Nothingness might not sound very useful. In fact, the opposite is the case because nothingness – in the form of a vacuum – has played a major role in the history of electronics. Until the invention of ...

Vacuum tubeIs an electronic component that performs signal amplification, detection, rectification, etc. with an electrode enclosed in a glass or metal tube whose inside is evacuated. Until a ...

It all began with a cheap Chinese rotary vane vacuum pump and a desire to learn the witchcraft of DIY vacuum tubes. It ended with a string of successes – a working vacuum chamber, light bulbs, glow ...

In today's world, vacuum tubes or radio valves seem as dead as high button shoes and buggy whips, but DARPA sees them as very much the technology of the future. As part of a new program, the agency is ...

In the 1800s, when pneumatic tubes shot telegrams and small items all around buildings and sometimes small cities, the future of mass transit seemed clear: we'd be firing people around through these ...

And now a page from our "Sunday Morning" Almanac: November 16th, 1904, 110 years ago today . . . the birthday of an invention heard 'round the world. For that was the day the British inventor John ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Brad Moon covers audio gear, Apple products and consumer tech. This article is more than 7 years old. Analog audio is having a ...