Consumer & Gadgets

Why won't some people use a smartphone? And is that difficult?

In a world where more and more services and social interaction are based on mobile apps, a smartphone has become close to a necessity. Despite this, some people avoid smartphones and instead use a dumbphone—a traditional ...

Engineering

Team explores the subterranean storage of hydrogen

Imagine a vast volume of porous sandstone reservoir, once full of oil and natural gas, now full of a different carbon-free fuel—hydrogen. Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories are using computer simulations and laboratory ...

Robotics

Helping robots make a better first impression

An interdisciplinary research team from the University of Waterloo's Social and Intelligent Robotics Research Lab (SIRRL) has found that people prefer interacting with robots they perceive to have social identities like their ...

Software

NASA noise prediction tool supports users in air taxi industry

Several air taxi companies are using a NASA-developed computer software tool to predict aircraft noise and aerodynamic performance. This tool allows manufacturers working in fields related to NASA's Advanced Air Mobility ...

Electronics & Semiconductors

Next-generation AI semiconductor devices mimic the human brain

A research team led by Prof. Kwon Hyuk-jun of the DGIST Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science has developed a next-generation AI semiconductor technology that mimics the human brain's efficiency in AI ...

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Computer

A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.

Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century (1940–1945). These were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs). Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space. Simple computers are small enough to fit into a wristwatch, and can be powered by a watch battery. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are what most people think of as "computers". The embedded computers found in many devices from MP3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are however the most numerous.

The ability to store and execute lists of instructions called programs makes computers extremely versatile, distinguishing them from calculators. The Church–Turing thesis is a mathematical statement of this versatility: any computer with a certain minimum capability is, in principle, capable of performing the same tasks that any other computer can perform. Therefore computers ranging from a mobile phone to a supercomputer are all able to perform the same computational tasks, given enough time and storage capacity.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA