# What are some surprising facts about technology? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 23, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273 "2015-06-23T19:59:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/41 "2015-06-25T23:52:29Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > To be fair, everytime your car leaves a stop sign (if you full stop), it has a point in time where it’s fuel economy is fifteen gallons to the inch (unless it’s electric then it’s MPIe) While it’s technically true that the transition from fully stopped to moving under power is a continuous one and there is an instant in time at any arbitrarily terrible fuel efficiency, I think it makes more sense to consider the fuel efficiency over some reasonable duration. One inch is plenty of duration, and most cars can get that far before a pit stop, even if they have a tank smaller than 15 gallons. Presumably in the time that the Saturn V had moved 1 inch, it had actually burned 15 gallons of fuel. Further points in the Saturn V’s favor: LH2 and LO2 are much less dense than gasoline, and cars don’t have to account for the volume of oxygen they burn in their fuel efficiency. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/42 "2015-06-26T03:17:54Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > The “Computer” punch card (IBM 5081, etc.) dates to the US Census of 1890 - one Mr. Holllerith devise it. > See [Columbia University](http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/census-tabulator.html) \ What’s more, the computer punch card has its origins as a railroad ticketing system, where the conductor would punch one of the images on the card to keep track of what the passenger looked like [CPRR Discussion Group](http://discussion.cprr.net/2011/03/question-from-ross-perots-office-in.html) Also, the size of the punch card is similar to the size of the “large-size” currency used at the time, to make use of existing office furniture and storage slots could handle. [CPRR Museum](http://cprr.org/Museum/Books/Patton_Made_in_USA.html) ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/43 "2015-07-03T20:08:16Z")
Brian Eno, of Roxy Music, Talking Heads, and others, composed the Windows 95 startup sound. Also, he did it on a Mac. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/44 "2015-07-04T22:45:30Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > The Blackbird leaks and is designed to leak fuel till it gets to operational temperatures , after which it midair refuels for it’s mission. Are you sure about that? I know it leaked, but I thought it was topped off just before taking off. What tanker could keep up with it to do an in-flight refueling? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/45 "2015-07-04T23:24:00Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > What’s more, the computer punch card has its origins as a railroad ticketing system… Surely if the term ‘origin’ is at play, the punched card came from the punched paper/card control systems used in weaving looms in the 16th century? ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/46 "2015-07-04T23:46:17Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Are you sure about that? > I know it leaked, but I thought it was topped off just before taking off. > What tanker could keep up with it to do an in-flight refueling? It didn’t go straight to Mach \ on take-off. Get airborne relatively light and stress free, then fuel up at an altitude that better suits the plane and the mission. Go fast after that. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/47 "2015-07-05T01:03:25Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > It didn’t go straight to Mach \ on take-off. Get airborne relatively light and stress free, then fuel up at an altitude that better suits the plane and the mission. Go fast after that. The Blackbird refueled multiple times on most missions. It was a big logistical and timing issue. They had tankers strung out all over the world. ---
**Author:** ![Pinmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@Pinmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pinmin)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/48 "2015-07-05T01:39:40Z")
Working in IT, something I have to explain frequently. Email is not and never was designed to be instantaneous communication. Receiving an email days after it was sent is perfectly valid and within specifications. Computer power is such that email is generally processed immediately now days, but it doesn’t “have to.” ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/49 "2015-07-05T02:45:38Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > When the Saturn V rocket left the pad on its way to the moon, its fuel economy was fifteen gallons to the inch. We had a 1978 Oldsmobile Delta 88 with similar fuel economy. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/50 "2015-07-05T02:58:50Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Aircraft technology has also regressed. Except for reliability, efficiency, and safety. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/51 "2015-07-05T04:03:36Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > The smartphones that we use today have more computing power than the mainframes used to run the Apollo moon missions. > [@chappachula](#): > > And the Apollo astronauts carried a [slide rule](http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19840160000) to make their calculations. Johnson Space Flight Center (Houston), used the same control room until 1995 that they used for Gemini, Apollo and shuttle missions, but what I love: the control panels used pneumatic tubes for sending documents back and forth. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/52 "2015-07-05T04:16:18Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > The Saturn V could put 130 tonnes to LEO and 45 tonnes to lunar orbit. > > The best rockets today can put about 30 tonnes to LEO. In other words, the Saturn V could put 50 % more payload to Lunar Orbit than the top of the line systems can out in Low Earth Orbit today. > > Fuck that depressing. In inflation-adjusted dollars, each launch of a Saturn V would cost $3.1 billion today. In comparison, a Falcon 9 launch costs around $100 million. I can’t find a single reason that we should pay more for rockets than we already do. It’s like saying we should dump all the low-bypass jet engines so we can do back to the days of putting four or six engines on every airliner. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/53 "2015-07-05T05:05:24Z")
You mean high-bypass, right? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/54 "2015-07-05T07:57:17Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > You mean high-bypass, right? If you want to be technical about it… Yes. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/55 "2015-07-05T14:34:46Z")
One of the earliest examples of simulation is the pipe organ. It can be used to simulate the sounds of other instruments and even singing. What do you do if you come from a family of organ makers and are interested in flying? You build another simulator: the [Link Trainer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_Trainer). The granddaddy of flight simulators. It even had bellows! (I’ve been in a Boeing simulator. Amazing.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/56 "2015-07-05T19:11:39Z")
The smallest structures in modern semiconductor chips (in particular, the gate oxide layer in the transistors) are just a handful of atoms across. It wouldn’t work if there were five too many or five too few atoms. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/57 "2015-07-05T20:38:41Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Fuck that depressing. What’s more depressing is that the last four major assemblies of the V were just left to rot as displays. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/58 "2015-07-05T20:40:41Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > The smallest structures in modern semiconductor chips (in particular, the gate oxide layer in the transistors) are just a handful of atoms across. It wouldn’t work if there were five too many or five too few atoms. Modern semiconductors are made with the third-most common element on Earth, doped with some of the very rarest. ---
**Author:** ![Pinmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@Pinmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pinmin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/59 "2015-07-07T02:55:06Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Modern semiconductors are made with the third-most common element on Earth, doped with some of the very rarest. The main silicon substrate was generally doped with boron or phosphorous. Until a couple of years ago I worked for a major supplier to chip companies (Intel, Samsung, TSMC, SMC, etc). ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273/60 "2015-07-07T05:29:19Z")
> [@Pinmin](#): > > Working in IT, something I have to explain frequently. Email is not and never was designed to be instantaneous communication. Receiving an email days after it was sent is perfectly valid and within specifications. Computer power is such that email is generally processed immediately now days, but it doesn’t “have to.” But back when international calls were costing $6 per minute, and I was a poor student, we were using email for international chat. The internet transitioned from UUCP to ARPANET around 1980, before the development of SNMP around 1982. So in practice the turnaround time was actually quicker. Our SNMP servers were delivering email into our (file system) personal mail folder (rather than into a shared database), and our mail clients were doing fast polling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-surprising-facts-about-technology/723273.md?page=4)