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
  • #246
Chi Meson said:
Although "photograph" is a technically correct answer, as I tell my students, you did not read my mind, therefore you are wrong!
I just figured out what this bizarre utterance meant.
 
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  • #247
zoobyshoe said:
I just figured out what this bizarre utterance meant.
Don't feel bad zoob, I had a typo on 93.999999=1 ( I meant 93.999999=94). Integral pointed out my mistake, in a way apparently much too vague for this old brain, and I didn't figure out what I had typed wrong until the next morning. :redface:

BTW, how many of these precious FREE kittens that a stray cat just had at my house should I send you? :biggrin:
 
  • #248
A what was it revival?

This made quite a splash in 1979.
 
  • #249
Uh oh! That was a bad clue.

...and those down under would know!
 
  • #250
Ivan Seeking said:
This made quite a splash in 1979.
What was Skylab 1 ?
 
  • #251
Yerrrrrrr it! :biggrin:

On July 11, 1979, Skylab impacted the Earth surface. The debris dispersion area stretched from the Southeastern Indian Ocean across a sparsely populated section of Western Australia.
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/skylab/skylab-operations.htm
 
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  • #252
A slight deviation from the beaten path, if I may ...

What is this ?
 

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  • #253
Gokul43201 said:
A slight deviation from the beaten path, if I may ...

What is this ?

:smile: I looked before you posted the attachment and was really stumped! I was hoping that you weren't done yet. :biggrin:
 
  • #254
A nano-swimmingpool?
 
  • #255
Gokul43201 said:
What is this ?
False-colour image of a shark waiting for a skydiver?


I dunno. Looks like stuff that I've seen from an atomic-force microscope, but no idea what it's a picture of.
 
  • #256
Danger said:
Looks like stuff that I've seen from an atomic-force microscope, but no idea what it's a picture of.
Close enough (so was Zoob) ! And the sharks may appear in future samples.

This is an STM image of what is called a quantum corral (corral -> reef -> shark, etc.) The cyan peaks are Fe atoms deposited one at a time (using an STM tip) over a Cu matrix !

Courtesy : IBM Almaden, STM Group

More amazing pictures and descriptions at :
http://www.almaden.ibm.com/vis/stm/corral.html
http://www.almaden.ibm.com/vis/stm/gallery.html
 
  • #257
That's amazing! I was going to venture a guess but now I'm glad I didn't. :biggrin:

Zooby, Danger, next? Or Gokul could try another one...
 
  • #258
Ivan Seeking said:
Or Gokul could try another one...
4*10^19 variations

I know it's not much of a clue, but I don't expect anyone here to have trouble getting it.
 
  • #259
The game of "go"?
 
  • #260
Chi Meson said:
The game of "go"?
Noooope... but the math is probably close.
 
  • #261
The game of chess, then?

The game of Life?

Poker?

Wait, maybe it's not a game?
 
  • #262
21! is close (5*10^19) but not close enough...anyway, I don't know anything that comes in 21 sizes/flavors/colors/etc.
 
  • #263
Human DNA?
 
  • #264
Nereid said:
Human DNA?
Ooh nice guess ! Also, aren't there like only 20-odd different amino acids ? ...but protein lengths aren't limited, are they ?
 
  • #265
Chi Meson said:
Wait, maybe it's not a game?
Sort of...

Sorry I didn't respond until now; I've been asleep. Now I'm going to work, so you're on your own for a few hours.

hint: educational aid
 
  • #266
Danger said:
educational aid
Wild guess based on this clue: The periodic table?
 
  • #267
Wild guess based on the same clue: An abacus?
 
  • #268
Nope, and twice nope.
That was a short-lived work day. I got there and my co-worker showed up 5 minutes later. It turns out the shift change we did last week was supposed to be permanent, so I don't have to go for another 3 hours.

next hint: accidental best-seller
 
  • #269
Danger said:
next hint: accidental best-seller
Babbages' difference engine?
 
  • #270
computers?
 
  • #271
Double nope again.
 
  • #272
Danger said:
next hint: accidental best-seller
I haven't read it so, very unspecifically: the Da Vinci code?
 
  • #273
Danger said:
Sorry I didn't respond until now; I've been asleep.

Well that answers one question, at least.
 
  • #274
Nope and :-p , in that order.

one more hint, and I'm really going to work now: colours
 
  • #275
Rubik's Cube!
 
  • #276
Ok, here's one. I'm new to this thread so forgive me if I do something bad...

Clue 1:
First devised in 1941, the final product was a cylinder weighing about 4200 kg. A lot of hard work went into its design, but one of the most ingenious factors enabling its use was an incredibly simple idea.
 
  • #277
brewnog said:
Ok, here's one. I'm new to this thread so forgive me if I do something bad...

Clue 1:
First devised in 1941, the final product was a cylinder weighing about 4200 kg. A lot of hard work went into its design, but one of the most ingenious factors enabling its use was an incredibly simple idea.
Wild guess based on date and weight: nuclear reactor?
 
  • #278
Nope.

Clue 2:
I had lunch today in a building named after its inventor.

It was developed in Surrey, tested in Derbyshire, and used in Germany.

The concept was brought about in order to get over a net.
 
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  • #279
A gun barrel?
 
  • #280
Since brewnog seems so confident I will assume that he is correct?

First devised in 1941, the final product was a cylinder weighing about 4200 kg. A lot of hard work went into its design, but one of the most ingenious factors enabling its use was an incredibly simple idea.

It seems way too heavy, but could this be the bomb designed to bounce on water? IIRC, it was devised to take out a dam.
 
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