The World's Largest Computer in 1951

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In summary, the ENIAC was a massive machine weighing 30 tons, occupying 1,000 square feet of floor space, and containing over 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors, 6,000 switches, and 18,000 vacuum tubes. It required 150 kilowatts of power to run, which was enough to light a small town. The final machine was less powerful than a $5 pocket calculator. The Russian Ekranoplan, also known as the Caspian Sea Monster, was a ground effect vehicle that could travel over 400 km/h and weighed 540 tons fully loaded. It was used as a high-speed military transport and could transport over 100 tonnes of cargo. The
  • #981
Mathew B. Brady?
 
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  • #982
Ivan Seeking said:
Mathew B. Brady?
BINGO!

Mathew Brady, the most famous photographic chronicler of the Civil War. 90% of Civil War pictures you have seen were by Brady.
 
  • #983
What was the Dixieland clue? Or was this just in reference to the Civil War?
 
  • #984
Ivan Seeking said:
What was the Dixieland clue? Or was this just in reference to the Civil War?
Yeah, that was because no one seemed to have heard of "The War of Northern Agression". Just saying "Civil War" would have been too easy.
 
  • #985
It is estimated that over 1400 anti-aircraft rounds were fired in this little known California event. After all, there was a war on!
 
  • #986
Ivan Seeking said:
It is estimated that over 1400 anti-aircraft rounds were fired in this little known California event. After all, there was a war on!
I believe you are referring to what might be called "The Battle of Los Angeles" when an air raid by the Japanese on that city was bravely repelled, despite the absense of any actual Japanese planes.

California Military History: California and World War II
Address:http://www.militarymuseum.org/HistoryWWII.html
 
  • #987
Correct!

Edit: This is an actual photo of the object that wasn't there.

http://brumac.8k.com/BATTLEOFLA/BattleofLAFig1.jpg
http://brumac.8k.com/BATTLEOFLA/BattleofLA.html
 
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  • #988
"...mounted on a block of concrete that floated in a cylindrical, brick-enclosed trough of mercury."
 
  • #989
zoobyshoe said:
"...mounted on a block of concrete that floated in a cylindrical, brick-enclosed trough of mercury."

This sounds to me like some kind of bearing for something big and heavy. A telescope?
 
  • #990
zoobyshoe said:
"...mounted on a block of concrete that floated in a cylindrical, brick-enclosed trough of mercury."
I believe I was told about this last winter, when I was visiting folks in the Bay Area. I think it was something about the fort below the GG Bridge. Some kind of terrestrial telescope (copied that off of brew), perhaps ?
 
  • #991
Brewnog and Gokul both incorrect. It is something you both have already heard of, I'm sure, but didn't know this detail.
 
  • #992
Nope, I'm not going to get it without another hint!
 
  • #993
Me neither...though I'm certain there was something that sat in a pool of mercury in the Bay Area.
 
  • #994
The point of the complex mercury bearing was to obviate the fact of how sensitive the device was to any vibration.
 
  • #995
zooby said:
Brewnog and Gokul both incorrect. It is something you both have already heard of, I'm sure, but didn't know this detail.

Ohh, but look!


The 200 tonne Dunn Solar Telescope at Sacramento Peak is suspended from a container holding ten tons of mercury, which acts as a bearing. This allows the telescope to be easily rotated during research.

Do I win?
 
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  • #996
Michelson-Morley interferometer...?

Daniel.
 
  • #997
Hmmmmmmm...good research, but does this telescope fit the rest of the description: "...mounted on a block of concrete that floated in a cylindrical, brick enclosed trough of mercury"?

Here's another clue: this was a measuring apparatus.
 
  • #998
dextercioby said:
Michelson-Morley interferometer...?

Daniel.
Whooops! We have a winner!

Your turn.
 
  • #999
dextercioby said:
Michelson-Morley interferometer...?

Daniel.


Gah, and I'd have got that if I'd thought the block was concrete instead of marble! Honest!
 
  • #1,000
I'm a theorist,i can't possibly recollect too many experiments.So i'll ask an embarassingly simple question.You can google it,if u don't know the answer.

"Revolutionized chemistry".An object.And who's responsible for "revolutioning chemistry"?

Daniel.
 
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  • #1,001
dextercioby said:
"Revolutionized chemistry".And who's responsible for "revolutioning chemistry"?

Dmitri Mendeleev?
 
  • #1,003
Humphrey Davy?
 
  • #1,004
Nope.Yes,it's fair to ask the year,too.Approximately,of course.

Daniel.
 
  • #1,005
dextercioby said:
Nope.Yes,it's fair to ask the year,too.Approximately,of course.
No it's not. All we can do is guess, answer, or ask for another clue.

Was it Faraday?
 
  • #1,006
I'm really sorry to say,but Faraday was not a chemist.

Clue.There's no chemical laboratory in the world without this thing.

Daniel.
 
  • #1,007
Bunsen and his burner
 
  • #1,008
Mr Bunsen?

Edit: Aww, pipped to the post. (Assuming that's the right answer!)
 
  • #1,009
Go ahead Brewnog, I can't stick around right now anyway.
 
  • #1,010
Good try.Not what i had in mind.It can't get any more elemenatry than that.

The difficult,possibly googling part would be to come up with a name and an approximate year.

Daniel.
 
  • #1,011
1924, the invention of Pyrex? :smile:
 
  • #1,012
It's not a chemical substance,but an object,INSTRUMENT,if u prefer.

No more clues.

Daniel.
 
  • #1,013
Buchner filter?
Leiblich condenser?
 
  • #1,014
The only relevant hint I've given is "revolutionized chemistry".

Daniel.
 
  • #1,015
dextercioby said:
I'm really sorry to say,but Faraday was not a chemist.
Michael Faraday's Contributions to Electricity and Chemistry
Address:http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/scientst/faraday.html
 
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