The World's Largest Computer in 1951

  • Thread starter Thread starter wolram
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Computer
AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers around two significant machines: the ENIAC, an early computer that was 10 feet tall, weighed 30 tons, and required 150 kilowatts of power, and the Russian Ekranoplan, a ground effect vehicle that could travel over 400 km/h and weighed 540 tons. The ENIAC utilized a vast number of electronic components but had less processing power than a modern pocket calculator. The Ekranoplan, developed by the Soviet Union, operates just above water using a shock wave principle, allowing it to travel over various terrains. The conversation also touches on trivia and historical facts about these machines, highlighting their unique engineering and capabilities. Overall, the thread showcases a blend of technical details and engaging quiz-like interactions.
  • #1,801
matthyaouw said:
This is the money pit on Oak Island. they'd given up digging, and started boring by this point.
I give up everyone knows about everything these days :smile:
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #1,802
wolram said:
I give up everyone knows about everything these days :smile:

Someone posted it in S&D the other day...
 
  • #1,803
brewnog said:
Someone posted it in S&D the other day...

I just looked it up, soon the internet will know everything, who needs
MI5 or the FBI, when we have google :biggrin:
 
  • #1,804
wolram said:
I just looked it up, soon the internet will know everything, who needs
MI5 or the FBI, when we have google :biggrin:

Yeah, and google usually just brings you straight back here.
 
  • #1,805
brewnog said:
Someone posted it in S&D the other day...

That would be me, hence the speedy response :biggrin:
I'll post one in a moment. Gotta sort out some clues first
 
  • #1,806
With arms almost the size of the Eifel tower, this floating device plugged the final hole in the country's defences
 
  • #1,807
storm surge barrier at the tip of the Netherlands.
 
  • #1,808
Curses. I thought I had a tricky one there.
Your go.
 
  • #1,809
matthyaouw said:
Curses. I thought I had a tricky one there.
Your go.
Gordon bennit you mean i was right
 
  • #1,810
Aye. Its the barrier that protects Rotterdam. I don't suppose you were watching the documentary about it on wenesday night were you?
 
  • #1,811
matthyaouw said:
Aye. Its the barrier that protects Rotterdam. I don't suppose you were watching the documentary about it on wenesday night were you?
I saw a discovery program about it some time ago
 
  • #1,812
Combine another word for ditch and er with another word for meadow
to find this colossus
 
  • #1,813
wolram said:
Combine another word for ditch and er with another word for meadow
to find this colossus
What is 'er'? Is that 'err' or 'ER', as in emergency room?
 
  • #1,814
wolram said:
Combine another word for ditch and er with another word for meadow
to find this colossus
Would you mean the Trencherfield Mill Steam Engine?
 
  • #1,815
zoobyshoe said:
Would you mean the Trencherfield Mill Steam Engine?

Well, I for one am willing to assume that's not just a coincidence. :biggrin:
 
  • #1,816
Ivan Seeking said:
Well, I for one am willing to assume that's not just a coincidence. :biggrin:
On another site, in a galaxy far, far away, we were playing a guessing game, and the clue was "Damn Dog! That's me!" So I guessed Cerberus, the three headed dog who guards the entrance to the under world. Turns out he meant it to refer to himself, in his real life capacity as a writer of crossword puzzles. "Damn" was supposed to translate as "cross word" (angry utterance), and "dog" as "fellow" or "chap" as in "You lucky dog!" Everyone knew the guy was British, and that he wrote crossword puzzles for a living, but I thought it was the most impenetrable clue I'd ever heard. "Cerberus" was such a better answer.
 
  • #1,817
zoobyshoe said:
Would you mean the Trencherfield Mill Steam Engine?
That is uncanny but correct. next time i will just think the clue, then we
will know what's going on. :biggrin:
 
Last edited:
  • #1,818
wolram said:
That is uncanny but correct. next time i will just think the clue, then we
will know what's going on. :biggrin:
Actually, it was an extremely well constructed clue. The trickiest part was figuring out what the "er" meant. Ditch and meadow have only one satisfying synonym each, and these turned out to be what you wanted. Just googling "trencherfield" got me right to the mill, and the only thing there that qualified as a "colossus" was the big steam engine.

Anyone who wants may put up the next clue.
 
  • #1,819
This chelating agent, of which there are three major types and three major grades, killed over twenty people in the worst disaster of its kind. Buildings were knocked off their foundations, there was chaos, terror, victims to be dug out and trapped survivors, rescue workers among the victims, and anguished families rushing to relief centers to find their relatives.
 
  • #1,820
Oxalic acid?
 
  • #1,821
Trans-1,2-Diaminocyclohexane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid, monohydrate?
 
  • #1,822
Did you find the disaster? I haven't found anything- oxalic acid was just the only one I found that was explosive.
I figure it was either an explosion or failure (like a dam or something). But I can't imagine how a chelating agent would cause a failure? Of course, I didn't know what a chelating agent was until this question. :rolleyes:
 
  • #1,823
The film Blade, wherein several vampires are injected with an anticoagulant chemical, EDTA, and explode violently.
 
  • #1,824
Where is that Ivan sea king?
 
  • #1,825
Yes, where is old Posie? He's the one who suggested we keep two questions going for this very reason. :frown:
 
  • #1,826
wow..you guys are struggling to keep this thread alive, especially after the "where is it" thread came alon :biggrin:
 
  • #1,827
yomamma said:
wow..you guys are struggling to keep this thread alive, especially after the "where is it" thread came alon :biggrin:

What are you talking about sir, " where is it", well its at the bottom of my
garden, we call it the privy, apart from that i can not find my car keys, where
the eky thump are they.
 
  • #1,828
No, no, and no. :biggrin:

In one form, it is treated with sulfur fumes. We also find calcium, potassium, oxalate and chloride present in this compound.
 
Last edited:
  • #1,829
Also, one part this with nine parts water removes rust from iron.
 
  • #1,830
Baking powder?
 
  • #1,831
Wait- molasses? That can't be right. :confused:
 
  • #1,833
Oh, yeah, and:
Sulphured molasses is made from green (unripe) sugar cane and is treated with sulphur fumes during the sugar extraction process.
...
The non-sugar content includes many salts such as calcium, potassium, oxalate and chloride.
...
Molasses is a chelating agent. An object coated with iron rust placed for two weeks in a mixture of one part molasses to nine parts water will lose its rust due to the chelating action of the molasses
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molasses
I think that's the strangest one yet.

I actually happened to see Indian pudding made today at Durgin Park in Boston. Indian pudding is made with molasses.
 
Last edited:
  • #1,834
Many think he's fantastic, but he might prefer to be called fabulous.
 
  • #1,835
honestrosewater said:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A613045

I guess I wasn't far off with the dam failure. :rolleyes:

:biggrin:

Also:
The Terror of the Scene
I went to original newspaper articles to find out what it was like. Envision a disaster scene with smashed buildings, overturned vehicles, drowned and crushed victims, and terrified survivors running away covered in molasses. Like the modern-day disasters with which we are unfortunately familiar, there was chaos, terror, buildings in ruins, victims to be dug out, trapped survivors to be rescued, rescue workers among the victims, and anguished families rushing to relief centers to find their relatives. It was like any horrible disaster scene, with the addition that everything was covered in smelly sticky brown molasses.

http://edp.org/bin/molasses77103S.jpg

But get this!
Before the explosion, the tank's owner, U.S. Industrial Alcohol, responded to warnings about structural problems with the tank by painting it brown, making it harder to see the molasses leaking out of the tank. (Stephen Puleo, Dark Tide (Boston: Beacon Press, 2003): 70-71.)
Hours after the explosion, a company lawyer was on the scene falsely blaming others for the disaster. (Ibid, 112-113.)
http://edp.org/molasses.htm
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #1,836
honestrosewater said:
Many think he's fantastic, but he might prefer to be called fabulous.
Why, thank you. So are you.
 
  • #1,837
honestrosewater said:
Many think he's fantastic, but he might prefer to be called fabulous.

Elton John?
 
  • #1,838
honestrosewater said:
Many think he's fantastic, but he might prefer to be called fabulous.
seve ballesteros?
 
  • #1,839
Nope. This guy was in Mallrats.
 
  • #1,840
Rat cave=dogcave
 
  • #1,841
Stan Lee.

.
 
  • #1,842
hitssquad said:
Stan Lee.

.
Very nice. I've read that he wanted to call the Fantastic Four the Fabulous Four, but I'm not sure if it's true.
 
  • #1,843
So hitssquad, you are up to post a question.
 
  • #1,844
OK. I need a little while to think.
 
  • #1,845
Beggar the least.
 
  • #1,846
hitssquad said:
Beggar the least.
Is that the clue?
 
  • #1,847
Yes. Its name is alliterate.
 
  • #1,848
Related image:

imageclue12.jpg
 
  • #1,849
Another related image:

imageclue13.jpg
 
  • #1,850
And another one:

imageclue14.jpg
 

Similar threads

Is Alan Turing given too much credit when it comes to computers?
Replies
29
Views
5K
How to compute flexure and failure loads of acrylic sheets
Replies
4
Views
15K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top