanced without constant manual correction, helping win…
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Why clocks sometimes gain a second
Leap seconds are added because Earth’s rotation varies while atomic time ticks steadily; the extra second keeps time aligned with the planet’s rotation.
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Why programmers write conditions like Yoda
Putting the constant first can prevent accidental assignment in languages where assignment and comparison look similar: `if (5 == variable)` will cause an…
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Why car batteries are still heavy and corrosive
Lead-acid batteries remain common because they're cheap and deliver a strong burst of power to start an engine. Their lead plates sit in sulfuric acid, making…
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Sapphire glass is the third hardest mineral known
Watchmakers make sapphire glass by melting and crystallizing aluminum oxide. It's highly scratch-resistant, but diamond jewelry can still scratch it.
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Twitter's blue bird was named after an NBA legend
Co-founder Biz Stone, a Celtics fan, pushed for the name “Larry the Bird” in honor of basketball legend Larry Bird.
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Symmetrical encryption uses identical locking keys
The same key scrambles and restores the data, making this method fast—but the sender and receiver must share that key securely without it being intercepted.
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Deleting critical system folders causes instant failure
With administrator privileges, a user can delete critical files from the system's root directory, potentially causing it to crash with a blue screen.
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