The World's Largest Computer in 1951

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the ENIAC, the world's first general-purpose electronic computer, which stood 10 feet tall, occupied 1,000 square feet, and weighed approximately 30 tons. It utilized over 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors, 6,000 switches, and 18,000 vacuum tubes, consuming 150 kilowatts of power. Additionally, the conversation shifts to the Russian Ekranoplan, a Ground Effect Vehicle developed by Rostislav Alekseev, which could travel over 400 km/h and weighed 540 tons fully loaded. The Ekranoplan was designed for military transport and could carry over 100 tonnes of cargo.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of electronic components such as resistors and capacitors
  • Familiarity with the concept of Ground Effect Vehicles
  • Knowledge of military transport technologies
  • Basic historical context of computing technology development
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the technical specifications and historical significance of the ENIAC
  • Explore the design and operational principles of Ground Effect Vehicles
  • Investigate the military applications of the Ekranoplan
  • Learn about the evolution of computing technology post-ENIAC
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for historians, technology enthusiasts, and engineers interested in the evolution of computing and transport technologies, particularly those focused on military applications and early electronic devices.

  • #1,351
I know, its a giant paper mache duck with a handlebar moustache named Groucho. The duck is named Groucho, not the moustache.
 
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  • #1,352
RAF Fylingdale?

No
 
  • #1,353
obviously not my fibre optic thing in da pacific
 
  • #1,354
Yes or no, Ivan : Is it in the Bay Area ?
 
  • #1,355
obviously not my fibre optic thing in da pacific

no.

One more clue and then I have to go for just a bit.
1973
 
  • #1,356
Yes or no, Ivan : Is it in the Bay Area ?
Yes.
 
  • #1,357
1973 was the year the draft was rescinded. Something military, methinks ...
 
  • #1,358
Howard ...
 
  • #1,359
Project Jennifer
Hughes Glomar Explorer (AG 193)

I had thought the Spruce Goose, but the dimensions didn't fit, and then the date was wrong from your later hint.
 
  • #1,360
Evo said:
Project Jennifer
Hughes Glomar Explorer (AG 193)

I had thought the Spruce Goose, but the dimensions didn't fit, and then the date was wrong from your later hint.

CORRECT! Neptune refers to the sea.

The Hughes Glomar Explorer [HGE] was built in 1973 by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. for an intricate CIA undertaking. The mission of Glomar Explorer was to raise a Soviet nulear submarine [the deeply held secret] that had sunk in the Pacific, resting on the ocean floor nearly 17,000 ft. ...The Soviet Golf-II Class ballistic missile submarine sank on April 11, 1968, ...

...the vessel has since been mothballed with the Naval Reserve Fleet in Suisun Bay CA, where it could be seen by cars crossing the Benicia bridge on U.S. Highway 680 east of San Francisco.

...This was the first instance of an agency using the "can neither confirm nor deny" answer in response to a FOIA request. Since then, the terms "Glomar response," and "Glomarization" are used to describe an agency’s response when they can neither confirm nor deny whether records exist.
http://www.fas.org/irp/program/collect/jennifer.htm

When this was a very secret enterprise in the early 70's, it was sometimes docked in Long Beach harbor. We passed it in our boat few times while heading out to fish. For some reason my dad knew that it was involved in work for the CIA, so we made a real point to take a look; and stand and wave at the secret agents as we went by.
 
  • #1,361
Oh yes, about the time that he refused to wear clothes any longer, Howard Hughes wrote an instruction manual for his employees. It instructed them how to catch flies with their bare hands.
 
  • #1,362
This is pictorial.
 

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  • #1,363
curved tetrahedral surface with 1 verticy open and filled with a spherical object and is surrounded by an eliptical object with an interesting pattern?

that's the best I could do...
 
  • #1,364
Too easy.:biggrin:
 
  • #1,365
oohh! is it some kind of clock?
 
  • #1,366
why does evo always post here but it says she's not online?
 
  • #1,367
Ivan Seeking said:
Too easy.:biggrin:
Yeah, that one's a bit obvious. But what's Evo doing with an industrial-grade egg salad masher at home?
 
  • #1,368
Ivan Seeking said:
Too easy.:biggrin:
Easy for you... I need a hint (maybe time period or country?) Oh, is it in the Sistine Chapel??
I was thinking a triangle with an eye in it is a Masonic symbol, but the triangle is upside down
 
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  • #1,369
I have an unfair advantage on this one.
 
  • #1,370
Where's that wanker Brewnog hiding? This is his kind of thing. :rolleyes:
 
  • #1,371
What's the painting in the background? Peter and the wolf? Is that a dragon's foot?
 
  • #1,372
Looks like a calendar, or an early model of the universe.
 
  • #1,373
Ivan Seeking said:
I have an unfair advantage on this one.
Likewise. If you've seen one before it is obvious.


To those still guessing, there is a near-clue here:

Danger said:
Where's that wanker Brewnog hiding? This is his kind of thing. :rolleyes:

Also, it's not art.
 
  • #1,374
I know what it is!

I'd like to see some non-engineers think about this one a bit.
 
  • #1,375
If I didn't already know what it was, I can't think how you'd find out, except by showing the picture to people till you found someone who recognized it.
 
  • #1,376
hints - a triangular rotor that revolves around a shaft

patented in the late 1920's

(seems a lot of the guys already know this one anyway)
 
  • #1,377
Why didn't someone just say Wankel rotary engine?? You like to torture me? That's it, I know. That is it, right? Yeah, an eye in a triangle- why didn't someone just shoot me?
 
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  • #1,378
honestrosewater said:
Why didn't someone just say Wankel rotary engine?? You like to torture me? That's it, I know. That is it, right? Yeah, an eye in a triangle- why didn't someone just shoot me?
Wankel Rotary Engine is correct!
 
  • #1,379
Evo said:
Wankel Rotary Engine is correct!
Hooray! I was only the last person to get it. :rolleyes: Oh well, I guess a win is a win.

You will find a monkey, horse, and duck in these.
 
  • #1,380
No to the first thing Danger says.
I'll be back in a flash.
 

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