The World's Largest Computer in 1951

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around historical and technical aspects of significant machines and vehicles, including the ENIAC computer and the Russian Ekranoplan. Participants engage in a quiz-like format, posing questions and providing hints about various inventions, their specifications, and historical context.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes the ENIAC, detailing its size, weight, components, and power consumption, while noting its limited processing power compared to modern devices.
  • Another participant identifies the ENIAC as the machine described in the previous post.
  • Participants discuss a large vehicle that weighs 540 tons, can travel over land and water, and is hinted to be built in Russia, leading to speculation about its identity.
  • Some participants propose that the vehicle in question is the Russian Ekranoplan, explaining its design and operational principles related to ground effect.
  • There is a discussion about a vehicle that achieved over 188 miles per gallon, with participants speculating on its type and historical significance, including a mention of a Harley Davidson motorcycle from 1908.
  • One participant describes a crude device involving a wooden stand, a funnel, acid, and copper wire, prompting further questions about its purpose.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the identity of some machines, particularly the vehicle that achieved high fuel efficiency, as various guesses and clarifications are made. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the specifics of some inventions and their historical context.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about the specifications and classifications of the vehicles discussed, particularly regarding the Ekranoplan's operational capabilities and the fuel efficiency claims of the motorcycle.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in the history of computing, engineering innovations, and the evolution of vehicle technology may find this discussion engaging.

  • #2,311
Nevermind, as long as I won, it's not important. :biggrin: How about a backwards clue?

They are not housed in a piece of fruit. They are not strings. They are not false.
 
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  • #2,312
That's confusing! Let me think about that one. Give me 5 minutes.
 
  • #2,313
To keep me on the right track:

Does it have to do with coconuts?
Does it have to do with security?
Does it have to do with olives?
Does it have to do with stringed musical instruments?

Or am I thinking too hard?

I'm expecting a no, no, no, and no.
 
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  • #2,314
Ah! Its been over 14!
 
  • #2,315
No, no, no, and not really. The fruit and strings are misnomers.

They have no hands, but they wave and slap each other around a lot.
 
  • #2,316
Well, here's how I've been thinking:
You said a backward clue, so first I put the clues backwards.

They are not false They are not strings They are not housed in a piece of fruit

Well, they look the same to me, so I made them even more backwards. This time I did the words.

False not are they Strings not are they Fruit of piece a in housed not are they.

I saw fruit of piece. Fruit of peace. The fruit of peace is security. Drupes are fruits. I looked at strings. An olive is a "fibrous drupe." The olive is quite the fruit of peace (olive branch), and fruits are houses for the seeds. Olive strings are a kind of string for your cello, or violin or whatever. http://www.stringworks.com/discussion/messages/858/2628.html?1109281537 http://store.musicbasics.com/pirolviolstr.html But the false part doesn't fit in.
 
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  • #2,317
Ok well, I'm going to bed. Goodnight! All I can think of is electromagnetic wave interference with the waves and slapping anyway.
 
  • #2,318
:smile: Yes, you're thinking too hard. Nothing is hidden in the clues -- you can take them at face value. :smile:

They are not housed in a piece of fruit. They are not strings. They are not false.

The fruit and strings are misnomers.

They have no hands, but they wave and slap each other around a lot... when they *cough* venturi too close for comfort, as Bernoulli could have told you.
 
  • #2,319
Not some kind of wind sock, is it ?
 
  • #2,320
Gokul43201 said:
Not some kind of wind sock, is it ?
No. You do normally blow or suck wind through them though. Just stop, take a breath, and think about it for a sec. :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink:
 
  • #2,321
Guess I was thinking about the wrong kind of instrument then, eh ? Hmmm...I wasn't paying attention to one key word in your clues : "they" !
 
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  • #2,322
i think i must be a pervert...
 
  • #2,323
My next guess (not a strong one, I might add) : lips ("lips of truth" from the Bible)
 
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  • #2,324
of course it's lips.
 
  • #2,325
Uvula? They can be split.
 
  • #2,326
Nope. They are between the lips and lungs.

The fruit is normally larger in men than in women.

"venturi" was not a typo.
 
  • #2,327
adams apple
 
  • #2,328
Just because of the 'string' reference, I was thinking of vocal cords, but I can't for the life of me figure out the rest of the clue.
 
  • #2,329
Something you might do with your vocal cords is to sing false____... :-p I'm sure venturi is a musical term, but I'm too lazy to google it.
 
  • #2,330
adams apple is your voice box
 
  • #2,331
Actually it's the thyroid cartilage, also called the laryngeal prominence. :-p
 
  • #2,332
Darn it, Gale got it.
 
  • #2,333
Ah its been a whole day without a question! I'm going insane!
 
  • #2,334
It first moved on July 2nd, 1998, and heralds the new age of synthetic [artificial] telekinesis.
 
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  • #2,335
Okay, sorry, had connection problems earlier. Yes, Gale, Adam's apple was part of it. Danger got another BIG part. (They aren't strings/cords.)

If no one gets it after this, shame. :-p

They are not housed in a piece of fruit. -- that lump in your throat called your Adam's apple is not actually an apple but the anterior portion of the thyroid cartilage, part of your larynx, which does house these things.

They are not strings. -- though they were called vocal cords (and sometimes still are), they aren't shaped like cords or violin strings and they don't function the same way either; they're more like lips than anything else I can think of.

They are not false. -- you have a pair of false ones. I want the true ones.

They have no hands, but they wave and slap each other around a lot... when they *cough* venturi too close for comfort, as Bernoulli could have told you. -- when you close them just tightly enough and try to force air through them, from your lungs and up your trachea, the air eventually pushes them apart, starting at the bottom. It flows through the space between them, the glottis, which is narrower than the trachea. The velocity of the air flow increases as it passes through the glottis, which is accompanied by a decrease in its pressure, causing a partial vacuum, which pulls them closed again, starting at the bottom. This cycle, a mucosal wave, repeats and is an example of the Venturi Effect (which happens, e.g. in a Venturi tube) and is described by Bernoulli's Law. Or something like that; physics isn't my thing, and I really need to get it straighter, but it's just a game.

You do normally blow or suck wind through them though. -- When you breathe, speak, cough, etc.

They are your VOCAL ______.
 
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  • #2,336
Vocal folds.
 
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  • #2,337
Mk said:
Vocal folds.
Yay, Mk! :biggrin:
 
  • #2,338
Ivan Seeking said:
It first moved on July 2nd, 1998, and heralds the new age of synthetic [artificial] telekinesis.
Bah, must go. First guess: Sony's ESPER Laboratory??
 
  • #2,339
Ok, while I'm making mine, I'll take a crack at his:

In 1998, the US Postal Service used British hovercrafts to haul mail, freight, and passengers from Bethel, Alaska to and from eight small villages along the Kuskokwim River.

A frog? A spider?
 
  • #2,340
Vulpes_vulpes_laying_in_snow.jpg


Awww its so cute! I bet if that little Vulpes vulpes were trotting around in the Libiyan capital it might find some some submarines at what approximate longitude and latitude, on the coast?

I recommend...
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/102/yarn8vj.png
 
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