Collections: Science and Technology

Tomorrow's World

See how visions of the future changed through the decades

Horizon

Horizon tells amazing science stories and reveals worlds you've never seen before.

The Sky at Night

A monthly journey through the fascinating world of space and astronomy

The Great Egg Race

Cracking feats of engineering

Richard Feynman

A look at the world through the eyes of the award-winning scientist

Moon landings

Journeys to the Moon and back

Nobel scientists

Interviews with some of the world's greatest scientific minds

Space: Flying Visits

Take a trip to the stars

Gaming

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start

The Computer Programme - It's Happening Now

Who is using computers now, and where is this technology likely to lead?

Panorama - California 2000

Imagining how California's technology industry will evolve by the year 2000.

Panorama - The Real War in Space: We Are Entering the Post-Nuclear Era

Tom Mangold continues his look at space weaponry.

Between Life and Death

Provocative documentary following the doctors who can now interrupt the death process.

Making The Most Of The Micro - Getting Down To BASIC

Writing a simple program which could help children practice their maths skills.

Micro Live 17/10/1986

Sir Clive Sinclair and Alan Sugar assess changes in the home computer industry.

Micro Live 28/03/1987

In the last edition of the series, Micro Live sees a play about Alan Turing.

Horizon - Eat, Fast and Live Longer

Michael Mosley examines the powerful science behind the ancient idea of fasting.

 

1940s

Mary Leakey's skull, 1948

"One of the strangest pieces of freight ever brought into Heathrow"

Radio link 6,000 miles apart, 1949

Bromley, England and Cape Town, South Africa are linked through the magic of shortwave radio

 

1950s

Bristol's robot tortoises, 1950

Grey Walter’s nature-inspired 'tortoise' was the world’s first mobile, autonomous robot

Orkney Wind Power, 1951

"If successful it will represent another step in harnessing the power of the elements" An experimental wind turbine was being erected at Costa Head, Orkney

Fibreglass boats, 1951

The newest, trendiest material to make boats out of is glass. Sort of...

New discoveries on the moon, 1953

"On Earth it would be esteemed a wonder of magnificence"

French to English translator computer, 1955

Dr Booth showed off his swanky device that can translate from one language into another?! Oh là là!

Electronic computer demonstration, 1958

Introducing DEUCE, claimed to be the world's fastest electronic computer

Panorama: VERA Videotape Recorder, 1958

Britain's first videotape recorder was unveiled on a live edition of Panorama

Kids at the Science Museum, 1959

Kids were flocking to the Science Museum in 1959 to play with the latest tech

Trunk call phone boxes, 1959

People were queuing up to get their hands on the latest phone

Mars and Venus speak to Earth, 1959

George King has a message for the people of Earth... from Venus

 

1960s

John Glenn and the Space project in Cocoa Beach, 1962

Panorama was in Cocoa Beach to gauge the mood of John Glenn

Margaret and Geoffrey Burbidge, 1963

The award-winning astrophysicists ponder some of the big questions

At the controls of Gemini, 1966

"Things are rather cramped…" Horizon reporter David Lutyens got to play at the controls of a Gemini spacecraft

New electric cars, 1966

They've been around longer than you might think... check out the Peel Trident and the Scottish Aviation Scamp

Professor Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, 1967

The pioneering crystallographer on the role of science in society

Dorothy Hodgkin, 1967

Dorothy Hodgkin discusses the research that won her a Nobel Prize

Computer aided weaponry, 1967

"The world's first reliable front line computer"

Dial-a-computer service launched, 1967

Play chess, or find the odds of winning the pools (1 in 15 million); the computer revolution, all for the price of a phone call

Electronic Video Recorder, 1968

"It's going to do for television what the record did for radio"

Inventors Exhibition, 1969

"I'm an inventor, I support inventors - but I feel they have a very hard time"

 

1970s

 

Jocelyn Bell Burnell on pulsars, 1971

"Second reactions - not really voiced very loudly - perhaps it's little green men"

Homemade insecticide, 1974

Meet the man who makes his own insecticide using cigarette butts and women's tights

Valentina Tereshkova interview, 1977

The first woman in space recalls her 1963 flight

 

1980s

Computer graphics, 1981

A look at its evolution, from Spacewar! to cutting edge 3D modelling techniques

Instant electronic letters, 1982

Booking a squash court in Hertfordshire, thanks to the amazing Prestel

Unwelcome invasion, 1982

Welsh vicar tries to drive away Space Invaders by ringing church bells

Video piracy, 1982

Pirate copies of Hollywood blockbuster E.T. are doing the rounds two months before its cinema release

BASIC palindrome detector, 1983

If you haven't already written a palindrome detector in BASIC (what have you been doing?), here's how

Janet Vaughan, 1984

On borrowing Virginia Woolf's mincing machine, and using herself as a test subject

US phones from novelty to cellular, 1985

Micro Live went stateside to check out the latest phones, diallers and something called cellular technology

Optical storage technology, 1986

The laser disc, compact discs and CD-ROMS! Oh my! Micro Live had a veritable cornucopia of optical storage systems on show

16-bit processors, 1986

Just how 16-bit was your 16-bit? Micro Live's Fred Harris explained, for the benefit of the three people who owned a 16-bit machine

Sat Nav CD, 1986

"You could put all the motorways, roads, towns and village streets of the whole of Britain on just one of these discs"

GEM versus Windows - Battle of the GUIs, 1986

"It's a lot easier than using DOS, that's for sure"

128K Spectrum computer, 1986

Sir Clive Sinclair shows off his latest model, complete with built-in tape loader and an obscene amount of RAM

Jane Goodall, 1986

"Chimps have a life cycle of about 50 years, so I haven't yet covered half of one complete life"

VHS video editing, 1987

"The process is very simple" Sue Robbie shows how to set up home video editing

Video on the go, 1988

A "new type of video recorder" meant people could watch TV anywhere they wanted - imagine that!

 

1990s and beyond

The Sinclair Zike, 1992

Sir Clive Sinclair revealed his latest invention - the Zike

Computer viruses, 1992

With the Michelangelo virus due to strike, Newsround has its floppy discs at the ready

Email - what is it?, 1995

"About half of all internet use is for email, but what exactly is it?"

Start me up, 1995

Midnight queues as Microsoft launches Windows 95 amid massive hype

Auction website bids for business, 1998

Place bids on items across Europe from the comfort of your local cybercafe

Charlie Brooker's favourite website, 1999

"You're pretty super-duper on the old computers"

First Apple iPhone launched, 2007

"Gadget fans will want one, but will it ever reach a wider market?"

More archive things

Nature and Environment

Explore the changing world about us, from the jungle to the polar ice caps

Transport and travel

From aeroplanes to zeppelins, this is an A to Z of getting from A to B

Society and welfare

The changing face of Britain, from lifestyle and culture to law and ethics