Computer
hideA computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.
Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century (1940–1945). These were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs). Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space. Simple computers are small enough to fit into a wristwatch, and can be powered by a watch battery. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are what most people think of as "computers". The embedded computers found in many devices from MP3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are however the most numerous.
The ability to store and execute lists of instructions called programs makes computers extremely versatile, distinguishing them from calculators. The Church–Turing thesis is a mathematical statement of this versatility: any computer with a certain minimum capability is, in principle, capable of performing the same tasks that any other computer can perform. Therefore computers ranging from a mobile phone to a supercomputer are all able to perform the same computational tasks, given enough time and storage capacity.
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News tagged with computer
Study Shows Time Traveling May Not Increase Computational Power
Oct 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For more than 50 years, physicists have been intrigued by the concept of closed time-like curves (CTCs). Because a CTC returns to its starting point, it raises the possibility of traveling backward in time. ...
Nanowires key to future transistors, electronics
Nov 26, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new generation of ultrasmall transistors and more powerful computer chips using tiny structures called semiconducting nanowires are closer to reality after a key discovery by researchers ...
Selling chip makers on optical computing
Nov 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Computer chips that transmit data with light instead of electricity consume much less power than conventional chips, but so far, they've remained laboratory curiosities. Professors Vladimir ...
Google's Chrome OS to be ready for 2010 holidays (Update)
Nov 19, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Consumers will have to wait until next year's holiday shopping season to find out if Google Inc.'s new operating system can deliver on its promise to make low-cost computers run faster.
Turning heat to electricity... efficiently
Nov 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In everything from computer processor chips to car engines to electric powerplants, the need to get rid of excess heat creates a major source of inefficiency. But new research points the way ...
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Study Pits Man v Machine in Piecing Together 425-Million Years Old Jigsaw
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Nov 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study pitting academic expertise against a computer in recreating a 425 million-year old jigsaw puzzle has discovered that there is no substitute for wisdom born out of experience.
Research helps overcome barrier for organic electronics
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Electronic devices can't work well unless all of the transistors, or switches, within them allow electrical current to flow easily when they are turned on. A team of engineers has determined ...
New search technique for images and videos has broad applications
Technology / Computer Sciences
Nov 10, 2009 |
5 / 5 (9) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have developed a powerful new approach to a fundamental problem in computer vision: how to program a computer to recognize or categorize ...
New 'finFETs' promising for smaller transistors, more powerful chips
Nov 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Purdue University researchers are making progress in developing a new type of transistor that uses a finlike structure instead of the conventional flat design, possibly enabling engineers ...
Solving big problems with new quantum algorithm
Nov 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In a recently published paper, Aram Harrow at the University of Bristol and colleagues from MIT in the United States have discovered a quantum algorithm that solves large problems much faster ...
Spacesuits with artificial intelligence may look for life on Mars
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronauts may in future be wearing spacesuits equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) and digital eyes, turning them into what the researchers call cyborg astrobiologists.
Flying MAV Navigates Without GPS (w/ Video)
Nov 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- During the last several years, researchers have been building micro air vehicles (MAVs) that can autonomously fly through different environments by relying on GPS for navigation. Recently, ...
Software That's Resilient Against Hacker Attack
Technology / Computer Sciences
Oct 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of researchers headed by Martin Rinard, a professor of computer science at MIT, have developed new software that automatically patches errors in deployed software in a matter of minutes.
P vs. NP -- The most notorious problem in theoretical computer science remains open
Technology / Computer Sciences
Oct 29, 2009 |
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In the 1995 Halloween episode of The Simpsons, Homer Simpson finds a portal to the mysterious Third Dimension behind a bookcase, and desperate to escape his in-laws, he plunges through. He finds himself wander ...
Researchers bring noise to virtual worlds
Technology / Computer Sciences
Oct 27, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Computer scientists have developed a method to synthesize the sounds of cymbals, falling garbage cans and lids, and plastic water-cooler bottles and recycling bins.
