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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

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

Image 1
M-27 is a north–south state trunkline highway in the extreme north of the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The trunkline runs between Interstate 75 (I-75) just north of Indian River and Cheboygan, where it meets US Highway 23 (US 23) near Lake Huron. It remains as a relic of the old US 27 which disappeared north of Grayling after being supplanted by I-75, which lies close to old US 27 between Grayling and Indian River. (Full article...)
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King's Highway 114, commonly referred to as Highway 114, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was one of the shortest highways ever assigned in the province, at just 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) in length. The route followed Malden Road for its entire length between Highway 3 and Highway 98. Part of the original provincial highway network created in 1920, Highway 114 was created in 1953 out of a route renumbering. Prior to 1953, it had been numbered Highway 2A from 1929 until 1931, Highway 3A from 1931 until 1938, and Highway 98A from 1938 until 1953. Today, Malden Road is an unnumbered local road. (Full article...)
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Route 102 is a highway in southeastern Missouri. The route starts at Route 105 near East Prairie. It travels southeastwards through farmland to Big Oak Tree State Park. The road then turns east past the entrance to the park, and ends at its eastern terminus at Route 77 in Dorena. The route was designated in 1940, as a road from the state park to a supplemental route. Route 102 replaced a large section of the supplemental route in 1961, and then was extended eastwards to a new terminus at Route 77 in 1994. (Full article...)
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Air-Cobot (Aircraft Inspection enhanced by smaRt & Collaborative rOBOT) is a French research and development project of a wheeled collaborative mobile robot able to inspect aircraft during maintenance operations. This multi-partner project involves research laboratories and industry. Research around this prototype was developed in three domains: autonomous navigation, human-robot collaboration and nondestructive testing.

Air-Cobot is presented as the first wheeled robot able to perform visual inspections of aircraft. Inspection robots using other types of sensors have been considered before, such as the European project Robair. Since the launch of the project, other solutions based on image processing began to be developed, such as EasyJet with a drone, the swarm of drones from Toulouse company Donecle and the Aircam project of the aerospace manufacturer Airbus. (Full article...)
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The Supermarine Commercial Amphibian (originally named the Supermarine Amphibian, later designated N147 by the British Air Ministry) was a passenger-carrying flying boat. The first aircraft to be designed by Supermarine's Reginald Mitchell, it was built at the company's works at Woolston, Southampton, for an Air Ministry competition that took place during September 1920. Based on the Supermarine Channel, the Amphibian was a biplane flying boat with a single engine, a wooden hull, unequal wingspans and a 350 horsepower (260 kW) Rolls-Royce Eagle engine. The pilot sat in an open cockpit behind two passengers.

The Commercial Amphibian finished second in the competition, but was judged the best of the three entrants in terms of design and reliability, and as a result the prize money of £4,000 (equivalent to £193,010 in 2023)^[1] was doubled. In October 1920 it crashed and was damaged beyond repair, and no more Commercial Amphibians were built, but on the strength of the performance of the aircraft during the competition, Supermarine was commissioned to make a prototype three-seater Fleet Spotter Amphibian, later named the Supermarine Seal II. (Full article...)
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The Buenos Aires Underground (Spanish: Subterráneo de Buenos Aires), locally known as Subte (Spanish: [ˈsuβte]), is a rapid transit system that serves the area of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first section of this network (Plaza de Mayo–Plaza Miserere) opened in 1913, making it the 13th earliest subway network in the world and the first underground railway in Latin America, the Southern Hemisphere, and the Spanish-speaking world, with the Madrid Metro opening nearly six years later, in 1919. As of 2023, Buenos Aires is the only Argentine city with a metro system.

Currently, the underground network's six lines—A, B, C, D, E, and H—comprise 56.7 kilometers (35.2 mi) of routes that serve 90 stations. The network is complemented by the 7.4-kilometre-long (4.6 mi) Premetro line, and the 26-kilometre-long (16 mi) Urquiza suburban line, with 17 more stations in total. Traffic on lines moves on the left because Argentina drove on the left at the time the system opened. Over a million passengers use the network, which also provides connections with the city's extensive commuter rail and bus rapid transport networks. (Full article...)
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Route 99, also known as the Woonsocket Industrial Highway, is a 2.9-mile-long (4.7 km) freeway in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. Route 99 serves Manville and the Highland Industrial Park, providing freeway access to the city of Woonsocket from Rhode Island Route 146, which bypasses the city. The southern terminus of Route 99 is at a partial interchange with Route 146 in Lincoln. The freeway has one interchange in Manville, a village in Lincoln, before terminating at an at-grade intersection with Rhode Island Route 122 in Woonsocket.

Originally conceived as a freeway linking Route 146 and Interstate 295 with Interstate 495 in Bellingham, Massachusetts, Route 99 was constructed primarily to provide freeway access to Woonsocket and the developing Highland Industrial Park. Although originally proposed to serve Downtown Woonsocket, an alternate routing that terminated at Route 122 and ran closer to the Woonsocket–Cumberland border was later constructed by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT). The four-lane freeway began construction in 1987 and was completed in 1993. RIDOT has long-range plans to extend Route 99 north to Route 114 in Downtown Woonsocket, but plans for a northerly extension to I-495 have been abandoned. (Full article...)

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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.
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Caliper
Image credit: Joaquim Alves Gaspar
An 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.
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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.
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Sukhoi Su-30
Photo: Sergey Krivchikov
The Sukhoi Su-30 is a twin-engine, two-seat supermanoeuverable fighter aircraft developed by Russia's Sukhoi Aviation Corporation. It is a multirole fighter for all-weather, air-to-air and air-to-surface deep interdiction missions. Its primary users are Russia, India, China, Venezuela, and Malaysia.
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Kitty Joyner
Photograph: NACA
Kitty Joyner (1916–1993) was an American electrical engineer with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and then the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She was hired in 1939 as the organization's first woman engineer, shortly after she had become the first woman to graduate from the University of Virginia's engineering program.
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Bucket-wheel excavators
Photograph: Raimond Spekking
Bucket-wheel excavators (BWEs) are heavy equipment used in surface mining. The primary function of a BWE is to act as a continuous digging machine in large-scale open pit mining operations. These BWEs were photographed at the Garzweiler surface mine in Germany.
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Laptop computer
Credit: Mike McGregor
The OLPC XO-1 is an inexpensive subnotebook laptop computer intended to be distributed to children in developing countries.
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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.
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Fuel injection
Image credit: WikipedianProlific
An 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.
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Thomas Edison
Photo: Bachrach Studios; Restoration: Michel Vuijlsteke
Thomas Edison (1847–1931) was an American inventor, scientist and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" (now Edison, New Jersey) by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large teamwork to the process of invention, and therefore is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory. Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,093 U.S. patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
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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.
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George Washington Carver
Photo: Arthur Rothstein; Restoration: Lise Broer
A portrait of George Washington Carver, American scientist, botanist, educator and inventor, from 1942. Much of Carver's fame is based on his research into and promotion of alternative crops to cotton, such as peanuts and sweet potatoes. In addition to his work on agricultural extension education for purposes of advocacy of sustainable agriculture and appreciation of plants and nature, Carver's important accomplishments also included improvement of racial relations, mentoring children, poetry, painting, and religion. One of his most important roles was in undermining, through the fame of his achievements and many talents, the widespread stereotype of the time that the black race was intellectually inferior to the white race.
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Nesjavellir
Photo credit: Gretar Ívarsson
The Nesjavellir geothermal power plant, located near Þingvellir, Iceland is the largest of five such plants in the country. Because of the high concentration of volcanoes in Iceland, geothermal energy is so inexpensive that in the wintertime, some pavements in Reykjavík and Akureyri are heated.
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Thorntonbank Wind Farm
Photo credit: Hans Hillewaert
Wind 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.
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Image 15
Wiesen Viaduct
Photograph: David Gubler
The Wiesen Viaduct is a single-track railway viaduct (concrete blocks with dimension stone coverage) which spans the Landwasser southwest of the hamlet of Wiesen, Switzerland. Designed by Henning Friedrich, then the chief engineer of the Rhaetian Railway, it was built between 1906 and 1909 by the contractor G. Marasi (Westermann & Cie, Zürich) under the supervision of P. Salaz and Hans Studer (RhB). The Rhaetian Railway still owns and uses the viaduct today for regular service with 29 passenger trains per day. An important element of the Davos–Filisur railway, the viaduct is 88.9 metres (292 ft) high, 210 metres (690 ft) long, and has a main span of 55 metres (180 ft). In 1926, the viaduct was the inspiration for Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's painting Brücke bei Wiesen.
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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.
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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.
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Flat-four engine
Photograph: ULPower Aero Engines
The 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.
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Image 19
MS Majesty of the Seas
Photo credit: UpstateNYer
MS Majesty of the Seas is a Sovereign class cruise ship owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International, a cruise line based in Miami, Florida. Her sister ship MS Sovereign of the Seas was the largest cruise ship in the world at the time of its completion in 1988.
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Image 20
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).
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The following are images from various technology-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Thomas Edison with his second phonograph, photographed by Levin Corbin Handy in Washington, April 1878 (from History of technology)
Image 2Alessandro Volta with the first electrical battery. Volta is recognized as an influential inventor. (from Invention)
Image 3Solid-state air batteries
Li-Air composition (from Emerging technologies)
Image 4Agriculture preceded writing in the history of technology. (from History of technology)
Image 5Eric M. C. Tigerstedt (1887–1925) was known as a pioneer of sound-on-film technology. Tigerstedt in 1915. (from Invention)
Image 6Pont du Gard in France, a Roman aqueduct (from History of technology)
Image 7A water-powered mine hoist used for raising ore, ca. 1556 (from History of technology)
Image 8Design for a flying machine (c.1488) by da Vinci (from History of technology)
Image 9Self-replicating 3D printer (from Emerging technologies)
Image 10'BUILD YOUR OWN TELEVISION RECEIVER.' Science and Invention magazine cover, November 1928 (from Invention)
Image 11Clock from Salisbury Cathedral, ca. 1386 (from History of technology)
Image 12Newcomen steam engine for pumping mines (from History of technology)
Image 13A 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)
Image 14Tech history timeline (from History of technology)
Image 153D printer (from Emerging technologies)
Image 16Dome of Florence Cathedral (from History of technology)
Image 17The 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)
Image 18NASA Fuel cell stack
Direct-methanol cell (from Emerging technologies)
Image 19Johannes Gutenberg's printing press was voted the most important invention of the second millennium. (from Invention)
Image 20An axehead made of iron, dating from the Swedish Iron Age (from History of technology)
Image 21A late Bronze Age sword or dagger blade (from History of technology)
Image 22Top 30 AI patent applicants in 2016 (from Emerging technologies)
Image 23Walls at Sacsayhuaman (from History of technology)
Image 24Ford assembly line, 1913. The magneto assembly line was the first. (from History of technology)
Image 25A variety of stone tools (from History of technology)
Image 26The compartmented water wheel, here its overshot version (from History of technology)
Image 27Edison electric light bulbs 1879–80 (from History of technology)
Image 28The preserved Rocket (from History of technology)

Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

... that Henry E. Sigerist felt "depressed" after reading A History of Science, Technology, and Philosophy in the 16th and 17th Centuries?
... that ice XVII (structure shown) potentially has a use in green technology as a medium for storing hydrogen?
... 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 Kathanar – The Wild Sorcerer is being shot on a custom-built studio spanning 45,000 square feet (4,200 m²), utilizing the virtual production technology?
... that Peter Corby's electric trouser press used technology designed for Concorde?
... that Criccieth Castle combined the "latest advances in military technology" with the "haphazard Welsh castle building style"?
... that Justin Yu, the current Classic Tetris World Champion, is also a cellist in MIT's video game orchestra?

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)

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^ United Kingdom Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth "consistent series" supplied in Thomas, Ryland; Williamson, Samuel H. (2024). "What Was the U.K. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved July 15, 2024.

[inflation-UKGDP-1] United Kingdom Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth "consistent series" supplied in Thomas, Ryland; Williamson, Samuel H. (2024). "What Was the U.K. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved July 15, 2024.

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