The making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function.
Questions tagged [technology]
176 questions
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Are 1 to 4 tons of coal required to create only one solar panel?
In the There's No Tomorrow video, they affirm several things about solar panels (and a lot of other things).
The one I'm the most curious about is this:
All the world's photovoltaic solar panels generate as much electricity as two coal power…
jeromej
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Is the porn industry important in the adoption of new technology or media?
I constantly see people and articles referencing how porn drove the adoption of the Internet, VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, Mobile, insert your technology of choice, etc.
Now I'm not discounting he popularity of "adult entertainment" on those mediums but I've…
orj
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21
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Does recharging a battery when it is only half-way dead decrease its life span?
One thing many manufactures of laptops and cellphones recommend is that you wait until the battery is completely dead before you recharge it or else it will slowly loose its maximum capacity or have a reduced lifespan. To what extent is this true?…
TheEnigmaMachine
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Did Burmese typewriters contain an upside-down character, which subsequently became proper typewriter style?
I was reading about the Internet Archive's work to archive the materials of a famous New York City typewriter family:
http://blog.archive.org/2020/08/26/an-archive-of-a-different-type/
I was interested in reading more about this anecdote, but was…
pkamb
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Is micro rebar a better way to reinforce concrete than rebar?
Helix Steel's site claims that the small wires (twisted steel micro rebar) they created are a good replacement to a typical rebar concrete reinforcement if not even better.
a reinforcement technology that could product provide quantifiably
better…
Grasper
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20
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Did Coinstar add a delay and fake noises because people didn't believe a machine could count coins quickly?
I saw a post on Reddit claiming that Coinstar machines are extremely fast at counting coins, but that the company had to introduce a delay and fake noises to the machines because customers didn't trust the accuracy of the machines at such a high…
pacoverflow
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Is there existing technology to make it rain or to dissipate clouds?
I heard (example article) that the Chinese government caused it to rain before and during the Olympics to reduce pollution levels.
Does reliable technology currently exist that could trigger rain within a reasonable area and does technology exist…
going
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Do removable faceplates on car stereos deter theft?
Everyone has probably seen a car stereo head unit with a removable face plate; the idea being you can take the faceplate with you to deter theft. The claim is specifically made in this product description, for example:
Removable Faceplate
The…
Flimzy
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Does a cell phone emit 1000 times more radiation when its battery is low?
Found this gem on G+:
The rest seems all extremely circumstantial except the very last item. The 'radiation' they're talking about, I'm assuming, is electromagnetic radiation - which would be weaker by a low battery, not stronger.
Any evidence…
Christopher
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Are Hummers more environmentally friendly than Prius?
I've heard this rumor a few times (example). The argument is that it takes energy to make the car, and when you take into account how long each car will last on the road, driving Prius's over a large number of miles will end up requiring more…
BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
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18
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Did a 19 year old Egyptian student invent a new space propulsion system?
I've seen reports that a 19 year old Egyptian student has invented a new space propulsion system.
For example, The Daily Mail:
Two mirrors used to generate power using weird quantum physics
Leapfrogs Nasa research into same subject
19-year-old…
gerrit
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Has copyright piracy halved in New Zealand since their "three strikes" rule?
According to the BBC article US piracy crackdown delayed until 2013, dated November 29, 2012:
New Zealand claims that piracy has halved since it introduced a "three strikes" rule.
After a little searching, it turns out by "New Zealand" the BBC…
Brian M. Hunt
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Does never charging a laptop battery to more than 80% capacity increase its lifespan?
In relation to Does recharging a battery when it is only half-way dead decrease its life span? I read an article about Maximizing the lifespan of a laptop battery where Samsung puts it:
Most battery damage occurs when the cells inside are at or…
Aske B.
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16
votes
1 answer
Did ARM sell more chips in 2015 than Intel has in its entire history?
Japanese telecom firm SoftBank has recently launched an agreed takeover bid for UK chip designer ARM (which doesn't make chips but designs them and has provided the overwhelming majority of technology used in mobile phone CPUs among many other…
matt_black
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Is this video showing an Apple engineer discussing the new MacBook (2015) authentic?
This seems to be a video going viral online and some people are claiming it is legitimate.
It depicts an Apple employee mocking Apple's new MacBook for not having any type-A USB ports (used for normal USB) and for having a weak CPU.
You can find it…
Tim Reddy
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