Portal:Technology

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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

A white Orange HTC Dream with an AZERTY keyboard

The HTC Dream (also known as the T-Mobile G1 in the United States and parts of Europe, and as the Era G1 in Poland) is a smartphone developed by HTC. First released in September 2008 for $179 with a 2-year contract to T-Mobile, the Dream was the first commercially released device to use the Linux-based Android operating system, which was purchased and further developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance to create an open competitor to other major smartphone platforms of the time, such as Symbian, BlackBerry OS, and iPhone OS. The operating system offers a customizable graphical user interface, integration with Google services such as Gmail, a notification system that shows a list of recent messages pushed from apps, and Android Market for downloading additional apps. This operating system's debut would later be followed by the Samsung Galaxy i7500, the first in what would become the long-running Samsung Galaxy series.

The Dream was released to mostly positive reception. While the Dream was praised for its solid and robust hardware design, the introduction of the Android operating system was met with criticism for its lack of certain functionality and third-party software in comparison to more established platforms, but was still considered to be innovative due to its open nature, notifications system, and heavy integration with Google services, like Gmail. (Full article...)
Image 2

EMD SDP40F No. 629 with the San Francisco Zephyr in 1978.

The EMD SDP40F is a six-axle 3,000 hp (2.2 MW) C-C diesel–electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) from 1973 to 1974. Based on Santa Fe's EMD FP45, EMD built 150 for Amtrak, the operator of most intercity passenger trains in the United States. Amtrak, a private company but funded by the United States government, had begun operation in 1971 with a fleet of aging diesel locomotives inherited from various private railroads. The SDP40F was the first diesel locomotive built new for Amtrak and for a brief time they formed the backbone of the company's long-distance fleet.

A series of derailments in the mid-1970s shattered Amtrak's confidence in the locomotive, and many railroads banned it from their tracks. Multiple investigations pointed to issues with the locomotive's trucks, the weight of the water and steam generators used for train heating, the rough and poorly maintained tracks, or the harmonic vibration of baggage cars behind the locomotive. In 1977, Amtrak decided to retire the SDP40F in favor of the EMD F40PH, which was already in use on short-distance routes. Amtrak traded most of its fleet into EMD; the components were incorporated into new F40PHs. The remainder were traded to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) for use in freight service. The Santa Fe rebuilt the locomotives and designated them SDF40-2. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF), successor to the Santa Fe, retired them in 2002. One of them is preserved, that one being ex-Amtrak No. 644. (Full article...)
Image 3

Henry M. Crane, 1924

Henry Middlebrook Crane (June 16, 1874 – January 21, 1956) was an American engineer and pioneer in the automobile industry. He was the president of Crane Motor Car Company, vice president of engineering for the Simplex Automobile Company, and designed the Pontiac Six motor for General Motors.

Crame also designed speedboat motors for three American Power Boat Association Gold Cup champions and three Harmsworth Cup winners. During World War I, he designed and oversaw the production of airplane engines for Wright-Martin which were used by both French and United States warplanes. He also chaired the Liberty Engine Test Committee and helped create Loening Aeronautical Engineering Corporation, which developed and manufactured fighter planes. (Full article...)
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Pennsylvania Route 958 (PA 958, also designated by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation as SR 0958) is an 8.63-mile-long (13.89 km) state highway located in Warren County, Pennsylvania. The designation's southern terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Route 6 (US 6) in Pittsfield Township. The route heads through several small communities, including Lottsville, where it goes on a short concurrency with PA 957. The northern terminus is at the New York state line at Freehold Township, just east of Bear Lake. There, the route continues through New York as Chautauqua County Route 33 (CR 33). PA 958 was designated in 1928 as a connector from US 6 to the community of Wrightsville, where the designation terminated. The route was extended northward along its current alignment in 1936 and has remained unchanged since. (Full article...)
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M-155 was a signed state trunkline in the US state of Michigan that served as a spur route from Business Loop Interstate 96 (BL I-96) in Howell in Livingston County to the Hillcrest Center, the former Howell State Hospital. It was originally designated in the early 1930s and outlasted the hospital which closed in 1982. The roadway was removed from state maps after 1991 but remains under state maintenance as an unsigned trunkline listed as either M-155 or Old M-155. (Full article...)
Image 6
Pennsylvania Route 343 (PA 343) is an 8.16-mile (13.13 km) route running from Lebanon north to Fredericksburg in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. It begins at PA 72 and ends at Exit 6 of Interstate 78 (I-78). PA 343 heads mostly through urbanized areas near Lebanon before continuing into rural areas further north. There is a concurrency with U.S. Route 22 (US 22) near the northern terminus.

PA 343 has had a number of different realignments, most of them relating to the northern terminus of the highway. The highway originally terminated at an intersection with PA 443 in Lickdale, moved to end in the community of Bordnersville soon after. The highway was then extended along the local continuation to end at US 22 in Harper Tavern. In 1963, PA 343 was moved back to Lickdale, and seven years after, moved to its northern terminus, thirteen years after the construction of I-78. (Full article...)
Image 7

Voight, 1955 yearbook photo from Archbishop Stepinac High School

Barry Voight (/vɔɪt/; born 1937) is an American geologist, volcanologist, author, and engineer. After earning his Ph.D. at Columbia University, Voight worked as a professor of geology at several universities, including Pennsylvania State University, where he taught from 1964 until his retirement in 2005. He remains an emeritus professor there and still conducts research, focusing on rock mechanics, plate tectonics, disaster prevention, and geotechnical engineering.

In April 1980, Voight's publications on landslides, avalanches, and other mass movements attracted the attention of Rocky Crandell of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), who asked him to look at a growing bulge on the Mount St. Helens volcano in the state of Washington. Voight foresaw the collapse of the mountain's north flank as well as a powerful eruption. His predictions came true when St. Helens erupted in May 1980; Voight was then hired by the USGS to investigate the debris avalanche that initiated the eruption. After his work at Mount St. Helens brought him international recognition, Voight continued researching and guiding monitoring efforts at several active volcanoes throughout his career, including Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia, Mount Merapi in Indonesia, and Soufrière Hills, a volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. For his research, publications, and disaster prevention work as a volcanologist and engineer, Voight has been honored with numerous awards, appointments, and medals. (Full article...)

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Image 1
Apple Bandai Pippin
Photograph: Evan Amos
The Apple Bandai Pippin is a multimedia technology console designed by Apple Computer based on the Apple Pippin platform, and produced by Bandai. Only 100,000 of the consoles were produced between its 1996 release and 1997 discontinuation. The Bandai Pippin was intended to create an inexpensive computer aimed mostly at playing CD-based multimedia software, especially games, but also functioning as a thin client.
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Image 2
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-0000001B-QINU`"'
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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.
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Image 4
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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Image 5
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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Image 6
Aerospike engine
Photo credit: Marshall Space Flight Center
A test firing of twin linear XRS-2200 aerospike engines, originally built for the Lockheed Martin X-33, a next-generation, commercially operated reusable launch vehicle. The aerospike engine is a type of rocket engine that maintains its efficiency across a wide range of altitudes through the use of an aerospike nozzle. A vehicle with an aerospike engine uses 25-30% less fuel at low altitudes, where most missions have the greatest need for thrust.
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Image 7
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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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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John Herschel
Photograph: Julia Margaret Cameron; restoration: Adam Cuerden
John Herschel was an English mathematician, astronomer, chemist, inventor, and experimental photographer. He named seven moons of Saturn and four moons of Uranus, invented the cyanotype and actinometer, and wrote extensively on topics including meteorology, physical geography and the telescope.
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Image 10
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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Image 11
N700 Series Shinkansen
Photograph credit: Dllu

The N700 Series Shinkansen is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train with tilting capability developed jointly by JR Central and JR West. It has been used on the Tokaido and San'yō Shinkansen lines since 2007. This photograph shows the train travelling at approximately 300 km/h through Himeji Station, and was captured with a line scan camera using strip photography.
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Image 12
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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Image 13
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.
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Image 14
Semi-trailer truck
Diagram: H Padleckas and Ju gatsu mikka
A diagram showing a side and underside view of an 18-wheeler semi-trailer truck with an enclosed cargo space. The underside view shows the arrangement of the wheels, and in blue, the axles, drive shaft, and differentials.

The numbered parts are:

'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000019-QINU`"'

#tractor unit
#semi-trailer (detachable)
#engine compartment
#cabin
#sleeper (not present in all trucks)
#air dam
#fuel tanks
#fifth-wheel coupling
#enclosed cargo space
#landing gear (legs for when semi-trailer is detached)
#tandem axles

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Image 15
Jet engine
Diagram: Jeff Dahl
A diagram of a typical turbojet engine. Air is compressed as it enters the engine, and is mixed with fuel that burns in the combustion section. Released through the exhaust, the resulting hot gases provide forward thrust and turn the turbines that drive the fan blades of the compressor.
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Image 16
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.
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Image 17
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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Image 18
Four-stroke cycle
Photo credit: Eric Pierce
The four-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine is the cycle most commonly used for automotive and industrial purposes today, including cars, trucks, and generators.

The cycle was invented by Nikolaus Otto in 1876, and is also called the Otto cycle. The cycle is characterized by four strokes, or straight movements in a single direction, of the piston.
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Image 19
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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Image 20
Mechanical advantage
Image credit: Prolineserver/Tomia
This 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.
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Main topics

General images - load new batch

The following are images from various technology-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Edison electric light bulbs 1879–80 (from History of technology)
Image 23D printer (from Emerging technologies)
Image 3Newcomen steam engine for pumping mines (from History of technology)
Image 4'BUILD YOUR OWN TELEVISION RECEIVER.' Science and Invention magazine cover, November 1928 (from Invention)
Image 5Clock from Salisbury Cathedral, ca. 1386 (from History of technology)
Image 6A 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 7The 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 8NASA Fuel cell stack
Direct-methanol cell (from Emerging technologies)
Image 9Self-replicating 3D printer (from Emerging technologies)
Image 10An axehead made of iron, dating from the Swedish Iron Age (from History of technology)
Image 11Eric M. C. Tigerstedt (1887–1925) was known as a pioneer of sound-on-film technology. Tigerstedt in 1915. (from Invention)
Image 12Johannes Gutenberg's printing press was voted the most important invention of the second millennium. (from Invention)
Image 13Pont du Gard in France, a Roman aqueduct (from History of technology)
Image 14The preserved Rocket (from History of technology)
Image 15Dome of Florence Cathedral (from History of technology)
Image 16Ford assembly line, 1913. The magneto assembly line was the first. (from History of technology)
Image 17Walls at Sacsayhuaman (from History of technology)
Image 18A water-powered mine hoist used for raising ore, ca. 1556 (from History of technology)
Image 19Agriculture preceded writing in the history of technology. (from History of technology)
Image 20Alessandro Volta with the first electrical battery. Volta is recognized as an influential inventor. (from Invention)
Image 21Top 30 AI patent applicants in 2016 (from Emerging technologies)
Image 22Design for a flying machine (c.1488) by da Vinci (from History of technology)
Image 23A variety of stone tools (from History of technology)
Image 24The compartmented water wheel, here its overshot version (from History of technology)
Image 25Thomas Edison with his second phonograph, photographed by Levin Corbin Handy in Washington, April 1878 (from History of technology)
Image 26Solid-state air batteries
Li-Air composition (from Emerging technologies)
Image 27A late Bronze Age sword or dagger blade (from History of technology)

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

... 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 ice XVII (structure shown) potentially has a use in green technology as a medium for storing hydrogen?
... that Peter Corby's electric trouser press used technology designed for Concorde?
... that Flathead Lake Biological Station can detect invasive aquatic species in real-time using eDNA technology?
... 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?
... that touch-screen technology, pay-at-the-pump, car phones, and Coca-Cola Cherry were shown at the 1982 World's Fair?
... 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?

News

See also: 2024 in science and technology

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)
September 23, 2024 –: Swedish lithium-ion technology developer Northvolt announces revised company operational scopes and its intention to layoff 1,600 workers in the country. (CBC)