Portal:Technology

The Technology Portal

P:TECHP: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
The missing aircraft (9M-MRO) seen in 2013.

The analysis of communications between Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and Inmarsat's satellite telecommunication network provide the primary source of information about Flight 370's location and possible in-flight events after it disappeared from military radar coverage at 02:22 Malaysia Standard Time (MYT) on 8 March 2014 (17:22 UTC, 7 March), one hour after communication with air traffic control ended and the aircraft departed from its planned flight path while over the South China Sea.

Flight 370 was a scheduled commercial flight with 227 passengers and 12 crew which departed Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at 0:41 and was scheduled to land in Beijing, China, at 6:30 China Standard Time (6:30 MYT; 22:30 UTC, 7 March). Malaysia has worked in conjunction with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to co-ordinate the analysis, which has also involved the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch, Inmarsat, and US National Transportation Safety Board. Other groups have also made efforts to analyse the satellite communications, albeit challenged by a lack of publicly available information for several months after the disappearance. On 29 July 2015, debris was discovered on Réunion Island which was later confirmed to have come from Flight 370; it is the first physical evidence that Flight 370 ended in the Indian Ocean. (Full article...)
Image 2
The Manchester and Bolton Railway was a railway in the historic county of Lancashire, England, connecting Salford to Bolton. It was built by the proprietors of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Navigation and Railway Company who had in 1831 converted from a canal company. The 10-mile (16 km) long railway was originally to have been built upon most of the line of the canal, but it was eventually built alongside the Salford and Bolton arms of the canal. The act of Parliament, the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal and Railway Act 1831 (1 & 2 Will. 4. c. lx), also allowed the construction of a connection to Bury, but technical constraints meant that it was never built.

The railway required significant earthworks, including a 295-yard (270 m) tunnel. The railway termini were at Salford railway station and Trinity Street station in Bolton. The railway was opened in 1838 to passenger and freight services. In 1841 it was extended to Preston, and in 1844 to Victoria railway station in Manchester. It amalgamated with the Manchester and Leeds Railway in 1846. (Full article...)
Image 3
U.S. Route 220 (US 220) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from Rockingham, North Carolina, to South Waverly, Pennsylvania. In Maryland, the federal highway runs 27.30 miles (43.94 km) from the West Virginia state line at the North Branch Potomac River in McCoole north to the Pennsylvania state line in Dickens. Known as McMullen Highway for much of its length in Maryland, US 220 is the primary north–south route in central Allegany County, connecting Cumberland with its southern suburbs and Keyser, West Virginia, to the south and Bedford, Pennsylvania, to the north. The federal highway is part of the National Highway System between the West Virginia state line and Maryland Route 53 (MD 53) in Cresaptown and between Interstate 68 (I-68), with which it is concurrent through Cumberland, and the Pennsylvania state line.

The road to Bedford was paved within the city of Cumberland by 1910 and constructed north to Pennsylvania in the 1910s. This highway comprised the southernmost portion of US 220 when the U.S. Highway System was established in 1927. McMullen Highway was constructed starting from Cumberland and finishing in McCoole in the 1920s. When that highway was completed around 1930, US 220 was extended south into West Virginia. Both the northern and southern portions of the federal highway were reconstructed in the 1940s and 1950s, including a new bridge over the North Branch Potomac River. US 220 was rerouted within Cumberland multiple times before being placed on I-68 in the early 1980s to bypass downtown Cumberland. The bypass of Bedford Road between I-68 and the Pennsylvania state line opened in 2000. A new bridge over the North Branch Potomac River was completed in 2013. In addition, relocation of the highway from I-68 south into West Virginia is under consideration. (Full article...)
Image 4

Platforms A and C in 2024, now labelled platforms C and D, of Tanah Merah station

Tanah Merah MRT station (/ˈtɑːnɑː ˌmeɪrɑː, -ˌmɛrɑː/ TAH-nah MAY-rah) is an elevated Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the East–West Line (EWL). Located in Bedok, Singapore, the station is along New Upper Changi Road and serves various residential developments, including Casa Merah. It is the terminus of the EWL branch to Changi Airport station.

Tentatively named Changi during its construction, the station opened on 4 November 1989. The station began to serve the Changi Airport branch on 10 January 2001 following the opening of Expo station. On 25 May 2019, it was announced that Tanah Merah station would interchange with the Thomson–East Coast Line (TEL) when TEL takes over the Changi Airport branch following its extension to Changi Airport Terminal 5 by the mid-2030s. (Full article...)
Image 5
King's Highway 29, commonly referred to as Highway 29, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The 52.29-kilometre (32.49 mi) route connected Highway 2 (King Street) in downtown Brockville with Highway 15 (Lombard Street) south of Smiths Falls. Between those larger settlements, it provided access to the communities of Forthton, Addison, Frankville, Toledo and Newbliss.

When Highway 29 was established in 1927, it consisted of two separated halves. One half connected Brockville with Smiths Falls, while the other connected Carleton Place with Arnprior; Highway 15 provided the only provincial highway link between Smiths Falls and Carleton Place, via Perth. The missing link was filled in 1936. The highway was paved in its entirety the following year. In 1983, it was truncated at Smiths Falls, with the northern portion becoming part of Highway 15. The remainder of Highway 29 remained until 1998, when responsibility for maintenance of the route was transferred to the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. It is now known as Leeds and Grenville County Road 29 (Full article...)
Image 6

Aerial view of New Don Pedro Dam

New Don Pedro Dam, often known simply as Don Pedro Dam, is an earthen embankment dam across the Tuolumne River, about 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of La Grange, in Tuolumne County, California. The dam was completed in 1971, after four years of construction, to replace the 1924 concrete-arch Don Pedro Dam.

The dam serves mainly for irrigation water storage, flood control and hydroelectricity production, and impounds Don Pedro Reservoir in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. (Full article...)
Image 7

1 Riverside Drive at 72nd Street, (C.P.H. Gilbert, architect, now a satellite location for the Islamic Cultural Center of New York)

Riverside Drive is a north–south avenue in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The road runs on the west side of Upper Manhattan, generally paralleling the Hudson River and Riverside Park between 72nd Street and the vicinity of the George Washington Bridge at 181st Street. North of 96th Street, Riverside Drive is a wide divided roadway. At several locations, a serpentine service road diverges from the main road, providing access to the residential buildings. Several viaducts connect the various segments of Riverside Drive, including the 2,047-foot (624 m) Manhattan Valley Viaduct between Tiemann Place and 135th Street. A disconnected section of Riverside Drive exists in Inwood, Manhattan. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission has designated the original section of Riverside Drive, between 72nd and 125th streets, as part of a scenic landmark that also includes Riverside Park.

Riverside Drive was proposed as part of Riverside Park, which was established by land condemnation in 1872. Originally known as Riverside Avenue, the road opened in 1880 and originally ran between 72nd Street and the current site of Grant's Tomb. The park and avenue were originally designed by architects and horticulturalists such as Calvert Vaux and Samuel Parsons. Riverside Drive was extended north to 155th Street in the 1900s, and a viaduct carrying Riverside Drive West between 155th and 161st streets was built in the 1920s. Traffic flow on Riverside Drive was modified several times throughout the years, and the viaducts have been renovated as well. A southern extension, known as Riverside Boulevard, was built starting in the 1990s when the Riverside South complex was developed. (Full article...)

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Image 1
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 2
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 3
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 4
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 5
Nesjavellir
Photo credit: Gretar Ívarsson
The Nesjavellir geothermal power plant, located near Þingvellir, Iceland is the largest of five such plants in the country. Because of the high concentration of volcanoes in Iceland, geothermal energy is so inexpensive that in the wintertime, some pavements in Reykjavík and Akureyri are heated.
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Image 6
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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Image 7
Windmills
Photograph: Uberprutser
A windmill is a mill that converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Traditional windmills were often used to mill grain, pump water, or both. Most modern windmills take the form of wind turbines used to generate electricity, or windpumps used to pump water, either for land drainage or to extract groundwater.

Here, the smock mill Goliath is viewed in front of the wind farm Growind in Eemshaven in the Netherlands.
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Image 8
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 9
Nuclear weapon
Image credit: Fastfission
Schematic representation of the two methods with which to assemble an atomic bomb. An A-bomb produces its explosive energy through nuclear fission reactions alone. A mass of fissile material (enriched uranium or plutonium) is assembled into a supercritical mass—the amount of material needed to start an exponentially growing nuclear chain reaction—either by shooting one piece of sub-critical material into another (the "gun" method, shown on top here), or by compressing a sub-critical sphere of material using chemical explosives to many times its original density (the "implosion" method, at bottom).
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Image 10
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 11
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 12
William Crooks
Photograph: National Photo Company, Restoration: Adam Cuerden
The William Crooks is a 4-4-0 steam locomotive that was the first locomotive to operate in the U.S. state of Minnesota, beginning in 1861. It was named after William Crooks, the chief mechanical engineer for the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, who earlier served as a colonel in the 6th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War. Crooks laid out the initial ten-mile track between Minneapolis and St. Paul on which the locomotive operated. It was retired from regular service in 1897, but operated special services for several further decades. It is now in the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth.
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Image 13
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 14
Hybrid-propellant rocket
Photograph credit: Matt Steiner and Kees08
A hybrid-propellant rocket is a rocket with an engine that uses propellants in two different phases, one solid and the other gaseous or liquid. The concept can be traced back to at least the 1930s.

This picture shows a transparent 3D-printed hybrid-rocket fuel grain with dual helical fuel ports, a post-combustion chamber, and a de Laval nozzle, photographed prior to the hot-fire test. The motor used nitrous oxide as the oxidizer and Pyrodex pellets for the igniter.
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Image 15
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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Image 16
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 17
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 18
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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Image 19
Union Pacific 844
Photo: Drew Jacksich; edit: Bruce1ee
Union Pacific 844 at Painted Rocks, Nevada, on a run from Elko to Sparks, on September 15, 2009. Built in 1944, it was the last steam locomotive delivered to Union Pacific and is the only steam locomotive never retired by a North American Class I railroad.
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Image 20
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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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 2Walls at Sacsayhuaman (from History of technology)
Image 3Johannes Gutenberg's printing press was voted the most important invention of the second millennium. (from Invention)
Image 4A variety of stone tools (from History of technology)
Image 5Thomas Edison with his second phonograph, photographed by Levin Corbin Handy in Washington, April 1878 (from History of technology)
Image 6A late Bronze Age sword or dagger blade (from History of technology)
Image 7Dome of Florence Cathedral (from History of technology)
Image 8Self-replicating 3D printer (from Emerging technologies)
Image 9'BUILD YOUR OWN TELEVISION RECEIVER.' Science and Invention magazine cover, November 1928 (from Invention)
Image 10Design for a flying machine (c.1488) by da Vinci (from History of technology)
Image 11The 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 12Ford assembly line, 1913. The magneto assembly line was the first. (from History of technology)
Image 133D printer (from Emerging technologies)
Image 14Eric M. C. Tigerstedt (1887–1925) was known as a pioneer of sound-on-film technology. Tigerstedt in 1915. (from Invention)
Image 15The compartmented water wheel, here its overshot version (from History of technology)
Image 16NASA Fuel cell stack
Direct-methanol cell (from Emerging technologies)
Image 17Agriculture preceded writing in the history of technology. (from History of technology)
Image 18Pont du Gard in France, a Roman aqueduct (from History of technology)
Image 19A 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 20Clock from Salisbury Cathedral, ca. 1386 (from History of technology)
Image 21Edison electric light bulbs 1879–80 (from History of technology)
Image 22A water-powered mine hoist used for raising ore, ca. 1556 (from History of technology)
Image 23Newcomen steam engine for pumping mines (from History of technology)
Image 24The preserved Rocket (from History of technology)
Image 25Solid-state air batteries
Li-Air composition (from Emerging technologies)
Image 26Top 30 AI patent applicants in 2016 (from Emerging technologies)
Image 27An axehead made of iron, dating from the Swedish Iron Age (from History of technology)

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

... that Justin Yu, the current Classic Tetris World Champion, is also a cellist in MIT's video game orchestra?
... that the Illinois Institute of Technology created Chicago's smallest park by deeding a 54-square-foot (5 m²) granite slab to the city?
... that vehicles in Star Trucker still look like American semi-trucks from the 1970s, despite having technology such as warp drivers and maglocks?
... that Aileen Davies sang roles on the first two D'Oyly Carte Opera Company recordings using the new electrical-recording technology?
... that astrophysicist Alan C. Cummings has led more than 1,700 weekly birdwatching walks at Caltech since 1986?
... that the Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus has been ranked as both one of the US's most significant architectural works and its least beautiful college campus?
... 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 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

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November 17, 2025 – Gaza war: Germany expects to lift its restrictions on military equipment exports to Israel from November 24, which were banned in August due to the siege of Gaza City. (AP)
October 28, 2025 – AI boom, Workplace impact of artificial intelligence: Multinational technology and e-commerce company Amazon announces it will lay off 14,000 corporate positions as it invests more in building AI and cloud computing infrastructure. (DW) (CNBC)
September 5, 2025 –: The European Commission fines Google €2.95 billion (US$3.47 billion) for allegedly abusing its position as the leading search engine to commit anti-trust violations in the advertising technology space. (DW)
September 4, 2025 – Chromebook procurement scandal: Former Indonesian education minister and Gojek co-founder Nadiem Makarim is detained after prosecutors name him as a suspect in a corruption case over the alleged unauthorized procurement of Chromebook laptops that resulted in state losses estimated at Rp 1.98 trillion (US$121.85 million). (Reuters)