The World's Largest Computer in 1951

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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.
  • #2,401
wolram said:
/
some sort of aerial array?

On the right tracks! Think More.
 
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  • #2,402
Art said:
What was the world's first working computer called and who built it.
Abacus or may be the digits on your danny.
 
  • #2,403
Charles Babbage's difference engine has already been brought up in this thread I think, but I don't know what the world's first working computer was, Babbage never built the engine. Joseph Clement made a pretty good stab at it though, he got part of it working in 1832 but funding was cut the year after. The difference engine was finally built in 1991! These the right kind of lines?
 
  • #2,404
brewnog said:
On the right tracks! Think More.
My ganglia has gone way beyond its CSP, let the young uns do some work:smile:
 
  • #2,405
Art said:
What was the world's first working computer called and who built it.
Babbage's difference engine No. 2, finally built in 1991, could hold 7 numbers of 31 decimal digits each and could thus tabulate 7th degree polynomials to that precision. The best machines from Scheutz were able to store 4 numbers with 15 digits each.
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/galleryguide/E2052.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Difference_Engine
 
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  • #2,406
brewnog said:
I'll take my go now, should fill in some time.

At over 330 metres tall, this structure covers around 10,000 square kilometres. What is it?
Is it Basement Sill, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica?

A tongue of mostly large orthopyroxene crystals of a rough aerial extent of 10,000 km$^2$ occupies much of the ~330 m thick Basement Sill, which is the basal sill of the ~4 km thick Ferrar Dolerite sill sequence. The thickness of the tongue and the amount of the sill that it occupies locally is a direct indication of the location of the conduit that fed the Basement Sill during emplacement. The tongue is thickest near the zone of magma ascent (called the feeder zone), which is in the vicinity of Bull Pass where it fills nearly the entire sill. Away from the feeder zone the tongue thins, eventually disappearing, and also rises to maintain a vertically central position in the sill.
http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:DXPqzR2ws0kJ:www.agu.org/meetings/fm05/fm05-sessions/fm05_V23A.html+10,000+km+330+m&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3
 
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  • #2,407
What was the world's first working computer called and who built it.
Defense needs in World War II were the driving force behind the development of the first large electronic computer built in the United States. The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), although completed at the end of 1945, after World War II had ended, was initially designed to calculate trajectories of projectiles. Developed by the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering for the Ballistic Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, Maryland, it was a general-purpose decimal machine containing 18,000 vacuum tubes. Its design was related to the Differential Analyzer built by Vannevar Bush, except that Bush's mechanical components, such as counters and adders, were replaced by electronic ones.
 
  • #2,408
Nope, it's not Basement Sill. It's a man-made structure.
 
  • #2,409
MK, the Difference Engine wasn't built until 1991, by which time we'd had electronic computers for quite a while!
 
  • #2,410
I need another clue Brewy.
 
  • #2,411
Wolram, think more. No wait, think Moor.
 
  • #2,412
RAF Fylingdales, an early warning station.
 
  • #2,413
No, but again, I think that was in this thread last year sometime too!

Your first guess was probably best.
 
  • #2,414
Some kind of power network?
 
  • #2,415
EMELY MOOR.

http://tx.mb21.co.uk/emley/emley-facts.asp#maps
 
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  • #2,416
Woop, Wooly wins!
 
  • #2,417
brewnog said:
Woop, Wooly wins!

I think i came first in the middle and last:smile:

I will try and find a good one, if anyone else wants a go, please jump in.
 
  • #2,418
death by a heavy old moo, hot stuff.
 
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  • #2,419
That's the question?
 
  • #2,420
If so, how about "Death by Chocolate," fried ice cream, hot fudge?
 
  • #2,421
Mk said:
Defense needs in World War II were the driving force behind the development of the first large electronic computer built in the United States. The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), although completed at the end of 1945, after World War II had ended, was initially designed to calculate trajectories of projectiles. Developed by the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering for the Ballistic Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, Maryland, it was a general-purpose decimal machine containing 18,000 vacuum tubes. Its design was related to the Differential Analyzer built by Vannevar Bush, except that Bush's mechanical components, such as counters and adders, were replaced by electronic ones.
Close in regard to the time and motivation -

here's a clue - code breaking.
 
  • #2,422
Mk said:
If so, how about "Death by Chocolate," fried ice cream, hot fudge?
I said i would make it harder for you MK.
 
  • #2,423
here's a clue - code breaking.
Is it a CIA computer?
 
  • #2,424
Mk said:
Is it a CIA computer?
Nope, Here's lots of clues - UK gov't - WW2 - Bletchley Park - Enigma.
 
  • #2,425
In 1943, the Colossus, the world's first programmable digital electronic computer, was designed at Bletchley Park by Max Newman and his team?
 
  • #2,426
Mk said:
In 1943, the Colossus, the world's first programmable digital electronic computer, was designed at Bletchley Park by Max Newman and his team?
Right time place and machine. Wrong designer. Colossus was first offered to the MOD at design stage but was rejected as it was thought to be too complicated and the war would be over before it was built. The post office worker who had tried to sell them on the idea was called Tommy Flowers. He went off and built it himself using his own money. He completed it in 10 months and the MOD was so impressed they ordered 10 of them to break the German codes. They were so successful the intelligence officers in Bletchley park were reading the secret German communiques practically in real time. His reward was anonymity for 50 years under the official secrets act and a £1000 award in recognition of his contribution to the war effort (which was slightly less than the amount of personal expenditure he had incurred in constructing it).
 
  • #2,427
Yay I win! This is better than the time I put mayonnaise inside all the Easter eggs at the egg hunt!
 
  • #2,428
Go ahead, Mk.
Im up for your question :)
 
  • #2,429
Well, if you could figure out the first isolator, discoverer, or inventor of banana oil that would be good. I don't know the answer though.
 
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  • #2,430
I'm still going to be thinking of one...
 
  • #2,431
I got a question for you guys to solve!

It restricts the diameter of the light path through one plane in an optical system, it may be a lens or a mirror. Apple Computer recently released this program, what was Adobe's response?
 
  • #2,432
Well, I post a question and no body tries eh?
 
  • #2,433
Okay then, http://www.macworld.com/2005/06/reviews/bridgecs2/index.php?
 
  • #2,434
You know what, I'll give it to you. That is a good answer. Score one of Andre! I've never seen you in this thread before! Lightroom was a better answer though http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1445
 
  • #2,435
Okay I just happened to stumble upon this thread. But what is this then?

http://home.wanadoo.nl/bijkerk/whatisit.jpg

Bonus points for the age, owner and location of this gadget.
 
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  • #2,436
Wow tough. Tough. It looks Greek, and it seems to be a gadget... hmm : /
 
  • #2,437
It does look ancient greek in style, but the proportioning of the body parts seems much better than the vase painting etc you see. I'm wondering if its a victorian or later copy of the style...
 
  • #2,438
Not Greek not Victorian. And it's original. I give away the current location of the thing: Paris, France.

And it's the most intruiging thing I've seen.
 
  • #2,439
Furthermore, it's made of stone, it's size is less than two inches and it's inscriptions are not representative of the area where it was made/found, suggesting that the population of the makers already traveled quite a bit. But that does not help solving what it is, does it?

http://home.wanadoo.nl/bijkerk/whatisit.jpg
 
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  • #2,440
The other side shows two water buffaloes, definitely not native to the area were it was found, The origin of those animals could have been India, the Ganghes Valley. Which also rules out India.

The original owner needed it for his job. He was a secretary.
 
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  • #2,441
The area, where it came from is in the news, every day.
 
  • #2,442
Iraq then I'd assume, but I'm still not sure what it is. how deep does that opening in the bottom go?
 
  • #2,443
Is it an inkwell? But how intriguing would it be then? It looks like a pencil sharpener, or something to... well, have fun with :redface: but if its only 2 inches long its too small. :biggrin: Well maybe not for some of you. :-p

Iraq?
Probably the Middle East?
 
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  • #2,444
I'd thought pencil sharpener too but thought that was pretty unlikely.
 
  • #2,445
Iraq is correct. Bonus point for Matthyouw. But it is was known as Mesopotania in the time of the gadget. The very fertile land between the Euphrathes and the Tigris rivers, currently barren dessert. Not really close the the Ganghes in India.

Actually, the size is 3,51 cm and it's not a pencil sharpener.

The hole goes all the way through.
 
  • #2,446
Is it for marking paper? I can imagine it rolled along a letter or document to leave an impression rather like an ink stamp.
 
  • #2,447
matthyaouw said:
Is it for marking paper? I can imagine it rolled along a letter or document to leave an impression rather like an ink stamp.
I think you're right:

cylinder seal: Cylinder of stone, gem or baked clay engraved with a design which made an impression when rolled over wet clay
 
  • #2,448
No way, the first thing I thought of was an ink roller thing from Greece or Mesopotamia if it was in the Middle East, but why would it have a kind of design that would be on a tapestry on it, why is it so small, and why is it for paper if paper wasn't invented yet?
 
  • #2,449
The correct word indeed is "cylinder seal" Point for Zoobyshoe. This particular one is an extraordinary specimen more than 4000 years old. Not exactly the stone tools we have in mind, suggesting how we tend to underestimate the culture of then.

More info http://www.metmuseum.org/special/First_Cities/firstcities_stop7.htm .
 
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  • #2,450
This man discovered all the rudiments of photography, except a process for fixing the image, at least 30 years before anyone else.
 

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