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Bell Labs

All articles tagged with #bell labs

science1 month ago•13 min saved

Pigeons, a Giant Antenna, and the First Light of the Universe

Bell Labs’ horn antenna produced a stubborn, directionless hiss that pigeons nested in, but cleaning it out didn’t remove the signal. The persistent noise was later identified as the cosmic microwave background, the 13.8-billion-year-old afterglow of the Big Bang, a discovery credited to Penzias, Wilson, and Dicke and said to mark the birth of modern cosmology. Decades after, Voyager 1 revealed a separate, local plasma tone, underscoring how instruments can yield profound truths beyond their original purpose.

via Space Daily|

#bell-labs #big-bang #cosmic-microwave-background

science5 months ago•4 min saved

How a 1933 Hiss Gave Birth to Radio Astronomy

In 1933, Bell Labs engineer Karl Jansky investigated interference in long‑distance radio communications and detected a persistent, 23‑hour‑56‑minute hiss from a fixed region in space, tracing it to the Milky Way and revealing that stars emit radio waves—laying the groundwork for the field of radio astronomy.

via Indian Defence Review|

#bell-labs #karl-jansky #milky-way

podcasts6 months ago•38 min saved

Vocoder’s unlikely arc: from Bell Labs to the soundtrack of modern music

From a Bell Labs device built to send voices over copper wires, the vocoder became a wartime secret-communications tool and then a global music phenomenon, explored in Version History with Chromeo and friends, and contrasted with Auto-Tune and the Talkbox.

via The Verge|

#auto-tune #bell-labs #music-history

technology7 months ago•20 min saved

Bell Labs: The Quiet Architect Behind Today’s Tech

Bell Labs, AT&T's research arm, helped forge modern technology through breakthroughs like information theory, the transistor, satellite communications (Telstar), and early cellular/mobile tech, shaping the devices and networks that power today’s smartphones, the internet, and AI hardware.

via The New York Times|

#bell-labs #information-theory #satellite

science8 months ago•6 min saved

Louis Brus, Quantum Dot Pioneer and Nobel Laureate, Dies at 82

Louis E. Brus, a Bell Labs chemist who discovered quantum dots—nanocrystals whose color depends on size—died at 82 from myelodysplastic syndrome. His 1983 discovery revealed size-tunable optical properties, helping ignite nanoscience and earning him the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Moungi Bawendi and Aleksey Yekimov. Quantum dots now enhance displays and medical imaging and may power future solar cells and encryption; Brus later taught at Columbia after leaving Bell Labs in 1996 and continued research on carbon nanotubes and graphene.

via The New York Times|

#bell-labs #louis-brus #nanoscience

technology11 months ago•1 min saved

Potential Discovery of the Only Known UNIX V4 Copy on Old Tape

A potentially complete copy of UNIX Version 4 from 1973 has been discovered on a tape in a university storeroom, which could be a significant find for computer history. The tape is set to be analyzed and archived by the Computer History Museum, offering a rare glimpse into early UNIX development.

via Hackaday|

#bell-labs #computer-history #pdp-11

technology11 months ago•9 min saved

Ken Thompson Reflects on Unix's Early Troubles and Lock-Picking Roots

Ken Thompson recalls the early, rebellious days of Unix at Bell Labs, highlighting its community-driven development, open environment, and playful culture, including lock-picking antics, which fostered innovation and camaraderie among the pioneering programmers.

via The New Stack|

#bell-labs #ken-thompson #open-source

biotechnology2 years ago•0 min saved

"Billionaire-Backed Biomedical Institute in Cambridge Accelerates Drug Discovery"

A group of billionaires has unveiled their support for a new biomedical research institute, Arena BioWorks, which aims to emulate the success of Bell Labs and lead new research initiatives and create for-profit biotech companies seamlessly under one roof. The institute promises a quicker translational research model, has the backing of big names, and plans to put scientists in the driver’s seat with a footprint in Kendall Square in Cambridge, MA.

via Endpoints News|

#arena-bioworks #bell-labs #biomedical-research