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Technology is the application of conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word technology can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible tools such as utensils or machines, and intangible ones such as software. Technology plays a critical role in science, engineering, and everyday life.

Technological advancements have led to significant changes in society. The earliest known technology is the stone tool, used during prehistory, followed by the control of fire—which in turn contributed to the growth of the human brain and the development of language during the Ice Age, according to the cooking hypothesis. The invention of the wheel in the Bronze Age allowed greater travel and the creation of more complex machines. More recent technological inventions, including the printing press, telephone, and the Internet, have lowered barriers to communication and ushered in the knowledge economy. (Full article...)

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Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

$Image 1 An electron backscatter diffraction pattern of monocrystalline silicon, taken at 20 kV with a field-emission electron source Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique used to study the crystallographic structure of materials. EBSD is carried out in a scanning electron microscope equipped with an EBSD detector comprising at least a phosphorescent screen, a compact lens and a low-light camera. In the microscope an incident beam of electrons hits a tilted sample. As backscattered electrons leave the sample, they interact with the atoms and are both elastically diffracted and lose energy, leaving the sample at various scattering angles before reaching the phosphor screen forming Kikuchi patterns (EBSPs). The EBSD spatial resolution depends on many factors, including the nature of the material under study and the sample preparation. They can be indexed to provide information about the material's grain structure, grain orientation, and phase at the micro-scale. EBSD is used for impurities and defect studies, plastic deformation, and statistical analysis for average misorientation, grain size, and crystallographic texture. EBSD can also be combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), cathodoluminescence (CL), and wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (WDS) for advanced phase identification and materials discovery. The change and sharpness of the electron backscatter patterns (EBSPs) provide information about lattice distortion in the diffracting volume. Pattern sharpness can be used to assess the level of plasticity. Changes in the EBSP zone axis position can be used to measure the residual stress and small lattice rotations. EBSD can also provide information about the density of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs). However, the lattice distortion is measured relative to a reference pattern (EBSP0). The choice of reference pattern affects the measurement precision; e.g., a reference pattern deformed in tension will directly reduce the tensile strain magnitude derived from a high-resolution map while indirectly influencing the magnitude of other components and the spatial distribution of strain. Furthermore, the choice of EBSP0 slightly affects the GND density distribution and magnitude. (Full article...)$

Image 1
$An electron backscatter diffraction pattern of monocrystalline silicon, taken at 20 kV with a field-emission electron source. The Kikuchi bands intersect at the centre of the image$
An electron backscatter diffraction pattern of monocrystalline silicon, taken at 20 kV with a field-emission electron source

Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique used to study the crystallographic structure of materials. EBSD is carried out in a scanning electron microscope equipped with an EBSD detector comprising at least a phosphorescent screen, a compact lens and a low-light camera. In the microscope an incident beam of electrons hits a tilted sample. As backscattered electrons leave the sample, they interact with the atoms and are both elastically diffracted and lose energy, leaving the sample at various scattering angles before reaching the phosphor screen forming Kikuchi patterns (EBSPs). The EBSD spatial resolution depends on many factors, including the nature of the material under study and the sample preparation. They can be indexed to provide information about the material's grain structure, grain orientation, and phase at the micro-scale. EBSD is used for impurities and defect studies, plastic deformation, and statistical analysis for average misorientation, grain size, and crystallographic texture. EBSD can also be combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), cathodoluminescence (CL), and wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (WDS) for advanced phase identification and materials discovery.

The change and sharpness of the electron backscatter patterns (EBSPs) provide information about lattice distortion in the diffracting volume. Pattern sharpness can be used to assess the level of plasticity. Changes in the EBSP zone axis position can be used to measure the residual stress and small lattice rotations. EBSD can also provide information about the density of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs). However, the lattice distortion is measured relative to a reference pattern (EBSP₀). The choice of reference pattern affects the measurement precision; e.g., a reference pattern deformed in tension will directly reduce the tensile strain magnitude derived from a high-resolution map while indirectly influencing the magnitude of other components and the spatial distribution of strain. Furthermore, the choice of EBSP₀ slightly affects the GND density distribution and magnitude. (Full article...)
Image 2

Ramón Iribarren Cavanilles, c. 1940

Ramón Iribarren Cavanilles Ing.D (15 April 1900 – 21 February 1967) was a Spanish civil engineer and professor of ports at the School of Civil Engineering (Spanish: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, ETSICCP) in Madrid. He was chairman of the Spanish delegation to the Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses and was elected as an academic at the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences, although he did not take up the latter position. He made notable contributions in the field of coastal engineering, including methods for the calculation of breakwater stability and research which led to the development of the Iribarren number.

He undertook detailed research at several ports in the Bay of Biscay which were subject to extreme waves and frequent storms, and this underpinned much of his early research work. Iribarren recognised that many of the ports in the Bay of Biscay were insufficiently protected from severe wave and storm conditions, which had resulted in a number of shipwrecks and threatened the economic viability of the local fishing community, with whom he enjoyed a close relationship. (Full article...)
Image 3
State Route 96 (SR 96) is a 6.75-mile-long (10.86 km) state highway located within Snohomish County in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway travels east from an interchange with Interstate 5 (I-5) in Paine Field-Lake Stickney through Mill Creek and an intersection with SR 527 to end at SR 9 south of Snohomish. SR 96 was established in 1991 and follows the route of a wagon road constructed by Snohomish County in the late 1880s to connect Snohomish to Seattle. The highway was closed during the Great Coastal Gale of 2007 after a culvert was damaged and its eastern terminus was re-constructed in 2009 to serve increasing volumes of traffic. (Full article...)
Image 4

Group photograph of Project Alberta on Tinian

Project Alberta, also known as Project A, was a section of the Manhattan Project which assisted in delivering the first nuclear weapons in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.

Project Alberta was formed in March 1945, and consisted of 51 United States Army, Navy, and civilian personnel, including one British scientist. Its mission was three-fold. It first had to design a bomb shape for delivery by air, then procure and assemble it. It supported the ballistic testing work at Wendover Army Air Field, Utah, conducted by the 216th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Project W-47), and the modification of B-29s to carry the bombs (Project Silverplate). After completion of its development and training missions, Project Alberta was attached to the 509th Composite Group at North Field, Tinian, where it prepared facilities, assembled and loaded the weapons, and participated in their use. (Full article...)
Image 5

Red Line train arriving at Judiciary Square in June 2023

The Red Line is a rapid transit line of the Washington Metro system, consisting of 27 stations in Montgomery County, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is a primary line through downtown Washington and the oldest and busiest line in the system. It forms a long, narrow "U," capped by its terminal stations at Shady Grove and Glenmont.

Trains run every 4–5 minutes during weekday rush hours, every 6 minutes during weekday off-peak hours and weekends, and every 10 minutes daily after 9:30pm. (Full article...)
Image 6

Eidsvoll Verk Station (Norwegian: Eidsvoll Verk stasjon) is a railway station located on the Gardermoen Line at Råholt near Eidsvoll Verk in Eidsvoll, Norway. The station was taken into use in 1999 when the commuter trains to Eidsvoll started using the Gardermoen Line. It was designed by Arkitektskap and built in concrete, with details in metal and wood, and is sunk into the ground. (Full article...)
Image 7

The Jaguar XJ220 is a two-seat supercar produced by British luxury car manufacturer Jaguar from 1992 until 1994, in collaboration with the specialist automotive and race engineering company Tom Walkinshaw Racing. The XJ220 (with catalytic converter removed) recorded a top speed of 217 mph (349 km/h) during testing by Jaguar at the Nardo test track in Italy. This made it the fastest production car from 1992 to 1993. According to Jaguar, an XJ220 prototype managed a Nürburgring lap time of 7:46.36 in 1991 which was faster than any production car lap time before it.

The XJ220 was developed from a V12-engined 4-wheel drive concept car designed by an informal group of Jaguar employees working in their spare time. The group wished to create a modern version of the successful Jaguar 24 Hours of Le Mans racing cars of the 1950s and 1960s that could be entered into FIA Group B competitions. The XJ220 made use of engineering work undertaken for Jaguar's then current racing car family. (Full article...)

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Image 1
Nice tramway
Photograph: Myrabella
The Nice tramway crossing Place Garibaldi, Nice, where it lowers its pantograph and is powered by batteries. This 8.7-kilometre (5.4 mi), single-line tramway is operated by Veolia Transdev. It opened on 24 November 2007, replacing bus lines 1, 2, 5 and 18.
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Image 2
Apple Bandai Pippin
Photograph: Evan Amos
The Apple Bandai Pippin is a multimedia technology console designed by Apple Computer based on the Apple Pippin platform, and produced by Bandai. Only 100,000 of the consoles were produced between its 1996 release and 1997 discontinuation. The Bandai Pippin was intended to create an inexpensive computer aimed mostly at playing CD-based multimedia software, especially games, but also functioning as a thin client.
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Image 3
Escalator
Credit: Stig Nygaard
An escalator is a moving staircase for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.
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Image 4
Enriched uranium
Photo: United States Department of Energy
A billet of enriched uranium, which is uranium where the percent composition of uranium-235 (²³⁵U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Enriched uranium is a critical component for both civil nuclear power generation and military nuclear weapons.
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Image 5
George Washington Carver
Photo: Arthur Rothstein; Restoration: Lise Broer
A portrait of George Washington Carver, American scientist, botanist, educator and inventor, from 1942. Much of Carver's fame is based on his research into and promotion of alternative crops to cotton, such as peanuts and sweet potatoes. In addition to his work on agricultural extension education for purposes of advocacy of sustainable agriculture and appreciation of plants and nature, Carver's important accomplishments also included improvement of racial relations, mentoring children, poetry, painting, and religion. One of his most important roles was in undermining, through the fame of his achievements and many talents, the widespread stereotype of the time that the black race was intellectually inferior to the white race.
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Image 6
Four-stroke cycle
Photo credit: Eric Pierce
The four-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine is the cycle most commonly used for automotive and industrial purposes today, including cars, trucks, and generators.

The cycle was invented by Nikolaus Otto in 1876, and is also called the Otto cycle. The cycle is characterized by four strokes, or straight movements in a single direction, of the piston.
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Image 7
Thomas Edison
Photo: Bachrach Studios; Restoration: Michel Vuijlsteke
Thomas Edison (1847–1931) was an American inventor, scientist and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" (now Edison, New Jersey) by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large teamwork to the process of invention, and therefore is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory. Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,093 U.S. patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
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Image 8
Empire State Building
Image credit: Lewis Hine
A structural worker bolts beams on the framework during the construction of the Empire State Building in New York City. The 1,250-foot (380 m) building opened on May 1, 1931, at the time the tallest building in the world, overtaking the Chrysler Building (seen to the right), which had just been completed the year before. The addition of a pinnacle and antennas later increased its overall height to 1,472 feet (449 m).
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Image 9
Filling station
Photograph: Uwe Aranas
A filling station in Sabah, Malaysia, operated by Royal Dutch Shell. Filling stations, also known under a wide variety of names, are facilities that sell fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. They include one or more fuel dispensers, which distribute fuels such as gasoline and diesel into the tanks within vehicles and calculate the financial cost of the fuel transferred. Filling stations may also include air compressors and electricity sockets, which may inflate tyres or offer charging stations. Many filling stations also incorporate a convenience store, where customers can purchase snacks and other goods.
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Image 10
Overhead power line
Credit: Simon Koopmann
An overhead power line is a structure used in electric power transmission and distribution to transmit electrical energy along large distances. It consists of one or more conductors suspended by towers or utility poles.
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Image 11
Flat-four engine
Photograph: ULPower Aero Engines
The ULPower UL260i, a flat-four engine produced by ULPower Aero Engines of Belgium. Flat-four engines are flat engines with four cylinders arranged horizontally in two banks of two cylinders on each side of a central crankcase; they can be used in cars, motorcycles, or aircraft. This type of engine tends to be well-balanced and have efficient cooling, but is expensive to manufacture and considerably wider than other engines.
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Image 12
GameCube
Photo: Evan Amos
The GameCube is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo beginning in 2001. Meant as a successor to the Nintendo 64, the GameCube sold approximately 22 million units worldwide. It was the third most-successful console of its generation, behind Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox. The GameCube was succeeded by the Wii in 2006.
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Image 13
Let L-410 Turbolet
Photo: Łukasz Golowanow
The Let L-410 Turbolet is a twin-engined short-range transport aircraft, manufactured by the Czech aircraft manufacturer LET, mostly used for passenger transport. The L-410 first flew in 1969, and with more than 1100 produced, is the most popular 19-seat plane in history.
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Image 14
BMW S1000RR
Photograph credit: Stefan Krause
The BMW S1000RR is a sport bike made by BMW Motorrad. It was introduced in 2008, initially for competition in the 2009 Superbike World Championship, and has been in commercial production since then. Powered by a 999 cc (61.0 cu in) four-cylinder engine, redlined at 14,200 rpm, it delivers 133.6 kW (179.2 hp; 181.6 PS) to the rear wheel, making it the most powerful motorcycle in the class. Rubén Xaus and Troy Corser rode the bike for its inaugural Superbike World Championship in 2009, gaining highest finishes of fifth and seventh respectively, but it achieved greater success in the 2010 FIM Superstock 1000 championship season, with rider Ayrton Badovini winning every single race but one on the S1000RR.
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Image 15
Laptop computer
Credit: Mike McGregor
The OLPC XO-1 is an inexpensive subnotebook laptop computer intended to be distributed to children in developing countries.
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Image 16
David Faiman
Photograph: David Shankbone
David Faiman is an Israeli engineer and physicist recognized for his expertise on solar power. He is the director of the Ben-Gurion National Solar Energy Center and Chairman of the Department of Solar Energy & Environmental Physics at Ben-Gurion University's Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research in Sde Boker.
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Image 17
Bucket-wheel excavators
Photograph: Raimond Spekking
Bucket-wheel excavators (BWEs) are heavy equipment used in surface mining. The primary function of a BWE is to act as a continuous digging machine in large-scale open pit mining operations. These BWEs were photographed at the Garzweiler surface mine in Germany.
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Image 18
Parabolic antenna
Photo credit: Richard Bartz
A parabolic antenna, a high-gain reflector antenna used for radio, television and data communications, at Erdfunkstelle Raisting, the largest facility for satellite communication in the world, based in Raisting, Bavaria, Germany. Parabolic antennas work by reflecting electromagnetic radiation off the paraboloid dish to or from the feed horn (center), for reception or transmission respectively.
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Image 19
Wheel
Credit: fir0002
A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axial bearing. The wheel is one of the main components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines.
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Image 20
Telephone
Credit: Berthold Werner
A telephone, or phone, is a telecommunications device that converts sound, typically the human voice, into electronic signals suitable for transmission via cables or other transmission media over long distances through satellite.
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The following are images from various technology-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Pont du Gard in France, a Roman aqueduct (from History of technology)
Image 2'BUILD YOUR OWN TELEVISION RECEIVER.' Science and Invention magazine cover, November 1928 (from Invention)
Image 3Dome of Florence Cathedral (from History of technology)
Image 4A rare 1884 photo showing the experimental recording of voice patterns by a photographic process at the Alexander Graham Bell Laboratory in Washington, D.C. Many of their experimental designs panned out in failure. (from Invention)
Image 5Self-replicating 3D printer (from Emerging technologies)
Image 6The preserved Rocket (from History of technology)
Image 73D printer (from Emerging technologies)
Image 8Walls at Sacsayhuaman (from History of technology)
Image 9NASA Fuel cell stack
Direct-methanol cell (from Emerging technologies)
Image 10A late Bronze Age sword or dagger blade (from History of technology)
Image 11Edison electric light bulbs 1879–80 (from History of technology)
Image 12Agriculture preceded writing in the history of technology. (from History of technology)
Image 13Design for a flying machine (c.1488) by da Vinci (from History of technology)
Image 14The compartmented water wheel, here its overshot version (from History of technology)
Image 15Top 30 AI patent applicants in 2016 (from Emerging technologies)
Image 16Clock from Salisbury Cathedral, ca. 1386 (from History of technology)
Image 17An axehead made of iron, dating from the Swedish Iron Age (from History of technology)
Image 18The wheel, invented sometime before the 4th millennium BC, is one of the most ubiquitous and important technologies. This detail of the "Standard of Ur", c. 2500 BCE., displays a Sumerian chariot. (from History of technology)
Image 19Johannes Gutenberg's printing press was voted the most important invention of the second millennium. (from Invention)
Image 20Solid-state air batteries
Li-Air composition (from Emerging technologies)
Image 21Newcomen steam engine for pumping mines (from History of technology)
Image 22Eric M. C. Tigerstedt (1887–1925) was known as a pioneer of sound-on-film technology. Tigerstedt in 1915. (from Invention)
Image 23A variety of stone tools (from History of technology)
Image 24A water-powered mine hoist used for raising ore, ca. 1556 (from History of technology)
Image 25Ford assembly line, 1913. The magneto assembly line was the first. (from History of technology)
Image 26Thomas Edison with his second phonograph, photographed by Levin Corbin Handy in Washington, April 1878 (from History of technology)
Image 27Alessandro Volta with the first electrical battery. Volta is recognized as an influential inventor. (from Invention)

Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

... that scholars have described the 1946 book The Failure of Technology as a precursor to the environmental movement?
... that Carmel Naughton, having been told that girls were "stupid and couldn't do maths", sponsored a STEM scholarship fund?
... that Aileen Davies sang roles on the first two D'Oyly Carte Opera Company recordings using the new electrical-recording technology?
... that the Japanese manga series Mink featured futuristic technology even though its creator was unfamiliar with computers?
... that the Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus has been ranked as both one of the US's most significant architectural works and its least beautiful college campus?
... that several science fiction critics praised "Rock Diver", the first short story by American writer Harry Harrison, for its compelling take on technology for passing through matter?
... that, after an attempt to sell the Tokamak de Varennes to Iran failed, it became a display at the Canada Science and Technology Museum?
... that Byrnihat was ranked by an air technology company as the world's most polluted city in 2024?