Portal:Technology

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

The Technology Portal

P:TECH

Technology is the application of conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word technology can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible tools such as utensils or machines, and intangible ones such as software. Technology plays a critical role in science, engineering, and everyday life.

Technological advancements have led to significant changes in society. The earliest known technology is the stone tool, used during prehistory, followed by the control of fire—which in turn contributed to the growth of the human brain and the development of language during the Ice Age, according to the cooking hypothesis. The invention of the wheel in the Bronze Age allowed greater travel and the creation of more complex machines. More recent technological inventions, including the printing press, telephone, and the Internet, have lowered barriers to communication and ushered in the knowledge economy. (Full article...)

Outline of technology · Indexes

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Recognized articles - load new batch

Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

Image 1

West portal

Sideling Hill Tunnel is one of three original Pennsylvania Turnpike tunnels abandoned (this one in 1968) after two massive realignment projects. The others are nearby Rays Hill Tunnel, and farther west, the Laurel Hill Tunnel. It was less expensive to realign the Turnpike than to bore a second tube for four lane traffic. Sideling Hill Tunnel is 6,782 feet (2,067 m) long.

It was the longest of the original tunnels on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Ray's Hill Tunnel and Sideling Hill Tunnel are now part of the Pike2Bike Trail. Together, the two tunnels as well as the roadway are commonly known as the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike. (Full article...)
Image 2
The Submarine Telegraph Company was a British company which laid and operated submarine telegraph cables.

Jacob and John Watkins Brett formed the English Channel Submarine Telegraph Company to lay the first cable across the English Channel. An unarmoured cable with gutta-percha insulation was laid in 1850. The recently introduced gutta-percha was the first thermoplastic material available to cable makers and was resistant to seawater. This first unarmoured cable was a failure and was soon broken either by a French fishing boat or by abrasion on the rocks off the French coast. (Full article...)
Image 3

Replica of the Baby at the Science and Industry Museum in Castlefield, Manchester

The Manchester Baby, also called the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), was the first electronic stored-program computer. It was built at the University of Manchester by Frederic C. Williams, Tom Kilburn, and Geoff Tootill, and ran its first program on 21 June 1948.

The Baby was not intended to be a practical computing engine, but was instead designed as a testbed for the Williams tube, the first truly random-access memory. Described as "small and primitive" 50 years after its creation, it was the first working machine to contain all the elements essential to a modern electronic digital computer. As soon as the Baby had demonstrated the feasibility of its design, a project was initiated at the university to develop it into a full-scale operational machine, the Manchester Mark 1. The Mark 1 in turn quickly became the prototype for the Ferranti Mark 1, the world's first commercially available general-purpose computer. (Full article...)
Image 4

115 in 1896, in Conneaut, Ohio, with the barge 118 in the background

115 (also known as Barge 115, No.115, or Whaleback 115) was an American whaleback barge in service between 1891 and 1899. She was built between May and August 1891, in Superior, Wisconsin (or West Superior, Wisconsin) by Alexander McDougall's American Steel Barge Company, for the "McDougall fleet", based in Buffalo, New York. She was one of a class of distinctive, experimental ship designed and built by McDougall. The whalebacks were designed to be more stable in high seas. They had rounded decks, and lacked the normal straight sides seen on traditional lake freighters. 115 entered service on August 25, hauling iron ore from Superior.

In December 1899, while being towed by the whaleback freighter Colgate Hoyt from Two Harbors, Minnesota, for Lake Erie with a load of iron ore, the two vessels encountered a storm. After 40 hours of slow progress across Lake Superior, 115 broke away from Colgate Hoyt at 6:05 a.m., on December 13. Colgate Hoyt searched for her for four hours, but due to the scarcity of fuel on board, she was forced to proceed to Sault Ste. Marie. After drifting around Lake Superior for five days, 115 crashed into Pic Island, near Marathon, Ontario. Her crew made it to shore in a makeshift raft, walking for several days, before being located by crew from the Canadian Pacific Railway. (Full article...)
Image 5
Delaware Route 30 (DE 30) is a state highway in Sussex County, Delaware. The route runs from an intersection with DE 24 in Millsboro north to DE 1 Business (DE 1 Bus.) in Milford near the area of Lincoln and Cedar Creek. Along the way, DE 30 intersects U.S. Route 9 (US 9)/DE 404 in Gravel Hill, DE 16 west of Milton, and DE 1 at an interchange in Milford.

What is now DE 30 south of Gravel Hill was built as a state highway in various stages during the 1920s and 1930s. A short-lived DE 30 in the 1930s ran from DE 20 in Seaford north and east to DE 404 northwest of Bridgeville. The current DE 30 was first designated by 1938 to connect DE 24 in Millsboro to DE 5 in Milton. The route was rerouted to end at DE 14 (now DE 1) south of Milford by 1971. DE 30 was extended southwest from Millsboro to Bi-State Boulevard between Laurel and Delmar in 1994, heading south concurrent with DE 24, DE 26, and DE 54 between Millsboro and Gumboro before turning to the west. The route's northern terminus was moved to DE 1 Bus. by way of a new road by 2003. An interchange with DE 1 was completed in 2014. DE 30 formerly had an alternate route, DE 30 Alternate (DE 30 Alt.), that was created by 1999 to connect the route with DE 1 by way of Johnson Road and was removed by 2017. In 2022, the southern terminus was cut back to its current location. (Full article...)
Image 6
Park Road 30 (PR 30), also known as Balmorhea State Park Road, is a short Park Road located in the western region of the U.S. state of Texas. The route is 0.277 miles (0.446 km) long, and connects Balmorhea State Park to State Highway 17 (SH 17) in Toyahvale in southwestern Reeves County. The route is made up of several individual drives within the park. The route was first built by the CCC in the mid-1930s, and was designated as PR 30 in 1941. The highway is maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). (Full article...)
Image 7
The 7 Subway Extension is a subway extension of the New York City Subway's IRT Flushing Line, which is served by the 7 local and <7> express services. The extension stretches 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southwest from its previous terminus at Times Square, at Seventh Avenue and 41st Street, to one new station at 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue. A second station at 10th Avenue and 41st Street was dropped from the plans in October 2007. The entirety of the extension is located within the New York City borough of Manhattan. The extension, a key part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project, is expected to bring business and entertainment into the area, as well as aid redevelopment of nearby Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen, located around the Long Island Rail Road's West Side Yard. The extension also serves the nearby Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

The project was originally proposed in 2005 as part of the Hudson Yards project, which included the failed attempt to build the West Side Stadium for the New York Jets and the city's bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Although the stadium plan was rejected by the state legislature, the rest of the Hudson Yards rail yard development, including the 7 Subway Extension, went forward. Construction on the extension started in 2007. (Full article...)

More recognized articles

Selected picture

Image 1
Blender (software)
Image credit: Michael Otto
A pastoral scene of a lone house, composed using Blender, an open source 3D computer graphics software. Blender can be used for a number of applications and is available for a wide variety of operating systems.
More selected pictures
Image 2
Brusio spiral viaduct
Photo: David Gubler
The Bernina Express passing over the Brusio spiral viaduct. Located near Brusio, Graubünden, Switzerland, the single track nine-arched stone spiral railway viaduct was opened in 1908. It is part of the World Heritage-listed Bernina railway.
More selected pictures
Image 3
M198 howitzer
Photo credit: L Cpl. Samantha L. Jones, USMC
Nine Marines from Mike Battery, 4th Battalion, 14th Marines operate the 155mm M198 howitzer in November 2004. The battery was based at Camp Fallujah, Iraq and was supporting Operation Phantom Fury. All nine members of the M198 crew are present.
More selected pictures
Image 4
Commodore 64
Photo: Evan Amos
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced in 1982 by Commodore International. Its low retail price and easy availability led to the system becoming the market leader for three years. It remains the best-selling single personal computer model of all time.
More selected pictures
Image 5
Soyuz MS
Diagram credit: AstroBidules
The Soyuz MS is the latest revision of the Russian spacecraft series Soyuz. It is an evolution of the Soyuz TMA-M, with modernization mostly concentrated on its communications and navigation subsystems. The spacecraft is used by Roscosmos for human spaceflight. The Soyuz MS has minimal external changes with respect to the Soyuz TMA-M, mostly limited to antennas and sensors, as well as the thruster placement. The first launch, Soyuz MS-01, took place on 7 July 2016 aboard a Soyuz-FG launch vehicle towards the International Space Station. This exploded-view diagram illustrates and labels various components of the Soyuz MS spacecraft and the Soyuz-FG rocket.
More selected pictures
Image 6
Laptop computer
Credit: Mike McGregor
The OLPC XO-1 is an inexpensive subnotebook laptop computer intended to be distributed to children in developing countries.
'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-0000001B-QINU`"'
- More selected pictures
Image 7
Red telephone box
Photograph: Christoph Braun
A 'K6' model red telephone box outside of St Paul's Cathedral in London. These kiosks for a public telephone were designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and painted "currant red" for easy visibility. Although such telephone boxes ceased production when the KX series was introduced in 1985, they remain a common sight in Britain and some of its colonies, and are considered a British cultural icon.
More selected pictures
Image 8
New York City Subway
Map: CountZ
A transit map of the New York City Subway, one of the oldest and most extensive public transportation systems in the world. Operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York, it has 468 stations in operation on 209 mi (337 km) of routes, with 842 miles (1,355 km) of track. It is the busiest rapid transit rail system by annual ridership in the Western Hemisphere, and fifth busiest in the world. Its stations are located throughout the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Staten Island has its own rail line which is not part of the system, but is included in the map as well.
More selected pictures
Image 9
SOCATA TBM
Photograph credit: Michael Mainiero
The SOCATA TBM (now Daher TBM) is a family of high-performance single-engine turboprop business and utility light aircraft manufactured by Daher. This SOCATA TBM 900 was photographed in flight during the 2015 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh airshow in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The aircraft features a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-64 engine, and a five-blade carbon-fiber propeller, which increases performance and decreases cabin noise. In a passenger configuration, the pressurized cabin is typically fitted with highly finished interiors, featuring luxury materials such as leather and wood veneers.
More selected pictures
Image 10
GameCube
Photo: Evan Amos
The GameCube is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo beginning in 2001. Meant as a successor to the Nintendo 64, the GameCube sold approximately 22 million units worldwide. It was the third most-successful console of its generation, behind Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox. The GameCube was succeeded by the Wii in 2006.
More selected pictures
Image 11
Trojan Room coffee pot
Picture: Quentin Stafford-Fraser
The Trojan Room coffee pot was the inspiration for the world's first webcam. The coffee pot was located in the corridor just outside the so-called Trojan Room within the old Computer Laboratory of the University of Cambridge. The webcam was created in 1991 to help people working in other parts of the building avoid pointless trips to the coffee pot by providing, on the user's desktop computer, a live 128×128 pixel greyscale picture of the state of the coffee pot. The webcam was shut down on 22 August 2001, following the Computer Laboratory's move to the William Gates Building.
More selected pictures
Image 12
Wheel
Credit: fir0002
A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axial bearing. The wheel is one of the main components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines.
'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000018-QINU`"'
- More selected pictures
Image 13
Windmill
Photo credit: Michael Reeve
Pitstone Windmill, believed to be the oldest windmill in the British Isles

A windmill is an engine powered by wind energy. In Europe, windmills have been used since the Middle Ages. They were developed from the 12th century, apparently from technology gained by crusaders who came into contact with windmills in the Middle East. Persian sources indicate windmill use as early as the 7th century BC. In the United States, the development of water-pumping windmills was a major factor in allowing the farming of vast areas of North America.
More selected pictures
Image 14
Telephone
Credit: Berthold Werner
A telephone, or phone, is a telecommunications device that converts sound, typically the human voice, into electronic signals suitable for transmission via cables or other transmission media over long distances through satellite.
'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000019-QINU`"'
- More selected pictures
Image 15
Steam turbine
Photo credit: Christian Kuhna
The rotor of a modern steam turbine , which converts steam (heat) energy into kinetic (mechanical) energy. The steam path is from the smallest blade, expanding through progressively larger blade elements. Steam turbines are used in power plants to extract mechanical work from pressurized steam and benefit from their high efficiency and high power-to-weight ratio compared to other technologies, leading to their widespread deployment from electricity generation to marine propulsion.
More selected pictures
Image 16
Escalator
Credit: Stig Nygaard
An escalator is a moving staircase for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.
'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-0000001C-QINU`"'
- More selected pictures
Image 17
Windmills
Photograph: Uberprutser
A windmill is a mill that converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Traditional windmills were often used to mill grain, pump water, or both. Most modern windmills take the form of wind turbines used to generate electricity, or windpumps used to pump water, either for land drainage or to extract groundwater.

Here, the smock mill Goliath is viewed in front of the wind farm Growind in Eemshaven in the Netherlands.
More selected pictures
Image 18
Empire State Building
Image credit: Lewis Hine
A structural worker bolts beams on the framework during the construction of the Empire State Building in New York City. The 1,250-foot (380 m) building opened on May 1, 1931, at the time the tallest building in the world, overtaking the Chrysler Building (seen to the right), which had just been completed the year before. The addition of a pinnacle and antennas later increased its overall height to 1,472 feet (449 m).
More selected pictures
Image 19
Curiosity (rover)
Photograph: NASA
A self-portrait by the Mars rover Curiosity on October 31, 2012. The mosaic is stitched from a set of 55 images taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager at "Rocknest," the spot in Gale crater where the mission's first scoop sampling took place. Self-portraits such as this help NASA document the state of the rover and track changes, such as dust accumulation and wheel wear.
More selected pictures
Image 20
Overhead power line
Credit: Simon Koopmann
An overhead power line is a structure used in electric power transmission and distribution to transmit electrical energy along large distances. It consists of one or more conductors suspended by towers or utility poles.
'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-0000001A-QINU`"'
- More selected pictures

Did you know - show different entries

... that Thomas Hall made an electric train that received power from the rails on which it travelled instead of onboard batteries, a new technology at the time?
... that Flathead Lake Biological Station can detect invasive aquatic species in real-time using eDNA technology?
... that it was Caltech experimental physicist Rana X. Adhikari's idea to build a gravitational-wave observatory in India?
... that Peter Corby's electric trouser press used technology designed for Concorde?
... that touch-screen technology, pay-at-the-pump, car phones, and Coca-Cola Cherry were shown at the 1982 World's Fair?
... that several science fiction critics praised "Rock Diver", the first short story by American writer Harry Harrison, for its compelling take on technology for passing through matter?
... that OPTi Inc. won a patent suit against Apple for unauthorized use of "predictive snooping" technology?
... that Criccieth Castle combined the "latest advances in military technology" with the "haphazard Welsh castle building style"?

WikiProjects

Parent project

Technology

Related projects

Computer science

What are WikiProjects?

Main topics

News

See also: 2024 in science and technology

December 19, 2024 – Red Sea crisis: The United States Department of the Treasury announces sanctions on the governor of the Central Bank of Yemen in Sanaa, Yemen, and several Houthi officials and associated companies and vessels, accusing them of trafficking dual-use weapon components and Iranian petroleum to the Houthis. (Al Jazeera) (JNS)
December 4, 2024 – 2024 Cuba blackouts: Another round of blackouts in Cuba leave millions of households without power. The energy ministry says that it is prioritizing restoring electricity to hospitals and water pumping facilities. (Reuters)
November 16, 2024 – 2024 Wuxi stabbing attack: Eight people are killed and 17 others are injured in a stabbing spree at the Wuxi Institute of Technology in Yixing, Jiangsu, China. The suspect, a 21-year-old student, is arrested. (CNN) (Reuters)