Portal:Technology
The Technology Portal
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...)
Recognized articles -
Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
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State Route 432 (SR 432) is a 10.32-mile-long (16.61 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Washington, serving the cities of Longview and Kelso in Cowlitz County. The highway travels east along the Columbia River from an intersection with SR 4 in West Longview through the Port of Longview and the termini of SR 433 and SR 411 in Longview. SR 432 crosses the Cowlitz River on a divided highway and ends at an interchange with Interstate 5 (I-5) in Kelso. SR 432 was established during the 1964 highway renumbering as SR 832, replacing a branch of Primary State Highway 12 (PSH 12) that had been routed through Longview and Kelso since 1937. SR 432 was established in 1968 and originally routed on Nichols Boulevard within Longview and was re-aligned onto its current route in 1991 after the opening of Industrial Way. (Full article...) -
Analogue filters are a basic building block of signal processing much used in electronics. Amongst their many applications are the separation of an audio signal before application to bass, mid-range, and tweeter loudspeakers; the combining and later separation of multiple telephone conversations onto a single channel; the selection of a chosen radio station in a radio receiver and rejection of others.
Passive linear electronic analogue filters are those filters which can be described with linear differential equations (linear); they are composed of capacitors, inductors and, sometimes, resistors (passive) and are designed to operate on continuously varying analogue signals. There are many linear filters which are not analogue in implementation (digital filter), and there are many electronic filters which may not have a passive topology – both of which may have the same transfer function of the filters described in this article. Analogue filters are most often used in wave filtering applications, that is, where it is required to pass particular frequency components and to reject others from analogue (continuous-time) signals. (Full article...) -
Baron Pavel Lvovitch Schilling (1786–1837), also known as Paul Schilling, was a Russian inventor, military officer and diplomat of Baltic German origin. The majority of his career was spent working for the imperial Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a language officer at the Russian embassy in Munich. As a military officer, he took part in the War of the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon. In his later career, he was transferred to the Asian department of the ministry and undertook a tour of Mongolia to collect ancient manuscripts.
Schilling is best known for his pioneering work in electrical telegraphy, which he undertook at his own initiative. While in Munich, he worked with Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring who was developing an electrochemical telegraph. Schilling developed the first electromagnetic telegraph that was of practical use. Schilling's design was a needle telegraph using magnetised needles suspended by a thread over a current-carrying coil. His design also greatly reduced the number of wires compared to Sömmerring's system by the use of binary coding. Tsar Nicholas I planned to install Schilling's telegraph on a link to Kronstadt, but cancelled the project after Schilling died. (Full article...)
On August 12, 1853, two Providence and Worcester Railroad passenger trains collided head-on in Valley Falls, Rhode Island. The collision took place between a southbound excursion train and a regularly scheduled northbound train. The accident resulted in 14 fatalities and a further 17 serious injuries; an unknown number of passengers suffered less severe injuries.
The investigation into the accident found the conductor of the southbound train responsible, as he allowed his train to proceed south with only four minutes of time available rather than the five mandated by the timetable to clear a section of single track between Valley Falls and Pawtucket before a northbound train was due. The use of timetables and personal watches to avoid accidents, instead of a proper railroad signaling system, was also found to be unsafe. Following the collision, the Providence and Worcester Railroad installed double track on its mainline to prevent another collision from occurring. A coordinated railroad time was mandated in wake of the wreck, forming the first time zone in the United States. The collision is believed to be the first to ever be photographed. (Full article...)
Ellen Southard was an American full-rigged merchant ship from Bath, Maine that was built in 1863 by prominent shipbuilder T.J. Southard. She plied international trade routes for twelve years, calling at ports as far away as Sydney.
On 27 September 1875, the ship wrecked in the mouth of the Mersey River at Liverpool during a hurricane-strength storm. Shore-based lifeboats crewed mainly by volunteers set out from several lifeboat stations to the aid of the distressed ship after it foundered on a sandbank. One of the lifeboats capsized in heavy seas after picking up the ship's crew, resulting in nine people from the ship as well as three rescuers losing their lives. (Full article...)
M-64 is a north–south state trunkline highway in the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. It runs for approximately 63+3⁄4 miles (102.6 km) through the western part of the state in land that is part of the Ottawa National Forest. The highway connects with County Trunk Highway B (CTH-B) at the state line near Presque Isle, Wisconsin. As it passes through dense forests, M-64 runs along lakes Gogebic and Superior. The northern end is at a junction with US Highway 45 (US 45) in Ontonagon.
The M-64 designation was used on two other separate highways before it was used for the current highway. The first was at the other end of the state near the Ohio state line, and the second was on the Keweenaw Peninsula near Eagle Harbor. The current highway has carried the M-64 moniker since 1930, when it was assigned along two disconnected highways. These two parts were joined into a single corridor soon after. M-64 was one of the last highways in the state of Michigan to be paved in 1961. In the early part of the 21st century, the state replaced the bridge over the Ontonagon River and shifted the highway's northern terminus. (Full article...)
The M-64 designation was used on two other separate highways before it was used for the current highway. The first was at the other end of the state near the Ohio state line, and the second was on the Keweenaw Peninsula near Eagle Harbor. The current highway has carried the M-64 moniker since 1930, when it was assigned along two disconnected highways. These two parts were joined into a single corridor soon after. M-64 was one of the last highways in the state of Michigan to be paved in 1961. In the early part of the 21st century, the state replaced the bridge over the Ontonagon River and shifted the highway's northern terminus. (Full article...)
DNS Certification Authority Authorization (CAA) is an Internet security policy mechanism that allows domain name holders to indicate to certificate authorities whether they are authorized to issue digital certificates for a particular domain name. It does this by means of a "CAA" Domain Name System (DNS) resource record.
It was drafted by computer scientists Phillip Hallam-Baker and Rob Stradling in response to increasing concerns about the security of publicly trusted certificate authorities. It is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) proposed standard. (Full article...)
It was drafted by computer scientists Phillip Hallam-Baker and Rob Stradling in response to increasing concerns about the security of publicly trusted certificate authorities. It is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) proposed standard. (Full article...)
Selected picture
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Photograph: Diego DelsoThe Assut de l'Or Bridge is a white single-pylon cable-stayed bridge in the City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia, Spain. Completed in 2008, it was designed by Valencian architect and civil engineer Santiago Calatrava as a variant of his cantilever spar cable-stayed bridge in Seville. -
Photograph: NASAA 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. -
Photo credit: Hans HillewaertWind turbines belonging to the Thorntonbank Wind Farm located in the North Sea, 28 km (17 mi) off the coast of Belgium. Electricity generation started in early 2009, with an initial capacity of 30 MW, and that number is expected to rise to 300 MW by 2015. A 37 km (23 mi) 150 kV undersea cable connects the wind farm to the shore. -
Photograph: LucasboschA micrometer is a device incorporating a calibrated screw, widely used for precise measurement of components in mechanical engineering and machining. Micrometers are usually, but not always, in the form of calipers (opposing ends joined by a frame). The spindle is a very accurately machined screw and the object to be measured is placed between the spindle and the anvil. The spindle is moved by turning the ratchet knob or thimble until the object to be measured is lightly touched by both the spindle and the anvil. -
Image credit: Joaquim Alves GasparAn animation showing how to use a vernier caliper, which is a caliper that uses a vernier scale to interpolate linear measurements. Vernier calipers can measure internal and external dimensions using, respectively, the uppermost and lower jaws, and also depths, using the depth probe (located at the right end). In this example, the first two digits (2.4) are decided by the location of the zero of the vernier scale in the centimeter scale, and the last digit (0.07), by the first line of the vernier scale that exactly matches a line of the centimeter scale above. -
Photo credit: Eric PierceThe pin tumbler lock is a lock mechanism that utilizes a group of pins of varying lengths to prevent opening the lock without the correct key. Pin tumblers are most commonly employed in cylinder locks, but may also be found in tubular or radial locks.
When the correct key is inserted, the gaps between the key pins (red) and driver pins (blue) align with the edge of the plug (yellow). -
Image credit: WikipedianProlificAn animated cut-away diagram of a typical fuel injector, which is used to spray controlled amounts of petrol (gasoline) into an internal combustion engine. A solenoid is activated when fuel is intended to be delivered to the engine, causing the plunger to become pulled toward the solenoid by magnetic force. This uncovers the valve opening, allowing fuel to flow into the atomiser and out the spray tip. The route of fuel is shown in orange; grey/blue indicates no fuel present. -
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.
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Credit: Mike McGregorThe OLPC XO-1 is an inexpensive subnotebook laptop computer intended to be distributed to children in developing countries. -
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Photograph: Uwe AranasA filling station in Sabah, Malaysia, operated by Royal Dutch Shell. Filling stations, also known under a wide variety of names, are facilities that sell fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. They include one or more fuel dispensers, which distribute fuels such as gasoline and diesel into the tanks within vehicles and calculate the financial cost of the fuel transferred. Filling stations may also include air compressors and electricity sockets, which may inflate tyres or offer charging stations. Many filling stations also incorporate a convenience store, where customers can purchase snacks and other goods. -
The Let L-410 Turbolet is a twin-engined short-range transport aircraft, manufactured by the Czech aircraft manufacturer LET, mostly used for passenger transport. The L-410 first flew in 1969, and with more than 1100 produced, is the most popular 19-seat plane in history. -
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.
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Credit: Berthold WernerA 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. -
Image credit: FastfissionSchematic representation of the two methods with which to assemble an atomic bomb. An A-bomb produces its explosive energy through nuclear fission reactions alone. A mass of fissile material (enriched uranium or plutonium) is assembled into a supercritical mass—the amount of material needed to start an exponentially growing nuclear chain reaction—either by shooting one piece of sub-critical material into another (the "gun" method, shown on top here), or by compressing a sub-critical sphere of material using chemical explosives to many times its original density (the "implosion" method, at bottom). -
Photograph: David IliffAn interior view of Stockwell Garage, a large bus garage in Stockwell, London, designed by Adie, Button and Partners and opened in 1952. The 393-foot-long (120 m) roof structure, seen here, is supported by ten very shallow "two-hinged" arched ribs, between which are cantilevered barrel vaults topped by large skylights. The garage, which could originally hold 200 buses, has been a Grade II* Listed Building since 1988. -
Photograph: ULPower Aero EnginesThe ULPower UL260i, a flat-four engine produced by ULPower Aero Engines of Belgium. Flat-four engines are flat engines with four cylinders arranged horizontally in two banks of two cylinders on each side of a central crankcase; they can be used in cars, motorcycles, or aircraft. This type of engine tends to be well-balanced and have efficient cooling, but is expensive to manufacture and considerably wider than other engines. -
Image credit: Prolineserver/TomiaThis diagram of four pulley systems illustrates how increasing the number of pulleys increases the mechanical advantage, making the load easier to lift. MA is the factor by which a mechanism multiplies the force put into it. In this diagram, 100 newtons is required to lift the weight off the ground. Each additional pulley increases the MA such that the four-pulley system only needs 25 newtons to accomplish the same task, but the rope must be pulled four times as far. -
Photograph credit: Langley Research Center; restored by Adam CuerdenMary Jackson (1921–2005) was an African American mathematician and aerospace engineer at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, which was succeeded by NASA in 1958. For most of her career, she worked at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia; starting as a computer at the segregated West Area Computing division, she later took advanced engineering classes and, in 1958, became NASA's first black female engineer.
After 34 years at NASA, Jackson had earned the most senior engineering title available. Realizing that she could not earn further promotions without becoming a supervisor, she accepted a demotion to become a manager of the Federal Women's Program in the NASA Office of Equal Opportunity Programs, as well as of the Affirmative Action Program. In this role, she worked to influence both the hiring and promotion of women in NASA's science, engineering and mathematics careers. She was portrayed by Janelle Monáe as a lead character in the 2016 film Hidden Figures. This picture, taken in 1980, shows Jackson working at NASA Langley. -
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.
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General images -
The following are images from various technology-related articles on Wikipedia.
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Edison electric light bulbs 1879–80 (from History of technology) -
Thomas Edison with his second phonograph, photographed by Levin Corbin Handy in Washington, April 1878 (from History of technology) -
'BUILD YOUR OWN TELEVISION RECEIVER.' Science and Invention magazine cover, November 1928 (from Invention) -
The preserved Rocket (from History of technology) -
Agriculture preceded writing in the history of technology. (from History of technology) -
Dome of Florence Cathedral (from History of technology) -
Newcomen steam engine for pumping mines (from History of technology) -
A variety of stone tools (from History of technology) -
3D printer (from Emerging technologies) -
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A late Bronze Age sword or dagger blade (from History of technology) -
Design for a flying machine (c.1488) by da Vinci (from History of technology) -
The wheel, invented sometime before the 4th millennium BC, is one of the most ubiquitous and important technologies. This detail of the "Standard of Ur", c. 2500 BCE., displays a Sumerian chariot. (from History of technology) -
Eric M. C. Tigerstedt (1887–1925) was known as a pioneer of sound-on-film technology. Tigerstedt in 1915. (from Invention) -
Pont du Gard in France, a Roman aqueduct (from History of technology) -
Ford assembly line, 1913. The magneto assembly line was the first. (from History of technology) -
A rare 1884 photo showing the experimental recording of voice patterns by a photographic process at the Alexander Graham Bell Laboratory in Washington, D.C. Many of their experimental designs panned out in failure. (from Invention) -
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Alessandro Volta with the first electrical battery. Volta is recognized as an influential inventor. (from Invention) -
Top 30 AI patent applicants in 2016 (from Emerging technologies) -
A water-powered mine hoist used for raising ore, ca. 1556 (from History of technology) -
Johannes Gutenberg's printing press was voted the most important invention of the second millennium. (from Invention) -
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Walls at Sacsayhuaman (from History of technology) -
The compartmented water wheel, here its overshot version (from History of technology) -
Self-replicating 3D printer (from Emerging technologies) -
Clock from Salisbury Cathedral, ca. 1386 (from History of technology)
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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Guy Parmelin, now President of Switzerland, opened the study program of cyber security of the Lucerne School of Information Technology in 2018?
- ... that it was Caltech experimental physicist Rana X. Adhikari's idea to build a gravitational-wave observatory in India?
- ... 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 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 Peter Corby's electric trouser press used technology designed for Concorde?
- ... that Henry E. Sigerist felt "depressed" after reading A History of Science, Technology, and Philosophy in the 16th and 17th Centuries?
- ... that Flathead Lake Biological Station can detect invasive aquatic species in real-time using eDNA technology?
- ... that Mary Earle was born near Ben Nevis, and although she became a professor of food technology in New Zealand, she never forgot her Scottish roots?
Top 10 WikiProject Technology popular articles of the month
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Elon Reeve Musk (/ˈiːlɒn/; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman known for his key roles in the space company SpaceX and the automotive company Tesla, Inc. Other involvements include ownership of X Corp., the company that operates the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), and his role in the founding of the Boring Company, xAI, Neuralink, and OpenAI. In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced Musk is set to become co-chair of the proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the second Trump administration. Musk is the wealthiest individual in the world; as of November 2024 Forbes estimates his net worth to be US$304 billion. (Full article...)
YouTube is an American online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States, it is the second-most visited website in the world, after Google Search. In January 2024, YouTube had more than 2.7 billion monthly active users, who collectively watched more than one billion hours of videos every day. As of May 2019, videos were being uploaded to the platform at a rate of more than 500 hours of content per minute, and as of 2023, there were approximately 14 billion videos in total. (Full article...)
ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by OpenAI and launched in 2022. It is based on the GPT-4o large language model (LLM). ChatGPT can generate human-like conversational responses, and enables users to refine and steer a conversation towards a desired length, format, style, level of detail, and language. It is credited with accelerating the AI boom, which has led to ongoing rapid investment in and public attention to the field of artificial intelligence. Some observers have raised concern about the potential of ChatGPT and similar programs to displace human intelligence, enable plagiarism, or fuel misinformation. (Full article...)
WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content. WhatsApp's client application runs on mobile devices, and can be accessed from computers. The service requires a cellular mobile telephone number to sign up. In January 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business app called WhatsApp Business which can communicate with the standard WhatsApp client. (Full article...)
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by American technology conglomerate Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes, its name derives from the face book directories often given to American university students. Membership was initially limited to Harvard students, gradually expanding to other North American universities. Since 2006, Facebook allows everyone to register from 13 years old, except in the case of a handful of nations, where the age limit is 14 years. As of December 2022, Facebook claimed almost 3 billion monthly active users. As of October 2023, Facebook ranked as the third-most-visited website in the world, with 22.56% of its traffic coming from the United States. It was the most downloaded mobile app of the 2010s. (Full article...)
Google LLC (/ˈɡuːɡəl/ GOO-gəl) is an American-based multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial intelligence (AI). It has been referred to as "the most powerful company in the world" and is one of the world's most valuable brands due to its market dominance, data collection, and technological advantages in the field of AI. Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., is one of the five Big Tech companies, alongside Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft. (Full article...)
Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon (/ˈæməzɒn/, AM-ə-zon; UK also /ˈæməzən/, AM-ə-zən), is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevue, Washington, the company originally started as an online marketplace for books but gradually expanded its offerings to include a wide range of product categories, referred to as "The Everything Store". Today, Amazon is considered one of the Big Five American technology companies, the other four being Alphabet, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft. (Full article...)
