At 3 gigahertz, a processor has only a third of a nanosecond between clock ticks, enough time for light to travel about 10 centimetres in vacuum before real interconnects, logic gates and capacitance shrink the distance a signal can cross on the chip
At 3 gigahertz, a processor has only a third of a nanosecond between clock ticks, enough time for light to travel about 10 centimetres in vacuum before real interconnects, logic gates and capacitance shrink the distance a signal can cross on the chip A…
In 1968, Douglas Engelbart sat before roughly 1,000 computing professionals in San Francisco and demonstrated the mouse, hypertext, video conferencing and shared-screen editing in one 90-minute session, a concentrated glimpse of the interactive computer future later remembered as the Mother of All Demos
In 1968, Douglas Engelbart sat before roughly 1,000 computing professionals in San Francisco and demonstrated the mouse, hypertext, video conferencing and shared-screen editing in one 90-minute session, a concentrated glimpse of the interactive computer…
The GPS satellites orbiting 20,200 kilometres overhead run their clocks about 38 microseconds faster per day than clocks on the ground — without Einstein’s relativity correcting for it, GPS would drift by roughly 10 kilometres every 24 hours
The GPS satellites orbiting 20,200 kilometres overhead run their clocks about 38 microseconds faster per day than clocks on the ground — without Einstein’s relativity correcting for it, GPS would drift by roughly 10 kilometres every 24 hours The…
Your phone does not actually know how much battery it has left; a fuel-gauge chip estimates the percentage from current, voltage, temperature, and a model of the cell, with a late correction sometimes turning 15 percent into 3 percent in less than a minute
Your phone does not actually know how much battery it has left; a fuel-gauge chip estimates the percentage from current, voltage, temperature, and a model of the cell, with a late correction sometimes turning 15 percent into 3 percent in less than a…
Voyager 1 is still transmitting from more than 25 billion kilometres away, powered by less than 250 watts of decaying plutonium — a signal that now takes over 23 hours to reach Earth, carried by a radio no stronger than a refrigerator lightbulb
Voyager 1 is still transmitting from more than 25 billion kilometres away, powered by less than 250 watts of decaying plutonium — a signal that now takes over 23 hours to reach Earth, carried by a radio no stronger than a refrigerator lightbulb On 5…
Apple has quietly become the largest watchmaker in the world by unit sales, shipping more than twice as many watches as the entire Swiss industry combined — but the Swiss industry, which dismissed the Apple Watch in 2015, has discovered something more interesting: they’ve held onto the high end, and Rolex alone is now closing in on Apple Watch by revenue
Apple has quietly become the largest watchmaker in the world by unit sales, shipping more than twice as many watches as the entire Swiss industry combined — but the Swiss industry, which dismissed the Apple Watch in 2015, has discovered something more…
Sony’s PlayStation 2 was so computationally advanced when it launched in 2000 that the government of Iraq reportedly imported over 4,000 of the gaming consoles — sparking an intense military investigation over fears that the systems would be chained together to build a crude, low-cost supercomputer capable of guiding long-range missiles
Sony’s PlayStation 2 was so computationally advanced when it launched in 2000 that the government of Iraq reportedly imported over 4,000 of the gaming consoles — sparking an intense military investigation over fears that the systems would be…
The Big Ear telescope was scanning at 1420.4056 megahertz on the night of 15 August 1977, the exact frequency at which hydrogen atoms vibrate across the universe, because Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison had argued years earlier that any species trying to be found would broadcast on that channel — and then, for 72 seconds, something did.
The Big Ear telescope was scanning at 1420.4056 megahertz on the night of 15 August 1977, the exact frequency at which hydrogen atoms vibrate across the universe, because Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison had argued years earlier that any species…
In 1982, a Soviet pipeline suddenly exploded with the force of a tactical nuclear weapon, and the disaster was traced back to a stolen piece of Canadian pipeline software — and years later, it was revealed the CIA had intentionally allowed the KGB to steal the code, after subtly altering the software’s logic to trigger a catastrophic pressure surge months down the line.
In 1982, a Soviet pipeline suddenly exploded with the force of a tactical nuclear weapon, and the disaster was traced back to a stolen piece of Canadian pipeline software — and years later, it was revealed the CIA had intentionally allowed the KGB to…
In the small hours of 2 September 1859, a telegraph operator in Portland, Maine disconnected his batteries because they were throwing sparks, and then discovered he could still send a clean message to Boston using nothing but the current the aurora was pushing through the wire above his head.
In the small hours of 2 September 1859, a telegraph operator in Portland, Maine disconnected his batteries because they were throwing sparks, and then discovered he could still send a clean message to Boston using nothing but the current the aurora was…