Mental Floss
Computers section header

Computers

The Latest

Some believe that tuning our music to 432 Hz rather than 440 will make it sound better—and make us feel better. What gives?

The 6-second start-up anthem joins “My Heart Will Go On” and the ‘Hamilton’ soundtrack as “one of the defining sounds of history.”
Jake Rossen|
Spring cleaning isn‘t just for your home. It‘s important to declutter your devices, too.
CaLea Johnson|
Life looks a lot different than it did in 1975, and that’s largely thanks to the digital revolution that took place 50 years ago.
Judith Samuel|
Before she helped send the first astronauts to the moon, Katherine Johnson was a human “computer” working behind the scenes at NASA.
Michele Debczak|
Buy a water bed—you might need to drink it.
Jake Rossen|
Despite advice about strong passwords, we’re still using ‘qwerty123.’
Jake Rossen|
A decade before fans started lining up outside Apple stores for the release of each new iPhone model, computer users were eager to get their hands on Windows 98.
Chris Higgins|
A fleet of warships is still running on 8-inch floppy disk power.
Jake Rossen|
Generation Alpha—the children of Millennials and the kid siblings of Generation Z—was born the same year the iPad was released.
Michele Debczak|
TSA agents need a closer look at your computer. Here's why.
Jake Rossen|
Apple's iconic logo is rumored to have been inspired by Eve's bite into the apple of knowledge, Newton's discovery of gravity, and Alan Turing's untimely end. Are any of these stories true?
Stacy Conradt|
If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’ve used one of the many products that Steve Jobs so famously innovated.
Abbey Bender|
Before ChatGPT, a novel computer program by an MIT professor offered a virtual therapy session.
Jake Rossen|
Nuclear war. Prisons unraveling. And using toilet paper for money. People were freaked out about Y2K.
Jake Rossen|
You shouldn’t have to accept cookies a million times a day. Here’s how to stop it.
Ellen Gutoskey|
Sorry, hopeless romantics: “Iloveyou” is one of the most basic—and least secure—passwords you could possibly choose.
Ellen Gutoskey|
You might think ‘The Princess Bride’ is the ultimate comfort movie. According to one computer program, you couldn’t be more wrong.
Ellen Gutoskey|
Amazon’s original name was actually ‘Cadabra.’ And that was far from the only moniker that Jeff Bezos considered.
Ellen Gutoskey|
‘Phishing’ has become a catch-all term for basically any internet scam. When it was coined in the ’90s, that wasn’t the case.
Ellen Gutoskey|
‘Can I renew my passport online?’ is a question Americans have been asking since the dawn of the digital age. Soon, the answer will be yes.
Ellen Gutoskey|

More From the Technology Section

One chirping sensor near your stove isn’t going to cut it.
Jake Rossen|
No more guessing games: These new avocado scanners can spot ripeness—no poking and prodding required.
CaLea Johnson|
One hundred years ago, John Logie Baird successfully transmitted the first clear TV image:  the unsettling grin of Stooky Bill. Discover how he (and his dummy) made TV history.
John Lucas|
Can honking at too much traffic actually deplete your car’s horn? The answer might surprise you.
Jake Rossen|
From a dollhouse with a nuclear bunker to an atomic energy lab with real uranium, some of these toys from the ‘50s and ‘60s have us scratching our heads.
Kaeli Conforti|
Despite its name, the Game Boy's mission was to lure adults into the world of video games.
Jake Rossen|
Eighty years after the first—and only—deployment of atomic bombs, here’s a look back at one of history’s most devastating acts of war.
Colin Scanlon|
A shocking discovery was made at a nuclear facility: wasp nests contaminated with radiation.
CaLea Johnson|
Computers section header

Read More About Technology

TechnologyComputersPhonesRobots