Technology
Discover facts about technology. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Technology
Beethoven wanted numbers to tell performers how fast to play
He supported the metronome and supplied tempo markings for works including his symphonies. A number of beats per minute promised more precision than an…
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How a tiny hole can take a picture
A pinhole camera needs no glass lens: light passing through a tiny opening into a dark box projects an upside-down image onto the opposite wall.
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Electric guitars were built to beat brass bands
In 1930s big bands, brass sections drowned out acoustic guitars. Electrifying the instrument let guitarists be heard above the trumpets.
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The camera trick behind The Shining’s smooth movement
Garrett Brown's Steadicam used a stabilizing rig to isolate the camera from much of the operator's movement. For The Shining, it followed Danny's tricycle…
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How cochlear implants bypass the damaged ear
A microphone captures sound and a processor turns it into electrical signals that stimulate the auditory nerve, bypassing damaged parts of the inner ear.…
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A broken console accidentally created rock’s fuzz sound
During a 1961 country recording, a blown transformer distorted the bass into a buzzy sound. The musicians liked it, and engineers later built fuzz pedals to…
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Why singers stopped relying on stage speakers
Custom in-ear monitors send a clear mix directly into singers' ears, replacing the loud speaker wedges that caused chaos onstage and could damage their hearing.
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The toxic secret behind early photographs
Daguerreotype plates were sensitized with mercury vapor, exposing photographers to a highly toxic substance. The sharp silver images came with a serious…
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The sausage casing that became an artificial kidney
During WWII, Dr. Willem Kolff assembled it from cellophane sausage casings, an auto-shop cooling system and orange juice cans to filter toxic blood.
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Condenser microphones require a phantom electric charge
Many studio condenser mics need 48-volt phantom power, sent through the microphone cable, to charge their internal capacitor. Without it, they won't work.
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An early heart recorder used a tiny moving string to reveal a heartbeat
Willem Einthoven's string galvanometer made the heart's weak electrical signals measurable with far greater precision. Movement of the fine thread produced a…
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Early fisheye cameras tried to fit the sky into one picture
Robert W. Wood explored the fish's-eye view in the early 1900s, and later sky cameras used extreme wide-angle lenses to record clouds across a hemisphere.…
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Phonographs meant solely for recording vocal dictation
Edison expected the phonograph to be used for office dictation and resisted using it to record music. Consumer demand eventually turned the device toward…
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Defibrillators were first tested on dogs
Researchers first demonstrated closed-chest defibrillation on a dog they had deliberately put into cardiac arrest, before moving on to human trials.
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Victorian dentists could numb a small area with an ether spray
Benjamin Ward Richardson introduced a hand-pumped spray in 1866. Rapid evaporation cooled the tissue, providing local anesthesia for procedures such as tooth…
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Binoculars functionally started as two merged telescopes
Early spyglasses offered little depth perception, so designers paired two telescopes side by side. Internal prisms then folded the light path, making…
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Shock therapy was inspired by a slaughterhouse
Neurologist Ugo Cerletti got the idea after seeing pigs shocked at a slaughterhouse to make them docile before processing.
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Scientists learned to make vitamin B1 instead of extracting it
Robert Williams and J. K. Cline reported a synthesis of thiamine in 1936. Producing the vitamin chemically offered a route beyond isolating tiny quantities…
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A 1667 blood transfusion used a lamb as the donor
Jean-Baptiste Denis gave animal blood to human patients long before doctors understood blood groups or immune compatibility. His published account described a…
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An early drum machine was sold as an organist's companion
Wurlitzer introduced the Sideman in 1959 for home musicians, pairing automatic rhythms with its organs. Vacuum tubes generated percussion sounds rather than…
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Premature babies were once displayed at carnivals
In the early 1900s, Martin Couney funded incubators for premature babies by displaying them at amusement parks such as Coney Island. Visitors paid to see the…
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Early telephone microphones made sound squeeze carbon
A vibrating diaphragm pressed on carbon granules, changing their electrical resistance. With current flowing through them, those pressure changes became an…
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Hearing trumpets collected sound without a battery
A broad opening gathered sound and funneled it toward the ear through a narrower tube. The device couldn't process speech or selectively remove noise, but its…
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Ophthalmoscopes let physicists peek inside eyes
Helmholtz used a small mirror and a light source to illuminate the retina, making it possible to examine a living eye without surgery.
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