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f23cf1fb5e51b22a2a76899057631728 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/signet | Signet | Signet
…type until replaced by the signet ring in Roman times. In the Aegean, various types of stamp seals were used throughout the 2nd and much of the 1st millennium bc, until in Hellenistic and Roman times the signet ring became dominant.
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9b01ccf4c0edfd6e627404fdbea7bdf8 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/silencer | Silencer | Silencer
…that made possible the famous “silencer.” This invention brought him fame, and even notoriety, as editors, writers, and the general public mistakenly assumed that the device could be attached to the pistols of criminals; in actuality, it was usable only on a sealed-breech rifle and never found wide demand. Th... |
80c6505554b6cd31510009f0589d507a | https://www.britannica.com/technology/single-pitch-roof | Single-pitch roof | Single-pitch roof
…of the hall into a lean-to constructed at the back of the house. The pitched roof was then extended downward over the new kitchen, creating the characteristic long-in-back silhouette that gave the house its name. Late in the 17th century the lean-to was often included as part of the original…
The sim... |
9bffb3183ad77c15a8b75fddbaa75071 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/sintering | Sintering | Sintering
Sintering, the welding together of small particles of metal by applying heat below the melting point. The process may be used in steel manufacturing—to form complex shapes, to produce alloys, or to work in metals with very high melting points. In a steel-sintering plant a bed of powdered iron ore, mixed wit... |
8b0e26b831518c41bfeb4276ab417e82 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/sizing-technology | Sizing | Sizing
Sizing, coating with a gelatinous or other substance to add strength or stiffness or to reduce absorbency. In the visual arts, a canvas or panel is prepared for painting by applying size, a dilute mixture of glue or a resinous substance. In oil painting it is essential that the canvas be coated with size so th... |
494e7d225c56e703604fbf077d73cc40 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/skeg | Skeg | Skeg
A “skeg” is an aftward extension of the keel intended to keep the boat moving straight and to protect the propeller and rudder from underwater obstructions. A “fin keel” is a narrow plate (of wood, metal, or other material) fixed midships to the keel of a…
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3d0936e443c0ffaf220e106388b3c759 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/Sketchpad | Sketchpad | Sketchpad
Sketchpad, the first interactive computer-graphics program. Sketchpad originated as American engineer Ivan Sutherland’s doctoral thesis project in the early 1960s and was one of the first graphical user interfaces. The program allowed users to visualize and control program functions and became a foundation f... |
8ed6ad41e2350b2636be4573cf454189 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/SKU | SKU | SKU
SKU, in full stock keeping unit, a code number, typically used as a machine-readable bar code, assigned to a single item of inventory. As part of a system for inventory control, the SKU represents the smallest unit of a product that can be sold from inventory, purchased, or added to inventory. Applied to wholesale... |
36451d1018c3c2b408d9ef7a02655052 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/slab-building-material | Slab | Slab
Slab, In architecture, a flat, monolithic piece of stone or concrete used for a floor or roof. There are various forms of reinforced-concrete slabs: one-way slabs cast with supporting beams, ribbed slabs cast with series of joists, two-way ribbed slabs (known as waffle slabs), flat plates reinforced in two or mor... |
07401d19edec2ce34b5131c45eae0a60 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/Sleep-My-Love | Sleep, My Love | Sleep, My Love
Sleep, My Love (1948) was a stylish film noir reminiscent of Gaslight (1944), with Don Ameche cast against type as the husband trying to drive his wife (Claudette Colbert) insane. The musical comedy Slightly French (1949) paired Ameche with Dorothy Lamour.
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427cfbd36cfc626077590b118222cede | https://www.britannica.com/technology/sliver | Sliver | Sliver
Sliver, in yarn production, loose, soft, untwisted ropelike strand of textile fibre having a roughly uniform thickness. It is produced by the carding process, which separates raw fibres to prepare them for spinning.
The carded fibres may be combed to remove any short fibres and make the remaining sliver fibres... |
1103802811f6252c91e15966d3db5a4c | https://www.britannica.com/technology/slurry | Slurry | Slurry
Slurry, watery mixture or suspension of insoluble matter. In the manufacture of portland cement, a mixture of the raw materials with water is called a slurry. Cement may be piped as a slurry in building construction. Coal may be transported over long distances as a slurry via pipeline; this method of transmissi... |
9981e9b0244dafebfd6dc514feeb1f7c | https://www.britannica.com/technology/small-arm | Small arm | Small arm
Small arm, any handheld firearm.
Since the introduction of the flintlock musket in the 17th century, military small arms have gone through a series of significant changes. By employing different projectiles and successively improved chemical propellants, the dual goal of most arms designers has been the crea... |
954df8e3a5cc1c7661f912f8dae18e83 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/smart-grid | Smart grid | Smart grid
Smart grid, a secure, integrated, reconfigurable, electronically controlled system used to deliver electric power that operates in parallel with a traditional power grid. Although many of its components had been developed, and some implemented, during the early 21st century, as of 2016 no smart grid was yet... |
f06603a065b3d960778e9dbff9759dd2 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/soda-lime-glass | Soda-lime glass | Soda-lime glass
Soda-lime glass, most common form of glass produced. It is composed of about 70 percent silica (silicon dioxide), 15 percent soda (sodium oxide), and 9 percent lime (calcium oxide), with much smaller amounts of various other compounds. The soda serves as a flux to lower the temperature at which the si... |
a16bdc18ddad602428b2878824498718 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/soft-furnishings | Soft furnishings | Soft furnishings
…textiles, frequently referred to as soft furnishings, are fabrics used in the home. They include items frequently classified as linens, such as bath and dish towels, table linens, shower curtains, and bathroom ensembles. Related items include sheets, pillowcases, mattresses, blankets, comforters, and ... |
6681917232fde865fb0bd20c73cb3a7a | https://www.britannica.com/technology/solar-cell | Solar cell | Solar cell
Solar cell, also called photovoltaic cell, any device that directly converts the energy of light into electrical energy through the photovoltaic effect. The overwhelming majority of solar cells are fabricated from silicon—with increasing efficiency and lowering cost as the materials range from amorphous (no... |
37d3970ead4e202eab0f5fd06c7270b5 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/solar-oven | Solar oven | Solar oven
Solar oven, also called solar cooker, a device that harnesses sunlight as a source of heat for cooking foodstuffs. The solar oven is a simple, portable, economical, and efficient tool.
Especially in the developing world, solar ovens are much to be preferred over other methods of cooking. Of the many advanta... |
26a481b54ba5119eba7170961d763f34 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/solar-powered-desalination-unit | Solar-powered desalination unit | Solar-powered desalination unit
Solar-powered desalination unit, device that transforms salt water into drinking water by converting the Sun’s energy to heat, directly or indirectly, to drive the desalination process. Solar desalination mimics Earth’s natural water cycle (the process that generates rainfall) and has b... |
91b6733370853019732cbf05640b2e7f | https://www.britannica.com/technology/solar-wind-power-satellite | Solar wind power satellite | Solar wind power satellite
Solar wind power satellite, large hypothetical satellite that would harvest energy from solar wind. A stream of energized charged particles from the Sun, solar wind has the potential to be a major source of energy for human civilizations. In 2010 American scientists Brooks L. Harrop and Dirk... |
0dda9dc7b1eba4ccfc0b2be4439c2d0e | https://www.britannica.com/technology/solid-state-device | Solid-state device | Solid-state device
Solid-state device, electronic device in which electricity flows through solid semiconductor crystals (silicon, gallium arsenide, germanium) rather than through vacuum tubes. The first solid-state device was the “cat’s whisker” (1906), in which a fine wire was moved across a solid crystal to detect ... |
d7b5b0841a96f45457d3751ccd81aacf | https://www.britannica.com/technology/space-shuttle | Space shuttle | Space shuttle
Space shuttle, also called Space Transportation System, partially reusable rocket-launched vehicle designed to go into orbit around Earth, to transport people and cargo to and from orbiting spacecraft, and to glide to a runway landing on its return to Earth’s surface that was developed by the U.S. Nation... |
38c4761d35125f82730c70bc54a134a9 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/Spanish-lace | Spanish lace | Spanish lace
Spanish lace, lace made in Spain; the name is also erroneously given to much lace that was in fact imported into Spain from the 17th century onward. The Spaniards imported a great deal of Venetian needle lace for church use in the 17th century. When the Spanish monasteries were dissolved in 1830, much ec... |
934f31996471119c76913edb1974d161 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/spherical-aberration | Spherical aberration | Spherical aberration
The first term in the OPD expression is OPD = S1(x02 + y02)2. Hence
This blurring (spherical aberration) may be entirely corrected by making the large concave mirror paraboloidal and the small convex mirror hyperboloidal. The Cassegrain reflector has been employed in radio transmitters and receiver... |
9941de0a957f5291e459f226027870e8 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/spheroidal-graphite-iron | Spheroidal graphite iron | Spheroidal graphite iron
Ductile iron, a stronger and more elastic type of cast iron, is one of the most common materials now used for smaller underground pipes (secondary feeders), which supply water to local communities.
…irons, which are also called ductile irons, are strong and malleable; they are also easy to cast... |
e104c4f471b4c4abd39ee41def278498 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/spindle-and-whorl | Spindle and whorl | Spindle and whorl
Spindle and whorl, ordrop spindle, Earliest device for spinning fibres into thread or yarn. The spinster lets the spindle fall to draw out the fibres while the whorl keeps it rotating to apply the necessary twist. The spindle and whorl was replaced by the spinning wheel.
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77b4810dd8e287029657d93dad3e9c9b | https://www.britannica.com/technology/spinning-yarn-manufacturing | Spinning | Spinning
Spinning, in textiles, process of drawing out fibres from a mass and twisting them together to form a continuous thread or yarn. In man-made fibre production the name is applied to the extrusion of a solution to form a fibre, a process similar to the method by which silkworms and similar insect larvae produc... |
695897cae4468dc38504da29085835c7 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/spirit-level | Spirit level | Spirit level
In spirit leveling the surveyor has for centuries used a surveying level, which consists of a horizontal telescope fitted with cross hairs, rotating around a vertical axis on a tripod, with a very sensitive spirit level fixed to it; the instrument is adjusted until the bubble…
The spirit, or bubble, level,... |
0e8759b0fa58c8d2a641b367f4d56122 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/splat-quenching | Splat quenching | Splat quenching
…shown in Figure 4C, called splat quenching, can quench a droplet of a molten metal roughly 1,000 °C in one millisecond, producing a thin film of metal that is an amorphous solid. In enormous contrast to this, the silicate glass that forms the rigid ribbed disk of the Hale telescope…
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b73ec96dc9458f517083fd592cd2ee88 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/spoiler | Spoiler | Spoiler
…found on military aircraft, and spoilers, which are surfaces that can be extended on the wing or fuselage to disrupt the air flow and create drag or to act in the same manner as ailerons. Drag can also be provided by extension of the landing gear or, at the appropriate…
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e4188c4e70da856f11c251128d764913 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/sport-utility-vehicle | Sport utility vehicle | Sport utility vehicle
Generically known as sport-utility vehicles (SUVs), the type eventually reached luxury nameplates like Cadillac and Porsche. Derided by some as a frivolous fashion statement and unwise use of resources, the SUV craze was aided by stable fuel prices in the mid-1980s. At the beginning of the 21st ce... |
99988a4d9f3c021758e55e4df56a71a6 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/spray-and-chip-seal | Spray-and-chip seal | Spray-and-chip seal
…coated with stone (called a spray-and-chip seal) or by a thin asphalt layer. The spray-and-chip seal is used over McAdam-style base courses for light to moderate traffic volumes or to rehabilitate existing asphalt surfaces. It is relatively cheap, effective, and impermeable and lasts about 10 years... |
d2f842989ae62a8a3d75af105a8f4cd2 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/spray-dryer | Spray dryer | Spray dryer
Spray dryers are more commonly used since they do less heat damage and produce more soluble products. Concentrated liquid dairy product is sprayed in a finely atomized form into a stream of hot air. The air may be heated by steam-heated “radiators” or…
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a13b66e685f8bf1f6455b11e86d2e5bf | https://www.britannica.com/technology/spray-roasting | Spray roasting | Spray roasting
Spray roasting involves spray atomization of solutions of water-soluble salts into a heated chamber. The temperature and transit time are adjusted so as to accomplish rapid evaporation and oxidation. The result is a high-purity powder with fine particle size. A modification of spray…
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db298d7287c6e4e93920e4bd3b484f23 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/spray-tower-scrubber | Spray-tower scrubber | Spray-tower scrubber
In a spray-tower scrubber, an upward-flowing airstream is washed by water sprayed downward from a series of nozzles. The water is recirculated after it is sufficiently cleaned to prevent clogging of the nozzles. Spray-tower scrubbers can remove 90 percent of particulates larger than about 8 μm.
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123736fe49f90c49fae9c62e7f8454a0 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/spread-footing | Spread footing | Spread footing
…may be either of the spread footing (made with wide bases placed directly beneath the load-bearing beams or walls), mat (consisting of slabs, usually of reinforced concrete, which underlie the entire area of a building), or floating types. A floating foundation consists of boxlike rigid structures set a... |
dc38d94e8710fac58cd4ed2809d2a89c | https://www.britannica.com/technology/spread-spectrum-multiple-access | Spread-spectrum multiple access | Spread-spectrum multiple access
…is sometimes referred to as spread-spectrum multiple access (SSMA), because the process of multiplying the signal by the code sequence causes the power of the transmitted signal to be spread over a larger bandwidth. Frequency management, a necessary feature of FDMA, is eliminated in CDM... |
25273782f197a36e87bdd59f46454764 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/spreading | Spreading | Spreading
…basic operations: making the marker, spreading the fabric, and chopping the spread fabric into the marked sections. The marker, or cutting lay, is the arrangement of patterns on the spread fabrics. When hides are cut, the lay length is the hide size; many hides are cut in single plies. Short…
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b78cf915502f8b3003269c78e03e9abc | https://www.britannica.com/technology/sprinkler-system-irrigation | Sprinkler system | Sprinkler system
Sprinkler irrigation is application of water under pressure as simulated rain. Subirrigation is the distribution of water to soil below the surface; it provides moisture to crops by upward capillary action. Trickle irrigation involves the slow release of water to each plant through small plastic…
Flood... |
1b90a2f53043f5dfdda0e6e6613d37a9 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/spur-gear | Spur gear | Spur gear
…to the shaft axes (spur gears) or by gears with twisted, screwlike teeth (helical gears). Intersecting shafts are connected by gears with tapered teeth arranged on truncated cones (bevel gears). Nonparallel, nonintersecting shafts are usually connected by a worm and gear. The worm resembles a screw, and the ... |
324abf6f9759c8e98c6504e96a653ff6 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/spur-tool-part | Spur | Spur
…are two sharp points called spurs, which score a circle equal in diameter to the hole, and two radial cutting edges that cut shavings within the scored circle. The twist is helical and carries the shavings away from the cutters. The tang is square and tapered and fits in the…
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7b9567f32abd4b2c8528c6a9d268749e | https://www.britannica.com/technology/sputtering | Sputtering | Sputtering
…target in a process called sputtering. In the secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) method, these secondary ions are used to gain information about the target material (see mass spectrometry: Secondary-ion emission). In contrast, the sputter-initiated RIS (SIRIS) method takes advantage of the much more num... |
7eb75bdc0ce1003b1550895fda379504 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/square-knot | Square knot | Square knot
A square knot is composed of two overhand knots turned in opposite ways. It flattens when pulled tight, making it useful in first aid and for tying packages. A surgeon’s knot is an elaborated form of the square knot; it is composed of two overhand knots…
…lower-order knots; for example, the square knot and ... |
f980eaa520a353c71bd47307824e69ac | https://www.britannica.com/technology/square-sail | Square sail | Square sail
Square sail, simplest form of rigging and the most ancient. The sails are attached to yards (crossbars) that are hung at their centres from the mast, and there are as many as five yards, one above the other. The characteristic of the square sail, apart from its shape, is that it always presents the same f... |
995dda3f35ae89c2eed014fd819b1b97 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/SS-10 | SS-10 | SS-10
…German technology and developed the SS-10/SS-11 family of missiles. The SS-11 was adopted by the United States as an interim helicopter-fired antitank missile pending the development of the TOW (for tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided) missile. Because it was designed for greater range and hitting powe... |
ccd760b7b5163b34f1dbe4200304e435 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/SS-11-Sego | SS-11 Sego | SS-11 Sego
The SS-11 was adopted by the United States as an interim helicopter-fired antitank missile pending the development of the TOW (for tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided) missile. Because it was designed for greater range and hitting power, TOW was mounted primarily on vehicles and, particularly, on a... |
0ee5b94366fe6b6629eb1c88a2efd51e | https://www.britannica.com/technology/SS-6-Sapwood | SS-6 Sapwood | SS-6 Sapwood
…(later given the NATO designation SS-6 Sapwood) as well as the first man-made satellite, Sputnik. This prompted the “missile gap” debate in the United States and resulted in higher priorities for the U.S. Thor and Jupiter IRBMs. Although originally scheduled for deployment in the early 1960s, these progra... |
d75433af7f24111f461198ea31358e3b | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stability-of-structures | Stability | Stability
…statics is to study the stability of structures, such as edifices and bridges. In these cases, gravity applies a force to each component of the structure as well as to any bodies the structure may need to support. The force of gravity acts on each bit of mass of which…
…first remedial task is to stabilize an... |
a7ad6498eaa7c905c7dfba9384a15b4c | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stadium | Stadium | Stadium
Stadium, enclosure that combines broad space for athletic games and other exhibitions with large seating capacity for spectators. The name derives from the Greek unit of measurement, the stade, the distance covered in the original Greek footraces (about 600 feet [180 metres]). The course for the footrace in th... |
70719b2f165dba3a87ad907f8d1a5065 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stagecoach-vehicle | Stagecoach | Stagecoach
Stagecoach, any public coach regularly travelling a fixed route between two or more stations (stages). Used in London at least by 1640, and about 20 years later in Paris, stagecoaches reached their greatest importance in England and the United States in the 19th century, where the new macadam roads made tra... |
04649e42ebe60be17248b09062957d69 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stalactite-work | Stalactite work | Stalactite work
Stalactite work, also called honeycomb work, Arabic al-ḥalīmāt al-ʿuliyā (“the overhang”), pendentive form of architectural ornamentation, resembling the geological formations called stalactites. This type of ornamentation is characteristic of Islamic architecture and decoration. It consists of a serie... |
f8c82d09bf719529c8d722835b05a7b8 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stall-aerodynamics | Stall | Stall
…delay the onset of the stall. Some aircraft also have forward wings, which provide lift and delay the stall, but these are not control surfaces and hence not canards.)
…critical condition is termed the stall.
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4e99d5891f2878f0765c82c9f689bc57 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/standard-definition-television | Standard-definition television | Standard-definition television
Standard-definition television (SDTV) is designed on the assumption that viewers in the typical home setting are located at a distance equal to six or seven times the height of the picture screen—on average some 3 metres (10 feet) away. Even high-definition television (HDTV) assumes a…
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8159fcc598bec872cd62e34057e2fe45 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/standard-gauge | Standard gauge | Standard gauge
…the world is the so-called standard gauge of 4 feet 8.5 inches (1.4 m), which originated with George Stephenson’s pioneer Liverpool & Manchester line in 1829. It was exported from Britain to Europe and the United States with the export of British locomotives built to it. Among notable deviations are…
…m... |
8dba146056dc21eec8fd8979a5f9dce2 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/star-connection | Star connection | Star connection
This connection is called a star, or wye, connection. Alternatively, since the three winding voltages also sum to zero at every instant, the three windings can be connected in series—a′ to b, b′ to c, and c′ to a—to form a delta connection. The output can then be transmitted using…
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86888744a6468b8d821e48a4a70567bf | https://www.britannica.com/technology/star-sapphire | Star sapphire | Star sapphire
Star rubies and sapphires, first developed in 1947 in the United States, are made by adding one percent rutile (titanium oxide, TiO2) to the starting powder, forming the boules in the usual manner, and then heat treating them at temperatures between 1,100° C and 1,500° C. The rutile…
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489a69f2b4b97baa37926cea78f5c980 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/static-random-access-memory | Static random-access memory | Static random-access memory
Static RAM (SRAM) consists of flip-flops, a bistable circuit composed of four to six transistors. Once a flip-flop stores a bit, it keeps that value until the opposite value is stored in it. SRAM gives fast access to data, but it is physically relatively large.…
There is also static RAM (SRA... |
c6bb49e100a3d88d85592a3454f1d57e | https://www.britannica.com/technology/steam-heating | Steam heating | Steam heating
…technology in the form of steam heating. James Watt heated his own office with steam running through pipes as early as 1784. During the 19th century, systems of steam and later hot-water heating were gradually developed; these used coal-fired central boilers connected to networks of pipes that distribute... |
2ddd584d1ed80377de48349bd81e8fd5 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/steel/Billets-bars-and-rods | Billets, bars, and rods | Billets, bars, and rods
Billets are the feedstock for long products of small cross section. In cases when they are not directly cast by a continuous caster, they are rolled from blooms by billet mills. One method of rolling billets, which are usually 75 to 125 millimetres square, is to use a three-high mill with box pa... |
38c8c39676f0cd86ed823626ef0ffe9a | https://www.britannica.com/technology/steel/Continuous-casting | Continuous casting | Continuous casting
About 55 percent of the world’s liquid steel production is solidified in continuous casting processes, the most widely used of which feeds liquid steel continuously into a short, water-cooled vertical copper mold and, at the same time, continuously withdraws the frozen shell, including the liquid ste... |
c5799a154f95aaff802d8f3b6b54f84e | https://www.britannica.com/technology/steel/Effects-of-heat-treating | Effects of heat-treating | Effects of heat-treating
Adjusting the carbon content is the simplest way to change the mechanical properties of steel. Additional changes are made possible by heat-treating—for instance, by accelerating the rate of cooling through the austenite-to-ferrite transformation point, shown by the P-S-K line in the figure. (T... |
3e691c9cefdc0744ed860fcf1e68da7b | https://www.britannica.com/technology/steel/Electric-arc-steelmaking | Electric-arc steelmaking | Electric-arc steelmaking
About one-quarter of the world’s steel is produced by the electric-arc method, which uses high-current electric arcs to melt steel scrap and convert it into liquid steel of a specified chemical composition and temperature. External arc heating permits better thermal control than does the basic ... |
494235fd3dbc2914a50c95a6136e7130 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/steel/History | History | History
The steel industry has grown from ancient times, when a few men may have operated, periodically, a small furnace producing 10 kilograms, to the modern integrated iron- and steelworks, with annual steel production of about 1 million tons. The largest commercial steelmaking enterprise, Nippon Steel in Japan, was ... |
3e41fc81e7f918d40dc65f7d33141852 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/steel/Wear-resistant-steels | Wear-resistant steels | Wear-resistant steels
Another group is the wear-resistant steels, made into wear plates for rock-processing machinery, crushers, and power shovels. These are austenitic steels that contain about 1.2 percent carbon and 12 percent manganese. The latter element is a strong austenizer; that is, it keeps steel austenitic at... |
82334cbe7e9f4965f5ac7ef739d8032e | https://www.britannica.com/technology/steering-system | Steering system | Steering system
Automobiles are steered by a system of gears and linkages that transmit the motion of the steering wheel to the pivoted front wheel hubs. The gear mechanism, located at the lower end of the shaft carrying the steering wheel, is usually a worm-and-nut or…
Steering of trucks, with their relatively heavy l... |
fa664f03a4331798c00cd21a08c765fd | https://www.britannica.com/technology/step-index-fiber | Step-index fibre | Step-index fibre
…different refractive properties, are called stepped-index fibres. For various reasons, superior performance can be obtained from a graded-index fibre, in which the glass composition, and hence the refractive indices, change progressively, without abrupt transition, between the core and the outer diame... |
1922a1595ad7201a445b8085b4d96553 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stimulated-emission | Stimulated emission | Stimulated emission
Stimulated emission, in laser action, the release of energy from an excited atom by artificial means. According to Albert Einstein, when more atoms occupy a higher energy state than a lower one under normal temperature equilibrium (see population inversion), it is possible to force atoms to return ... |
97017a5e623cfb09692f06c9e9a0a2e7 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stoa | Stoa | Stoa
Stoa, plural Stoae, in Greek architecture, a freestanding colonnade or covered walkway; also, a long open building, its roof supported by one or more rows of columns parallel to the rear wall. The Stoa of Attalus at Athens is a prime example.
Stoae surrounded marketplaces and sanctuaries and formed places of busi... |
ec854942a5e97cc079af56bf5f99243c | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stochastic-cooling | Stochastic cooling | Stochastic cooling
…a technique known as “stochastic cooling,” developed by Simon Van der Meer at CERN. Antiprotons are produced when a high-energy proton beam strikes a metal target, but they emerge from the target with a range of energies and directions, so the resulting antiproton beam is broad and diffuse. Stochast... |
7a0361d107d74456c766d95b764602fd | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stock-anchor | Stock anchor | Stock anchor
It is known as a stock anchor in the United States and as a fisherman’s anchor in the United Kingdom.
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cacbcbcb41987deaa33354fd0268ed71 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stoker | Stoker | Stoker
Stoker, machine for feeding coal or other solid fuel into a furnace, usually supporting the fuel during combustion. A good stoker also supplies air for combustion and regulates the rate of burning and, in large installations, disposes of the ashes. Use of stokers affords substantial fuel savings over hand firi... |
151648f2fc1cc73962f4104f6222b598 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/STOL-airplane | STOL airplane | STOL airplane
STOL airplane, STOL in full short takeoff and landing, any of several fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on runways considerably shorter than those needed by conventional aircraft. Most aircraft of this type require a runway no more than 150 metres (500 feet) long, which is about 10 t... |
43e582a36c8fdcb8c0c975ddf6b21bea | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stoping | Stoping | Stoping
Stoping, in mining engineering, the opening of large underground rooms, or stopes, by the excavation of ore. Stoping is practiced in underground mineral mining when the surrounding rock is strong enough to permit the drilling, blasting, and removal of ore without caving. In mines where the rock requires no art... |
d6aca2112b89f50a2d893f4ff7c2464b | https://www.britannica.com/technology/storage-computing | Storage | Storage
…had a new idea for storage.
Digital information is stored in complex patterns that make it feasible to address and operate on even the smallest element of symbolic expression, as well as on larger strings such as words or sentences and on images and sound.
…automated equipment to use computer storage technolog... |
62c5eac573b1221833e09a003ee275ea | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stress-rupture-curve | Stress-rupture curve | Stress-rupture curve
…the resulting curve is called stress rupture or creep rupture. Once creep strain versus time is plotted, a variety of mathematical techniques is available for extrapolating creep behaviour of materials beyond the test times so that designers can utilize thousand-hour test data, for example, to pre... |
eaaa376e653134def0668d37dcedf59c | https://www.britannica.com/technology/Strike-Eagle | Strike Eagle | Strike Eagle
…fighter-bomber version, known as the Strike Eagle, a weapons officer seated behind the pilot controls the delivery of a number of guided missiles and bombs. The Strike Eagle carried out much of the nighttime precision bombing of Iraqi installations during the Persian Gulf War of 1990–91.
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c0a828659279e264befa2597cd7f53e7 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/string-architecture | String | String
…riser; steps are placed between strings that are inclined to the angle of the staircase; strings are supported by newel posts that also support the handrail, forming a balustrade.
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3ae18e2312d2dae03860b3768971888a | https://www.britannica.com/technology/strip-mining | Strip mining | Strip mining
Strip mining, removal of soil and rock (overburden) above a layer or seam (particularly coal), followed by the removal of the exposed mineral.
The common strip-mining techniques are classified as area mining or contour mining on the basis of the deposit geometry and type. The cycle of operations for both ... |
ce0e79b420b4a80f6a867ff54b0fdd76 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stripper-farm-machine | Stripper | Stripper
In 1843 a “stripper” was brought out in Australia that removed the wheat heads from the plants and threshed them in a single operation. Threshing machines were powered first by men or animals, often using treadmills, later by steam and internal-combustion engines. The modern combine harvester, originally intro... |
d56c048567490fa5b1d9728df0ebc2f7 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stripping-film | Stripping film | Stripping film
Stripping film, a laminated film with a soft adhesive layer between the base and the emulsion layer, is widely used to permit images to be removed from the base and properly oriented on the glass or film flat through which the metal plate will be…
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decbb5425f3ce15d42e767338929be5e | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stripping-ratio | Stripping ratio | Stripping ratio
…calculated with the aid of stripping ratios, which represent the amount of waste material that must be removed to extract a given amount of coal. Stripping ratios can also consider the selling price of coal, and a certain minimum profit can be added to the total cost of producing and…
…removed is calle... |
39970ef591ae7fe26efed23deadaa062 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stripping-shovel | Stripping shovel | Stripping shovel
…currently used in mines: the stripping shovel, the loading (or quarry-mine) shovel, and the hydraulic shovel. The hydraulic mining shovel has been widely used for coal and rock loading since the 1970s. The hydraulic system of power transmission greatly simplifies the power train, eliminates a number o... |
f107fb407b3b99c36845fd057336f5e5 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stroke-mechanics | Stroke | Stroke
…and VBDC locations is the stroke. The ratio of VTDC to VBDC normalized to the VTDC value—i.e., (VBDC/VTDC):1—is the compression ratio of a reciprocating engine. Compression ratio is the most important factor affecting the theoretical efficiency of the engine cycle. Because increasing the compression ratio is th... |
42815e7201442eb9b0fbca842c122571 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/Stuxnet | Stuxnet | Stuxnet
Stuxnet, a computer worm, discovered in June 2010, that was specifically written to take over certain programmable industrial control systems and cause the equipment run by those systems to malfunction, all the while feeding false data to the systems monitors indicating the equipment to be running as intended.... |
f8ab4ab5ea842713f1008a4d73c29756 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/stylus-phonograph | Stylus | Stylus
…of the vibration of a stylus, or needle, following a groove on a rotating disc. A phonograph disc, or record, stores a replica of sound waves as a series of undulations in a sinuous groove inscribed on its rotating surface by the stylus. When the record is played back, another…
…minute, a tiny “needle,” or styl... |
b02e904d1794fc284020e7b3f2d1539a | https://www.britannica.com/technology/submachine-gun | Submachine gun | Submachine gun
Submachine gun, lightweight automatic small-arms weapon chambered for relatively low-energy pistol cartridges and fired from the hip or shoulder. Most types utilize simple blowback actions. Using cartridges of such calibres as .45 inch or 9 mm, they usually have box-type magazines that hold from 10 to ... |
20f1ad6e8addb81a24d6a03eeb2c9a8f | https://www.britannica.com/technology/submarine-photometer | Submarine photometer | Submarine photometer
…transparency and absorption include the submarine photometer, the hydrophotometer, and the Secchi disk. The submarine photometer records directly to depths of about 150 metres the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet portions of the spectrum. The hydrophotometer has a self-contained light source tha... |
614369e9a15a195eab6f34423d638be1 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/submersible | Submersible | Submersible
…on special surface vessels and submersibles for direct measurements. It can be very costly to operate either type of vessel on long deep-sea expeditions. Moreover, observations from such craft can provide only a partial picture of oceanic phenomena and processes in terms of both space and time. Consequentl... |
b34c76cea405fe32a50f938f19547b12 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/sulfur-dye | Sulfur dye | Sulfur dye
Sulfur dye, any of a group of sulfur-containing, complex synthetic organic dyes applied from an alkaline solution of sodium sulfide (in which they dissolve) to cellulose, where they become substantive to the fibre. On exposure to air, the dyes in the fibre are oxidized back to their original insoluble form... |
b1c1b933ef75b6733de8efcadfacb7cf | https://www.britannica.com/technology/sulky | Sulky | Sulky
Sulky, originally a light, open, one-horse, four-wheeled vehicle with its single seat for only one person fixed on its shafts. It is thought to have been invented in the early 19th century by an English physician and was supposedly named for his sulkiness in wishing to sit alone. The sulky was adapted to two wh... |
9576c974dbb295e51cda0fb3b4338493 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/sunken-profile | Sunken profile | Sunken profile
While Pisa demonstrated the strength of earthen ramparts, Padua showed the power of a sunken profile supported by flanking fire in the ditch. With these two cities pointing the way, basic changes were undertaken in fortress design. Fortress walls, still essential for protection…
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4390e741a0166caa3a1109efdb1b332b | https://www.britannica.com/technology/superheater | Superheater | Superheater
…by passing it through a superheater on its way from the boiler to the engine. A common superheater is a group of parallel pipes with their surfaces exposed to the hot gases in the boiler furnace. By means of superheaters, the steam may be heated beyond the temperature at which…
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d95b7a88a9b9841f41c03139128dc384 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/supersonic-transport | Supersonic transport | Supersonic transport
…and risks in producing a supersonic transport (SST), the Concorde. The two countries were not alone in the race for a supersonic airliner. The Soviet Union built the delta-wing Tupolev Tu-144, which made its maiden flight in December 1968 and which in June 1969 was the first passenger jet to…
…lim... |
69558eab99a4f20d02a7dd6ad9927019 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/supervisory-control | Supervisory control | Supervisory control
…three ways: for supervisory or optimizing control; direct digital control; and hierarchy control.
…original telemetry systems were termed supervisory because they were used to monitor electric power distribution. In the first such system, installed in Chicago in 1912, telephone lines were used for ... |
ff0ac861601ef1ae4b231b9e824ab6ae | https://www.britannica.com/technology/suppressed-combustion-system | Suppressed-combustion system | Suppressed-combustion system
In the other system, the suppressed-combustion system, a ring-shaped hood is lowered onto the converter mouth before the blow, keeping air away from the hot off-gases. This means that they are not burned and that their chemical heating value of about 3,000 kilocalories per cubic metre is pr... |
12c08de0b26e1849af97a6d1d1dfb751 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/surface-coating/Pigments | Pigments | Pigments
Pigments are insoluble particulate materials that provide colour, opacity, gloss control, rheological control, and certain functions such as corrosion inhibition or magnetic moment. They also reduce the cost of coatings by acting as a volume filler. Pigments are used as fine particles ranging in size from 0.01... |
bd489a202e0061ee6a971576d03c875e | https://www.britannica.com/technology/surface-coating/Polymer-film-forming-processes | Polymer film-forming processes | Polymer film-forming processes
Upon application by spraying, brushing, or various industrial processes, surface coatings undergo what is known as film formation. In most film-formation processes, a liquid coating of relatively low viscosity is applied to a solid substrate and is cured to a solid, high-molecular-weight,... |
185f21f2ab9a397b9c4730270f2c22e1 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/surface-coating/Solvents-and-carrier-liquids | Solvents and carrier liquids | Solvents and carrier liquids
Since most polymer-based coatings are prepared and applied in liquid form, the solvents or carrier liquids are among the most important raw materials used in the coatings. In coatings classified as solvent-based, organic solvents are employed to dissolve the polymers and oligomers that will... |
3d501e0a59850314051493a14682b596 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/surface-to-surface-system | Surface-to-surface system | Surface-to-surface system
Antitank weapons usually employ a guided missile carrying a shaped-charge warhead that is designed to blast through armour. With wire-guided missiles such as the U.S. TOW or the Franco-German HOT, a wire unreels behind the missile and the operator signals course corrections to…
Short- and medi... |
5831b3951e5bfb0dd04ba5e6cb39ac17 | https://www.britannica.com/technology/survey | Survey | Survey
As noted above in the section Estimation, statistical inference is the process of using data from a sample to make estimates or test hypotheses about a population. The field of sample survey methods is concerned with effective ways of obtaining sample data.…
survey-based method of determining the economic value ... |
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