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.

  • #2,161
matthyaouw said:
Was it the failed attempt at a postal rocket in the Western Isles?

Yes and so quick :biggrin:
 
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  • #2,162
matthyaouw said:
Nope, not it.
I'm now quite terrified at the prospect of a 7 meter penis rampaging around... If I have nightmares, I'm blaming you!
Can I wish you sweet dreams instead?
 
  • #2,163
There are just so many statues etc, i thought Lenin or napoleon but no luck
yet,
 
  • #2,164
"Standing 7 metres tall, this imposing figure seems out of this world. It towers over the place it terrorised over 100 years go."

Note emphasis
 
  • #2,165
No takers?
It first terrorised the area in 1898 (perhaps not literally), and made another more notable appearence in 1938, terrorising people in a more literal sense.
 
  • #2,166
matthyaouw said:
No takers?
It first terrorised the area in 1898 (perhaps not literally), and made another more notable appearence in 1938, terrorising people in a more literal sense.
Still trying mathyaouw, but is outside my area.
 
  • #2,167
Zepplin ?
 
  • #2,168
something alien? an alien perhaps?
 
  • #2,169
honchbunkers? though I don't know what they have to do with 100 years ago.
 
  • #2,170
The Woking Martian

http://www.cix.co.uk/~sjbradshaw/martian/
 
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  • #2,171
haha, of course, H.G. Wells publications. The radio broadcast in 1938 that fooled so many people into thinking they were under attack by aliens :smile:
 
  • #2,172
It weighs over 200 tonnes.

It was completed over a decade ago

It is built on an island

Your hint is, swastika...

Shouldn't be too hard...good luck :smile:
 
  • #2,173
manhattan project?
 
  • #2,174
Smurf said:
manhattan project?

no...interesting suggestion though...
 
  • #2,175
hmmm, well I havn't a clue so I'm shooting in the dark here but does it have something to do with a big canon and the english channel?
 
  • #2,176
Smurf said:
hmmm, well I havn't a clue so I'm shooting in the dark here but does it have something to do with a big canon and the english channel?

sorry...

I don't want to give you any more hints...you have more than enough to figure it out... :smile:
 
  • #2,177
On July 4, 1889 the American community in Paris offered the French people
a gift of a bronze replica of the Statue of Liberty, 1/4 scale,
about 35 feet high. It still stands now, on Ile des Cygnes an island in the
Seine River, next to the Pont de Grenelle, a bridge crossing the Seine,
1.5 km downstrean (South) of the Eiffel Tower.

?
 
  • #2,178
ooooooooooo
 
  • #2,179
wolram said:
On July 4, 1889 the American community in Paris offered the French people
a gift of a bronze replica of the Statue of Liberty, 1/4 scale,
about 35 feet high. It still stands now, on Ile des Cygnes an island in the
Seine River, next to the Pont de Grenelle, a bridge crossing the Seine,
1.5 km downstrean (South) of the Eiffel Tower.

?


Let me refine some of my clues a bit...

It was over completed over a decade ago and less than 20 yrs ago.

It is more than 200 tonnes and less then 250 tonnes...

Probably the most important clue is the swastika...
 
  • #2,180
I've run it through google and not really found anything that looks right. Maybe one more little clue?
 
  • #2,181
TheStatutoryApe said:
I've run it through google and not really found anything that looks right. Maybe one more little clue?

The swastika I'm talking about is not the same as the Nazi swastika...
 
  • #2,182
Couple more:

The island is pretty small...I had to take a subway to get there, and I was nowhere near the United States...
 
  • #2,183
Townsend said:
The swastika I'm talking about is not the same as the Nazi swastika...

I guessed that, the swastika has lots of meanings, it relates to Budda also.
 
  • #2,184
wolram said:
I guessed that, the swastika has lots of meanings, it relates to Budda also.

...go from there...
 
  • #2,187
Derived from "Hard Lightning" , the people are cheese on toast ?
 
  • #2,188
wolram said:
I guessed that, the swastika has lots of meanings, it relates to Budda also.
Damn, I knew that one off the top of my head! Should have been PFing more!
 
  • #2,189
Mk said:
Damn, I knew that one off the top of my head! Should have been PFing more!

Yep, it took me ages and several wrong turns, i suppose a certain lady would
have also solved it a lot quicker.
 
  • #2,190
wolram said:
Derived from "Hard Lightning" , the people are cheese on toast ?

Something to do with the Welsh... And Arthur's sword...
 

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