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Technology is 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. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes from Greek (technologa); from (tchn), meaning "art, skill, craft", and - (-loga), meaning "study of-". The term can either be applied generally or to specific areas: examples include construction

technology, medical technology, and information technology.

Technologies significantly affect human as well as other animal species' ability to control and adapt to their natural environments. The human species' use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. The prehistorical discovery of the ability to control fire increased the available sources of food and the invention of the wheel helped humans in travelling in and controlling their environment. Recent technological developments, including the printing press, the telephone, and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale. However, not all technology has been used for peaceful purposes; the development of weapons of everincreasing destructive power has progressed throughout history, from clubs to nuclear weapons.

Technology has affected society and its surroundings in a number of ways. In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economies (including today's global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of the Earth and its environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms.

Philosophical debates have arisen over the present and future use of technology in society, with disagreements over whether technology improves the human condition or worsens it. Neo-Luddism, anarcho-primitivism, and similar movements criticise the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, opining that it harms the environment and alienates people; proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and techno-progressivism view continued technological progress as beneficial to society and the human condition. Indeed, until recently, it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings, but recent scientific studies indicate that other primates and certain dolphin communities have developed simple tools and learned to pass their knowledge to other generations. More about Technology...

View new selections below (purge) edit Selected article Tube module from an IBM mainframe. In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube (in North America), thermionic valve, or valve (elsewhere, especially in Britain) is a device used to amplify, switch, otherwise modify, or create an electrical signal by controlling the movement of electrons in a low-pressure space. Some special function vacuum tubes are filled with low-pressure gas: these are so-called soft valves (or tubes), as distinct from the hard vacuum type which have the internal gas pressure reduced as far as possible. Almost all depend on the thermal emission of electrons, hence thermionic.

Vacuum tubes were critical to the development of electronic technology, which drove the expansion and commercialization of radio broadcasting, television, radar, sound reproduction, large telephone networks, analog and digital computers, and industrial process control. Some of these applications pre-dated electronics, but it was the vacuum tube that made them widespread and practical.

For most purposes, the vacuum tube has been replaced by solid-state devices such as transistors and solid-state diodes. Solid-state devices last much longer, are smaller, more efficient, more reliable, and cheaper than equivalent vacuum tube devices. However, tubes are still used in specialized applications: for engineering reasons, as in high-power radio frequency transmitters; or for their aesthetic appeal and distinct sound signature, as in audio amplification. Cathode ray tubes are still used as display devices in television sets, video monitors, and oscilloscopes, although they are being replaced by LCDs and other flat-panel displays. A specialized form of the electron tube, the magnetron, is the source of microwave energy in microwave ovens and some radar systems. The klystron, a powerful but narrow-band radio-frequency amplifier, is commonly deployed by broadcasters as a high-power UHF television transmitter. It was also used in first generation computers (1949-1955). ...Archive/Nominations

Read more... edit Selected picture Wormhole travel as envisioned by Les Bossinas for NASA.jpg Credit: Digital art by Les Bossinas (Cortez III Service Corp.), 1998 (Source: NASA) Digital art most commonly refers to art created on a computer in digital form. In an expanded sense, "digital art" is a term applied to contemporary art that uses the methods of mass production or digital media. The impact of digital technology has transformed traditional activities such as painting, drawing and sculpture, while new forms, such as net art, digital installation art, and virtual reality, have been recognized artistic practices. ...Archive/Nominations

Read more... edit Did you know... Fuel cell NASA p48600ac.jpg ...A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent.[1] (Pictured left: A demonstration model of a direct-methanol fuel cell. The actual fuel cell stack is the layered cube shape in the center of the image.) Other "Did you know" facts... edit News From the Wikinews Science and technology portal Wikinews-logo.svg Read more...

January 20: Wikinews Shorts: January 20, 2012 January 18: Meteorites in Morocco found to be from Mars January 16: Russian spacecraft Phobos-Grunt falls in Pacific Ocean January 1: On the campaign trail, December 2011 December 8: What's eating you? US study highlights bedbug incest December 8: 'There's been another murder': UK's Wright Stuff presenter apologises for teen murder comments November 25: Scientists sequence small genome of a pest: spider mite October 1: 'Fascinating' and 'provocative' research examines genetic elements of bipolar, schizophrenia September 27: Study: Birds learn nest building September 10: Out of space in outer space: Special report on NASA's 'space junk' plans

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