Portal:Technology

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Technology (Greek technologia (τεχνολογία) < techne (τέχνη) "craft" + logia (λόγος); "saying") is the application of developments in science and engineering to benefit humanity. It may be defined as: "Solutions for real human problems by the development and application of tools, machines, materials, goods, or information in the form of skills, knowledge, processes, blueprints, plans, diagrams, models, formulae, tables, engineering designs, specifications, manuals, or instructions."

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Interstellar space travel is unmanned or manned travel between stars. The concept of interstellar travel in starships is a staple in science fiction. Interstellar travel is tremendously more difficult than interplanetary travel. Intergalactic travel, the travel between different galaxies, is even more difficult.

Many scientific papers have been published about related concepts. Given sufficient travel time and engineering work, both unmanned and generational interstellar travel seem possible, though representing a very considerable technological and economic challenge unlikely to be met for some time, particularly for crewed probes. NASA has been engaging in research into these topics for several years, and has accumulated a number of theoretical approaches.

The main difficulty of interstellar travel is the vast distances that have to be covered and therefore the time it takes with most realistic propulsion methods - from decades to millennia. Hence an interstellar ship would be much more severely exposed to the hazards found in interplanetary travel, including hard vacuum, radiation, weightlessness, and micrometeoroids. The long travel times make it difficult to design manned missions, and make economic justification of any interstellar mission nearly impossible, since benefits that do not become available for decades or longer have a present value close to zero.

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Credit: United States Air Force

Gas metal arc welding (GMAW), sometimes referred to by its subtypes, metal inert gas (MIG) welding or metal active gas (MAG) welding, is a semi-automatic or automatic arc welding process in which a continuous and consumable wire electrode and a shielding gas are fed through a welding gun.

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Christopher Columbus Kraft, Jr. (born February 28, 1924) is a retired NASA engineer and manager. After graduating from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1944, Kraft was hired by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor organization to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He worked for over a decade in aeronautical research before being asked in 1958 to join the Space Task Group, a small team entrusted with the responsibility of putting America's first man in space. Assigned to the flight operations division, Kraft became NASA's first flight director. He was on duty during such historic missions as America's first spaceflight, first orbital flight, and first spacewalk.

At the beginning of the Apollo program, Kraft retired as a flight director in order to concentrate on management and mission planning. In 1972, he became director of the Manned Spacecraft Center (later Johnson Space Center), following in the footsteps of his mentor Robert Gilruth. He held the position until his retirement from NASA in 1982. During his retirement, Kraft has consulted for numerous companies including IBM and Rockwell International, and he published an autobiography entitled Flight: My Life in Mission Control.

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Wikinews Science and technology portal

• January 7: Australian Tax Office warns against tax return scam
• January 7: China targets Google, Baidu and Internet portals over porn
• January 6: Imperial College London geology students fined in China for "illegal map-making"
• January 1: Mathematician Martin Taylor awarded knighthood
• December 19: RNA journal submits articles to Wikipedia
• December 13: Wikinews Shorts: December 13, 2008
• December 12: Zoo elephants live shorter lives than their wild counterparts, report warns
• December 11: Obama selects Steven Chu as US Energy Secretary
• December 8: Wikimedia, IWF respond to block of Wikipedia over child pornography allegations
• December 7: Launch of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover delayed until 2011

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• ... that a mercury arc rectifier converts alternating current to direct current by means of an electric arc through mercury vapor?
• ... that only one of the 266 1076 Class steam locomotives built for the Great Western Railway was named, and the rest had only numbers?
• ... that the six Charles Tayleur locomotives ordered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway were unsuccessful?

• ... that the intensity of a tropical cyclone (pictured) is usually determined by the Dvorak technique using only visible and infrared satellite images?

• ... that the technique of double-balloon enteroscopy allows any position along the gastrointestinal tract to be visualized in real-time?

• ... that ANTARES, a neutrino telescope under construction in the Mediterranean Sea, will find neutrinos from outer space by looking downward, into the Earth?

• ... that KATRIN is an experiment to determine the mass of the neutrino by measuring the energies of electrons given off from the beta decay of tritium?

• ... that forensic electrical engineering is a branch of forensic engineering whose primary role is to investigate whether a fire was caused by the failure of an electrical appliance?

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Main outlines: Topic outline of science and Topic outline of technology.

Aerospace • Agriculture • Architecture • Artificial intelligence • Automation • Automobile • Big Science • Biotechnology • Cartography • Chemical engineering • Communication • Computer science (Information technology, Internet, Programming, Software engineering) • Construction • Dentistry • Design • Education • Energy development • Energy storage • Engineering • Ergonomics • Family and consumer science • Firefighting • Forensics • Forestry • Free software • Health sciences • Health • Industry • Industrial machinery • Information technology • Internet • Language & Lexicology • Library & Information science • Machines • Management • Manufacturing • Marketing • Military • Mining • Mobile Web • Nanotechology • Nuclear technology • Nutrition • Radio • Robotics • Space exploration • Telecommunication (Internet) • Transport • Vehicles

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Main categories: Technology and Applied sciences

Agriculture & Agronomy • Architecture • Automation • Biotechnology • Blu-ray • Cartography • Chemical engineering • Communication (Media studies • Telecommunications) • Construction • Design • Digital divide • Earthquake engineering • Electronics • Energy • Ergonomics • Firefighting • Fire prevention • Forensics • Forestry • Industry • Information science • Information technology • Internet • Management • Manufacturing • Marketing • Medicine (Unsolved problems in neuroscience) • Metalworking • Microtechnology • Military science • Mining • Nanotechnology • Nuclear technology • Nutrition • Optics • Plumbing • Robotics • Sound technology • Space exploration • Technology forecasting • Tools

Computing:  Artificial intelligence • Classes of computers • Companies • Computer architecture • Computer model • Computer science • Computer security • Computing and society • Data • Embedded systems • Free software • Human-computer interaction • Information systems • Internet • Mobile Internet • Languages • Multimedia • Networks • Industrial Networks • Operating systems • Platforms • Product lifecycle management • Programming • Real-time computing • Software • Software engineering • Unsolved problems in computer science • More...

Electronics:   Avionics • RF & MMIC Design • Circuits • Companies • Connectors • Consumer electronics • Digital electronics • Digital media • Electrical components • Electronic design • Electronics manufacturing • Embedded systems • Integrated circuits • Microwave technology • Molecular electronics • Water technology • Optoelectronics • Quantum electronics • RFID • Radio electronics • Semiconductors • Signal cables • Surveillance • Telecommunications • Terminology • More...

Engineering:  Aerospace engineering • Bioengineering • Chemical engineering • Civil engineering • Electrical engineering • Environmental engineering • Materials science • Mechanical engineering • Nuclear technology • Software engineering • Structural engineering

Transportation:   By country • Automobiles • Aviation • Cycling • Public transport • Rail transport • Road transport • Shipping • Spaceflight • Vehicles • Water transport

Technology timelines

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Air pollution dispersion terminology • Blogging • Broadcasting • Computing and IT

(Alternative terms for free software • Computer • Fisheries • Fuel cell terms • Internet • Legal terms • Object-oriented programming • Unified Modeling Language) • Firefighting (Equipment • Wildland fires) • Library and information science • Machine vision • Metalworking terminology • Mill machinery • Mobile phones • Nautical • Telephony • Textile manufacturing • Transport (Aviation, aerospace, and aeronautics • Automotive design • Rail (Passenger rail (NZ railfan • UK railfan • U.S. railfan) • Woodworking (Joinery) • Winemaking

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Technology and applied sciences

Agronomy • Architecture (Bridges, Portal) • Artificial intelligence • Biotechnology • Electronics • Energy • Engineering • Hazardous Materials • Home improvement • Nanotechnology • Nuclear technology • Robotics

Information technology

Typography • Apple Inc. • Blu-ray • Computer networking (Internet (Forums)) • Computer science • Computer security • Microsoft • Python programming • Software (Free software (Linux))

Transport

Aviation • Cars (Australian, American, British, Japanese) • Cycling • London transport • Nautical • Roads (U.S. Roads) • Spaceflight (Space tourism) • Trains (Rapid transit, UK Railways, UK Trams) • UK Waterways

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