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.

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Monster Truck Madness is a racing video game developed by Terminal Reality and published by Microsoft. It was released in North America on September 9, 1996. The game has twelve monster trucks and tasks the player with beating computer opponents. Checkpoints, multiple hidden shortcuts, and interactable objects commonly appear in the tracks. In the garage, the player modifies the truck to account for terrain surfaces. Online multiplayer is accessed with a modem, a local area network (LAN), or TCP/IP.

Terminal Reality designed Monster Truck Madness to accurately simulate monster truck events and replicate the titular off-road vehicles. The developer hired announcer Armey Armstrong to perform sports commentary. Monster Truck Madness received a massive following, and video game publications generally praised its gameplay, graphics, and physics. It is the first entry in Microsoft's Madness series of racing titles, which included Motocross Madness and Midtown Madness. Monster Truck Madness was followed by a sequel, Monster Truck Madness 2. Terminal Reality developed another off-road truck racing game, 4x4 Evo. (Full article...)
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Software maintenance is the modification of software after delivery.

As per the IEEE standard glossary of software engineering terminology, software maintenance refers to the process of modifying and updating software after its initial development and deployment, to correct faults, improve performance or other attributes, add new features to meet evolving user requirements, or adapt to a changed environment. It is important to emphasize that software maintenance thus involves many activities that go beyond mere bug fixing. Software maintenance is an ongoing process that is essential for the longevity of a software system, to keep it effective, adaptable and relevant in an ever-evolving technological landscape. (Full article...)
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Southbound view from Platform 2 as seen in August 2008

Kensington (Olympia) is an interchange station located in Kensington, in West London for London Overground and National Rail services. Limited London Underground services also run here.

Services are provided by London Overground, who manage the station, along with Southern and London Underground. It is in Travelcard Zone 2. On the Underground it is the terminus of a short District line branch from Earl's Court, originally built as part of the Middle Circle. On the main-line railway it is on the West London Line from Clapham Junction to Willesden Junction, by which trains bypass inner London. The station's name is drawn from its location in Kensington and the adjacent Olympia exhibition centre in West Kensington. (Full article...)
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S2-AGU, the aircraft involved, seen in February 2016

US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, that crashed on 12 March 2018 while landing, killing 51 of the 71 people aboard. The aircraft, a 76-seat Bombardier Q400 operated by US-Bangla Airlines, burst into flames after the crash. The 20 surviving passengers were seriously injured from the impact and the fire. It remains the deadliest aviation disaster involving a Bangladeshi airline, and the deadliest incident involving the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400.

A commission appointed by the government of Nepal investigated the accident and issued a report that concluded that the probable cause of the crash was pilot disorientation and a loss of situational awareness on the part of the flight crew. The report was criticized by the airline and by the Bangladeshi representative to the commission, who felt that the air traffic controllers at Tribhuvan International Airport had not done their job properly and could have prevented the accident. (Full article...)
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Route 284 is a 7.03-mile (11.31 km) state highway in New Jersey, United States, running from Route 23 in Sussex north to the New York state line in Wantage Township. From there, New York State Route 284 (NY 284) continues north to U.S. Route 6 (US 6) at Slate Hill. The route is a connector to Unionville, and intersects with an old alignment of its original designation, Route 84. Route 284 was first a part of Route 8 in the 1920s, becoming Route 8N in 1927 and Route 84 in 1942 before being assigned its current number in 1966. (Full article...)
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M-93 is the designation of a state trunkline highway in the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. It links both Camp Grayling and Hartwick Pines State Park with Interstate 75 (I-75). Both termini of M-93 end at locations, rather than junctions with another road. The western end of M-93 ends in a traffic circle before it turns into Howe Road as it travels through Camp Grayling. The highway dates back to 1919 as a connection with the predecessor to Camp Grayling. Since that time, it has been extended through Grayling along first US Highway 27 (US 27) and now Business Loop I-75 (BL 75) to connect with the state park. (Full article...)
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M-60 is an east–west state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan. It runs from the Niles area at a junction with US Highway 12 (US 12) to the Jackson area where it ends at Interstate 94 (I-94). The trunkline passes through a mix of farm fields and woodlands, crosses or runs along several rivers and connects several small towns of the southern area of the state. The westernmost segment runs along divided highway while the easternmost section is a full freeway bypass of Jackson.

M-60 was originally designed in 1919 with the rest of the state highway system in Michigan. It ran roughly along its current route connecting downtown Niles to downtown Jackson. In the mid-1920s, the western end was extended to New Buffalo; since then several bypasses of the smaller towns along the highway were added. One of these bypasses resulted in the creation of an alternate route (Alternate M-60, Alt. M-60) through Concord; that route has since been decommissioned. When Niles was bypassed in the 1950s, a business loop (Business M-60, Bus. M-60) was created through town. After the western end was truncated to its current location, that business loop was converted to a business spur. (Full article...)

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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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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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Rail transport
Photograph: David Gubler
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. The oldest, man-hauled railways date to the 6th century B.C.; the method grew more popular after the introduction of steam locomotives in the 19th century. Here we can see four BNSF GE C44-9W diesel locomotives hauling a mixed freight train along the Columbia River in the US.
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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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Let L-410 Turbolet
Photo: Łukasz Golowanow
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.
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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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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.
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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.
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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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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.
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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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Stockwell Garage
Photograph: David Iliff
An 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.
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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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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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Burj Khalifa
Photograph: Donald Y Tong
Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and currently the tallest man-made structure in the world, at 829.8 m (2,722 ft). It was designed to be the centerpiece of a large-scale, mixed-use development known as Downtown Dubai. Construction took over five years, and the skyscraper was officially opened in January 2010.
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BMW S1000RR
Photograph credit: Stefan Krause
The BMW S1000RR is a sport bike made by BMW Motorrad. It was introduced in 2008, initially for competition in the 2009 Superbike World Championship, and has been in commercial production since then. Powered by a 999 cc (61.0 cu in) four-cylinder engine, redlined at 14,200 rpm, it delivers 133.6 kW (179.2 hp; 181.6 PS) to the rear wheel, making it the most powerful motorcycle in the class. Rubén Xaus and Troy Corser rode the bike for its inaugural Superbike World Championship in 2009, gaining highest finishes of fifth and seventh respectively, but it achieved greater success in the 2010 FIM Superstock 1000 championship season, with rider Ayrton Badovini winning every single race but one on the S1000RR.
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Mazda RX-8
Photo credit: Fir0002
The Mazda RX-8 sports car is a front mid-engine, rear-wheel drive four-seat coupé manufactured by Mazda Motor Corporation. It is the successor to the RX-7 and, like its predecessors in the RX range, it is powered by a rotary engine. The RX-8 began North American sales in the 2004 model year.
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Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech Ring
Painting: Laura Knight
Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech Ring is a 1943 painting by the British painter Laura Knight depicting a young woman, Ruby Loftus (1921–2004), working at an industrial lathe as part of the British war effort in World War II. The painting was commissioned by the War Artists' Advisory Committee, and is now part of the Imperial War Museum's art collection. The painting brought instant fame to Loftus, and has been likened to the American figure of "Rosie the Riveter".
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Image 19
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-00000018-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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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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Main topics

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

Image 1Alessandro Volta with the first electrical battery. Volta is recognized as an influential inventor. (from Invention)
Image 2A water-powered mine hoist used for raising ore, ca. 1556 (from History of technology)
Image 3NASA Fuel cell stack
Direct-methanol cell (from Emerging technologies)
Image 4'BUILD YOUR OWN TELEVISION RECEIVER.' Science and Invention magazine cover, November 1928 (from Invention)
Image 5An axehead made of iron, dating from the Swedish Iron Age (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 7A late Bronze Age sword or dagger blade (from History of technology)
Image 8The preserved Rocket (from History of technology)
Image 9Top 30 AI patent applicants in 2016 (from Emerging technologies)
Image 10Eric M. C. Tigerstedt (1887–1925) was known as a pioneer of sound-on-film technology. Tigerstedt in 1915. (from Invention)
Image 11Pont du Gard in France, a Roman aqueduct (from History of technology)
Image 12Ford assembly line, 1913. The magneto assembly line was the first. (from History of technology)
Image 13The 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 14Dome of Florence Cathedral (from History of technology)
Image 15Thomas Edison with his second phonograph, photographed by Levin Corbin Handy in Washington, April 1878 (from History of technology)
Image 16Solid-state air batteries
Li-Air composition (from Emerging technologies)
Image 17The compartmented water wheel, here its overshot version (from History of technology)
Image 183D printer (from Emerging technologies)
Image 19Design for a flying machine (c.1488) by da Vinci (from History of technology)
Image 20Self-replicating 3D printer (from Emerging technologies)
Image 21Walls at Sacsayhuaman (from History of technology)
Image 22Edison electric light bulbs 1879–80 (from History of technology)
Image 23Clock from Salisbury Cathedral, ca. 1386 (from History of technology)
Image 24Newcomen steam engine for pumping mines (from History of technology)
Image 25A variety of stone tools (from History of technology)
Image 26Johannes Gutenberg's printing press was voted the most important invention of the second millennium. (from Invention)
Image 27Agriculture preceded writing in the history of technology. (from History of technology)

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

... that Flathead Lake Biological Station can detect invasive aquatic species in real-time using eDNA technology?
... that touch-screen technology, pay-at-the-pump, car phones, and Coca-Cola Cherry were shown at the 1982 World's Fair?
... that ice XVII (structure shown) potentially has a use in green technology as a medium for storing hydrogen?
... that Suresh Jadhav led the development of the COVID-19 vaccine marketed as Covishield?
... that Guy Parmelin, now President of Switzerland, opened the study program of cyber security of the Lucerne School of Information Technology in 2018?
... 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 Peter Corby's electric trouser press used technology designed for Concorde?
... that OPTi Inc. won a patent suit against Apple for unauthorized use of "predictive snooping" technology?

News

See also: 2024 in science and technology

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)
September 13, 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine: Reuters reports that Russia has begun production of thousands of Garpiya-A1 long-range combat drones used against Ukrainian civilian and military targets, that incorporate engines, parts, and technology from China. (Reuters)