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

View of the station platform and concourse

Bright Hill MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit station on the Thomson–East Coast line (TEL). Situated along Sin Ming Avenue in western Bishan, Singapore, it serves various residential estates around the station. It also serves landmarks such as Peirce Secondary School, Ai Tong School, Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park and the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery.

First announced as Sin Ming MRT station in August 2012, the station was constructed as part of TEL Phase 2 (TEL 2). Since the station was built in a heavily developed area, the bored piles were installed using specialised machinery due to hard granite at the site. In January 2019, it was announced that the station will become an interchange with the future Cross Island line (CRL). (Full article...)
Image 2
The Finnieston Crane with a soldier abseiling from the tip

The Finnieston Crane or Stobcross Crane is a disused giant cantilever crane in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It is no longer operational, but is retained as a symbol of the city's engineering heritage. The crane was used for loading cargo, in particular steam locomotives, onto ships to be exported around the world.

It is one of four such cranes on the River Clyde, a fifth one having been demolished in 2007, and one of only eleven giant cantilever cranes remaining worldwide. (Full article...)
Image 3
K-181 is a 70.2-mile-long (113.0 km) north–south state highway which runs through several counties in the north central part of the U.S. state of Kansas. K-181's southern terminus is at K-232 southeast of Lucas by Wilson Lake Dam, and the northern terminus is at U.S. Highway 36 (US-36) and US-281 south of Lebanon. Along the way the highway intersects US-24 and K-9 in Downs.

Before state highways were numbered in Kansas, the section of K-181 from the Solomon River north to Downs was part of the Roosevelt National Highway and Kansas White Way auto trails. A short section from Sylvan Grove southward was part of the Sunflower Trail. When K-181 was first designated on January 7, 1937, it extended from US-24 northward to US-36 and US-281. Then between 1948 and 1972, it was gradually extended southward to its current alignment. (Full article...)
Image 4
Coal in Turkey generated a third of the nation's electricity in 2023. There are 55 active coal-fired power stations with a total capacity of 21 gigawatts (GW). In 2023 coal imports for electricity generation cost 3.7 billion USD.

Air pollution from coal-fired power stations is damaging public health, and it is estimated that a coal phase-out by 2030 instead of by the 2050s would save over 100,000 lives. Flue gas emission limits were improved in 2020, but data from mandatory reporting of emission levels is not made public. Turkey has not ratified the Gothenburg Protocol, which limits fine dust polluting other countries. As of 2023 official health impact assessment is not done in Turkey. (Full article...)
Image 5
Pennsylvania Route 664 (PA 664, designated by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation as SR 0664) is a 17.59-mile-long (28.31 km) state highway located in Clinton and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at PA 120 in Lock Haven, while the northern terminus is at PA 44 on the Clinton-Lycoming county line in the community of Haneyville. The route passes through small communities, but does not intersect with any other legislated highways in the area.

The route was assigned in 1930, two years after a majority of state routes were assigned, and was gradually paved from 1935 to 1966. There have been no changes in road alignment since its inception. (Full article...)
Image 6

Map of Western Australia with Great Northern Highway highlighted in red

Great Northern Highway is an Australian highway that links Western Australia's capital city Perth with its northernmost port, Wyndham. With a length of almost 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi), it is the longest highway in Australia, with the majority included as part of the Perth Darwin National Highway. The highway, which travels through remote areas of the state, is constructed as a sealed, predominantly two-lane single carriageway, but with some single-lane bridges in the Kimberley. Economically, it provides vital access through the Wheatbelt and Mid West to the resource-rich regions of the Pilbara and Kimberley. In these areas, the key industries of mining, agriculture and pastoral stations, and tourism are all dependent on the highway.

In Perth, the highway begins in Midland near Great Eastern Highway, and further north intersects the Reid and Roe highways, which together form Perth's ring road. There are also three rural highways that spur off Great Northern Highway. Brand Highway and North West Coastal Highway provide an alternative coastal route between Muchea and Port Hedland, while Victoria Highway carries the National Highway route and interstate traffic into the Northern Territory. Various road routes are allocated to sections of Great Northern Highway, including the Highway 1 routes National Route 1 and National Highway 1, as well as National Highway 95. (Full article...)
Image 7
Maryland Route 355 (MD 355) is a 36.75-mile (59.14 km) north–south road in western central Maryland in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is in Bethesda in Montgomery County, where Wisconsin Avenue meets the county's border with Washington, D.C. The northern terminus is just north of a bridge over Interstate 70 (I-70)/U.S. Route 40 (US 40) in the city of Frederick in Frederick County, where the road continues north as Market Street through Frederick towards MD 26.

MD 355 serves as a major thoroughfare through Frederick and Montgomery counties, passing through Bethesda, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Clarksburg, Hyattstown, Urbana, and Frederick, roughly parallel to I-270. The southern portion of the route from the Washington, D.C., border to Germantown is a suburban four- to six-lane divided highway lined with many businesses. North of Germantown, the route is predominantly a two-lane rural road until it reaches Frederick, where it passes through commercial areas in the southern part of the city. The road changes names along its route: from south to north, it is called Wisconsin Avenue, Rockville Pike, Hungerford Drive, Frederick Road, and Urbana Pike. (Full article...)

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Image 1
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 2
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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Image 3
Walchensee Hydroelectric Power Station
Photograph credit: Diego Delso
The Walchensee Hydroelectric Power Station is a storage power station in Bavaria, Germany. The turbines, seen here, are fed by water from the Walchensee which is then released into the Kochelsee. The power station uses the hydraulic head of about 200 metres (660 ft) between the two natural lakes, and water from the Rißbach river is also used to augment the supply. The installed capacity is 124 MW with an annual production of 300 GWh; this is one of the largest of such power plants in Germany.
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Image 4
Keypunch
Picture: Unknown; restoration: Mmxx
A woman using a Hollerith pantograph, a machine developed by Herman Hollerith for the punching of cards, providing data which could then be processed. Such tools were used in the 1890 United States Census, the first time the country's census was tabulated by machine.
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Image 5
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 6
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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Image 7
Movable type
Photo credit: Willi Heidelbach
A composing stick and movable type, the system of printing and typography using pieces of metal type, made by casting from matrices struck by letterpunches. The text on the stick reads, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog and feels as if he were in the seventh heaven of typography together with Hermann Zapf, the most famous artist of the" [sic].
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Image 8
AgustaWestland AW109
Photo: Ikiwaner
An Agusta A109 rescue helicopter leaves Mount Pilatus, near Lucerne, Switzerland, after recovering a patient. Later renamed AgustaWestland AW109, the A109 is a helicopter manufactured by Agusta (now AgustaWestland) of Italy. It is a light-weight, twin-engine, eight-seat multi-purpose craft.
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Image 9
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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Image 10
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 11
Geneva drive
Animation: Mike1024
The Geneva drive is a gear mechanism that translates a continuous rotation into an intermittent rotary motion. The rotating drive wheel has a pin that reaches into a slot of the driven wheel advancing it by one step. The drive wheel also has a raised circular blocking disc that locks the driven wheel in position between steps. Such a mechanism is used in film projectors, watches, and indexing tables, among others.
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Image 12
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 13
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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Image 14
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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Image 15
Micrometer
Photograph: Lucasbosch
A 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.
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Image 16
Parabolic antenna
Photo credit: Richard Bartz
A parabolic antenna, a high-gain reflector antenna used for radio, television and data communications, at Erdfunkstelle Raisting, the largest facility for satellite communication in the world, based in Raisting, Bavaria, Germany. Parabolic antennas work by reflecting electromagnetic radiation off the paraboloid dish to or from the feed horn (center), for reception or transmission respectively.
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Image 17
Filling station
Photograph: Uwe Aranas
A 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.
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Image 18
STS-119
Photo: NASA
This photo of the International Space Station (ISS) was taken during STS-119, a Space Shuttle mission that delivered and assembled the fourth starboard Integrated Truss Segment, and the final set of solar arrays and batteries to the station. Construction of the ISS is still ongoing and is scheduled to complete in December 2011.
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Image 19
Trojan Room coffee pot
Picture: Quentin Stafford-Fraser
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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Image 20
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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Main topics

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

Image 1Solid-state air batteries
Li-Air composition (from Emerging technologies)
Image 2An axehead made of iron, dating from the Swedish Iron Age (from History of technology)
Image 3NASA Fuel cell stack
Direct-methanol cell (from Emerging technologies)
Image 4Self-replicating 3D printer (from Emerging technologies)
Image 5A variety of stone tools (from History of technology)
Image 6Ford assembly line, 1913. The magneto assembly line was the first. (from History of technology)
Image 7The preserved Rocket (from History of technology)
Image 8Design for a flying machine (c.1488) by da Vinci (from History of technology)
Image 9The 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 10Eric M. C. Tigerstedt (1887–1925) was known as a pioneer of sound-on-film technology. Tigerstedt in 1915. (from Invention)
Image 11Agriculture preceded writing in the history of technology. (from History of technology)
Image 12'BUILD YOUR OWN TELEVISION RECEIVER.' Science and Invention magazine cover, November 1928 (from Invention)
Image 133D printer (from Emerging technologies)
Image 14Johannes Gutenberg's printing press was voted the most important invention of the second millennium. (from Invention)
Image 15Clock from Salisbury Cathedral, ca. 1386 (from History of technology)
Image 16A late Bronze Age sword or dagger blade (from History of technology)
Image 17Pont du Gard in France, a Roman aqueduct (from History of technology)
Image 18Edison electric light bulbs 1879–80 (from History of technology)
Image 19Walls at Sacsayhuaman (from History of technology)
Image 20A water-powered mine hoist used for raising ore, ca. 1556 (from History of technology)
Image 21Dome of Florence Cathedral (from History of technology)
Image 22The compartmented water wheel, here its overshot version (from History of technology)
Image 23A 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 24Newcomen steam engine for pumping mines (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 26Top 30 AI patent applicants in 2016 (from Emerging technologies)
Image 27Alessandro Volta with the first electrical battery. Volta is recognized as an influential inventor. (from Invention)

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 OPTi Inc. won a patent suit against Apple for unauthorized use of "predictive snooping" technology?
... that touch-screen technology, pay-at-the-pump, car phones, and Coca-Cola Cherry were shown at the 1982 World's Fair?
... 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 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?
... that Criccieth Castle combined the "latest advances in military technology" with the "haphazard Welsh castle building style"?

News

See also: 2024 in science and technology

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)
August 21, 2024 –: With regards to the rapid growth of the artificial intelligence market, Bloomberg alleges that technology companies are "concealing their actual carbon footprints" by invoking outdated emissions accounting rules. (Bloomberg)
August 18, 2024 – Libyan crisis: The Central Bank of Libya suspends all operations following the kidnapping of the head of its information technology department by an unknown party. (Reuters)