TIME WARP

10 Technologies That Are Way Older Than You Think!

Image: Lorenzo Herrera

In the fast-paced world of technology, it's easy to assume that all our gadgets and gizmos are creations of the digital age. However, some inventions have been around longer than you might think, standing the test of time and continuing to shape our world.

Prepare to be amazed as we unveil 10 technologies that seem to defy the boundaries of time!

Image: Brett Jordan

Date invented:c. 250 BCE

Believe it or not, the ancient Parthians might have been the first to experiment with primitive batteries, over 2,000 years ago. A set of artifacts known as the Baghdad Battery, consisting of a ceramic vessel, a tube of copper, and an iron rod, have led scientists to speculate that the three items could potentially be an early galvanic cell, likely used for electroplating or similar purposes.

Image: engin akyurt

Date invented:1843

A staple of offices and workspaces everywhere, only recently replaced by cheaper and more efficient systems, the fax machine actually predates most modern office equipment by over a century. Scottish inventor Alexander Bain patented the first fax machine in 1843, allowing images and handwritten messages to be transmitted over telegraph lines.

Image: CHUTTERSNAP

Date invented: c. 1832

While we might have been told that electric cars are the future - and they might be! - they are certainly nothing new! The concept has a long history, dating back to the 19th century. Designs for electric motors were proposed by numerous inventors of the time, including Benjamin Franklin. In the 1830s, a Scottish inventor named Robert Anderson created one of the earliest electric carriages, powered by a set of non-rechargeable batteries.

Image: Onur Binay

Date invented:1965

Before smartphones made touchscreens ubiquitous, they were a futuristic concept straight out of science fiction. However, the first finger-driven touchscreen was developed in 1965 by Eric Johnson, an engineer at the Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern, England, paving the way for modern touchscreen technology.

Image: Bram Van Oost

Date invented:c. 1980s

The idea of cars that can drive themselves may seem like a recent innovation, but researchers have been experimenting with autonomous vehicle technology since at least the 1980s. Among these first attempts, Carnegie Mellon University's Navlab project, initiated in 1984, was one of the earliest efforts to develop autonomous cars. One of the vehicles produced under the Navlab project even managed to steer itself almost all the way from Pittsburgh to San Diego.

Image: Helena Lopes

Date invented:1945

Although strictly speaking even a humble abacus could count as a computer, modern computers - capable of performing complex tasks and calculations through electric circuits - are still fairly old, being conceived during the first half of the twentieth century. The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), completed in 1945, is often considered the world's first electronic general-purpose computer, marking the dawn of the digital age.

Image: Sigmund

Date invented: 5000 BCE

Did you know that central heating is almost as old as agriculture? Heating systems using underground pipes or hot air vents were found at numerous Neolithic archaeological sites. In the city of Rason (present-day North Korea), an ancient heating system called ondol was found in 5000-year-old dwellings. Later on, the Ancient Romans also pioneered central heating systems with the hypocaust, a form of underfloor heating that was extensively used in Roman baths and villas, providing luxurious warmth even in the coldest months.

Image: Victoriano Izquierdo

Date invented: c. 1st century CE

I know it sounds hard to believe, but the world's first vending machine was invented by Hero of Alexandria in the 1st century CE. The machine could dispense either holy water or wine in exchange for coins. A complex lever system allowed the mechanism to be fairly similar to what we are accustomed to today. Talk about an ancient form of convenience shopping!

Image: Sigmund

Date invented:Early 20th century

The resurgence of 3D movies in recent years may feel like a modern trend, but the concept has been around for over a century. The first 3D film, "The Power of Love," was released in 1922, and it used red-green anaglyph glasses to create the illusion of depth on the silver screen.

Image: Patrick Hendry

Date invented: c. 213 BCE

Heat rays might sound like a weapon from a sci-fi movie, but they have roots in ancient times. The first one to come up with a device that could concentrate thermal energy in a distant point was no one other than the famous Greek inventor Archimedes. His heat ray device is said to have been used to burn attacking Roman ships during the Siege of Syracuse (c. 213–212 BC). Although the exact system he devised was lost to time, modern reconstructions speculate that it must have utilized a set of mirrors or reflecting surfaces to cause fires aboard the attacking ships.

Strength in numbers

Words that can’t resist loneliness: 11 plural-only terms explained

Image: Hannah Busing

Some words just can’t be left alone. You can have a pair of glasses, climb the stairs, or dip into your savings, but try talking about just one "glass," (for your eyes) "stair," or "saving," and it suddenly feels a bit off. These traits go unnoticed most of the time, but they do exist. These 11 common words exist only in the plural form.

Image: Dmitry Ratushny

It probably has to do with a pair of glasses having two separate pieces of glass, one for each eye. A similar element, but with a single glass, would be called a monocle.

Therefore, glasses only exist in their plural form, as only two make a complete set.

Image: Fujiphilm

The word "clothes" is always plural because it refers to multiple garments, not just one. Also, it differs from "cloth," which means the material.

Historically, "clothes" evolved from "cloths," once the plural of "cloth," which also meant a garment. As "cloth" shifted to mean just fabric, "clothes" kept their meaning as a collection of items like shirts, pants, or socks.

Image: Matt Artz

A pair of scissors is composed of two blades, each with a handle attached to it, held together by a screw in the center. That is why it is called a pair of scissors and not just one scissors.

Theoretically, one could have a single scissor, meaning one blade, but it would not serve its natural purpose of cutting things by sliding the two blades together.

Image: Serhat Beyazkaya

The word "stairs_"_ is plural because it refers to a set or flight of steps, not just one. The structure involves multiple steps, making the plural form more natural in everyday use.

Yes, "stair" can appear in older texts or compound words like "staircase," but it’s less common and often refers to a single step or the entire flight. Still, most people use "stairs" to describe the full set.

Image: lan deng

Not unlike the previously mentioned glasses, "pants" are always plural because they come from pantaloons, which were originally two separate pieces: one for each leg. Even though modern pants are a single garment, the plural form stuck.

"Pants" is just a shortened form of "pantaloons," and the idea of two leg coverings helped keep the plural usage alive through habit and tradition.

Image: Luca Laurence

This one can seem tricky at first, since a person could, theoretically, own a single thing, but there is a logical explanation as to why it is a plural-only word. "Belongings" is plural because it refers to a collection of personal items someone owns, like clothes, books, or furniture. It implies more than one object, making the plural form natural.

The singular "belonging" has a different meaning altogether: it describes the feeling of being accepted or fitting in, not physical possessions.

Image: C D-X

The word "headphones" is usually plural because it refers to a device with two earpieces worn on both ears. While "earphones" can describe the individual parts, the full set is commonly called "headphones."

Modern headphones are typically stereo and designed as a pair, which, in turn, reinforces the use of the plural form.

Image: SAIFEE TARWALA

The word "species" is used for both singular and plural forms, especially in biology. It comes from Latin, where the form was the same in both cases, which explains the modern usage.

In the world of taxonomy, "species" acts as a collective noun for organisms with shared traits.

Image: kaboompics

Similar to scissors, the word "tongs" is always plural because it describes a tool made of two connected parts that work together, just like scissors or pliers. This dual structure leads to the use of a plural noun, even for a single tool.

In English, tools with two joined parts are often plural nouns used only in the plural. It’s a common use born out of how these items are constructed and used.

Image: Waldemar

A word with grim connotations, indeed, "remains" is usually plural because it refers to leftover parts or pieces of something, like uneaten food or human remains. Even when it’s one item, it’s seen as part of a whole that’s no longer intact.

It works as a collective noun, emphasizing the idea of multiple fragments. Though not strictly plural-only, it’s almost always used in the plural to reflect this meaning.

Image: Towfiqu barbhuiya

No one talks about "saving," meaning a collected amount of money. And that is because the word "savings" looks plural but can act as either a plural or a mass noun. For example, "significant savings" treats it as plural, while "the savings are substantial" treats it as a total amount.

As a mass noun, "savings" refers to the money saved overall, much like "money" itself. As it was seen in the previous examples, context determines whether it's treated as singular or plural.