1990s in science and technology
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This page contains the scientific and technological developments of the 1990s.
Science and technology articles by decades and years |
Decades |
1970s - 1980s - 1990s - 2000s - 2010s |
Years: |
1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994 1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999 |
Science timeline
- April 1990 - Hubble Space Telescope is launched; revolutionizes astronomy.
- September 14, 1990 - The first successful somatic gene therapy trials begin.
- October 1990 - The Human Genome Project formally begins.[1]
- December 20, 1990 - The World Wide Web software is first tested by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN.
- January 14, 1992 - The first ICSI in vitro fertilization produced baby is born.
- 1992 - Detection of extrasolar planets orbiting stars other than the sun is confirmed. [2]
- The FlavrSavr, the first genetically modified food sold in the United States is introduced in 1994.
- 1995 - The Global Positioning System (GPS) becomes fully operational.
- 1996 - Dolly the sheep is cloned.[3]
- 1996- Construction starts on the International Space Station.
- The Hale–Bopp comet swings past the sun for the first time in 4,300 years and leads to the Heaven's Gate suicides.
- July 4, 1997 - NASA's spacecraft Pathfinder lands on Mars and deploys a small roving vehicle, Sojourner, which analyzes the planet's geology and atmosphere.
- DNA identification of individuals finds wide application in criminal law.
- Protease inhibitors introduced allowing HAART therapy against HIV; drastically reduces AIDS mortality.
- Discovery of dark matter, dark energy, brown dwarfs, and first confirmation of black holes.
- The Galileo probe orbits Jupiter, studying the planet and its moons extensively.
- Proof of Fermat's last theorem is discovered by Andrew Wiles.
- The remains of Myrtis and other victims of the Plague of Athens are found.
- First Bose–Einstein condensates of Rubidium-87 and Sodium-23 created at JILA and MIT.
Technology
Some technologies invented and improved during the 1990s:
Software
- The World Wide Web and HTML are created by Tim Berners-Lee[4][5] and eventually displace the Gopher protocol.
- Microsoft introduces Windows 95 and later Windows 98 to the market, which gain immediate popularity.
- The development of Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer makes surfing the World Wide Web easier and more user friendly.
- The Java programming language is developed by Sun Microsystems.
- Businesses start to build E-commerce websites; E-commerce-only companies such as Amazon.com, eBay, AOL, and Yahoo! grow rapidly.
- E-mail becomes popular; as a result Microsoft acquires the popular Hotmail.com webmail service.
- Instant Messaging and the buddy list becomes popular. AIM and ICQ are two early protocols.
- The Year 2000 problem (commonly known as Y2K), the computer glitch disaster expected to happen on January 1, 2000.
- Microsoft Windows operating systems become virtually ubiquitous on IBM PCs.
- Development of the free Linux kernel is started by Linus Torvalds in Finland.
Video/audio
- Digital Cameras become commercially available and become more affordable over time.
- The popularity of CDs keep expanding.
- The first MP3 player, the MPMan in 1998, is released.
- DVDs become available in the US in 1997 and rapidly increase, making video cassettes obsolete.
- Plasma flat panel televisions become commercially available later in the decade, competing against CRT televisions.
- Full Color Flat Panel Computer monitors are released commercially to the public in the mid-to-late 1990s
- The first HDTV broadcast airs in 1990
- Memory cards become available
- USB ports become popular in computers, although the USB flash drive wasn't available until 2000.
- Netflix is launched, offering DVDs mailed straight to your home, which you could select in an online queue.
- Web TV and digital TV becomes popular later in the decade.
- Active matrix laptop computers become popular and easier to afford.
- PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) become popular in the mid-1990s with the release of the touchscreen Apple Newton in 1993, although it has a monochrome screen. Later in the late 1990s, the first full-color PDAs are released, but they consume a lot of battery life.
- Digital Video Recorders, abbreviated as DVRs, are released in 1999.
- Satellite TV becomes commonplace.
Communication
- As mentioned, the World Wide Web grows rapidly since the start of it in 1991.
- 2G (2nd generation) mobile phones are launched, which uses digital waves rather than previous analog radio waves.
- The first touchscreen smartphone is released in 1993, with a monochrome screen.
- The first mobile phone game, Tetris, is released.
- Mobile phones become smaller and more affordable throughout the decade.
- The first SMS text message was sent in 1992.
- Video telephones are released.
Gaming
- Home consoles begin replacing trips to the arcade.
- Online multiplayer environments are popular over the internet during the later half of the 1990s.
- First-person shooter games become popular with the release of Doom (1993).
- 3D graphics overtake the traditional 2D graphics in the mid-nineties with the release of Quake and Super Mario 64 in 1996.
- Games are stored on CD-ROMS digitally rather than cartridges or floppy disks, which required more than one for each individual game.
- The PlayStation (PS1/PSX) is released in late 1994.
- Color handheld games become popular.
Other
- Advancements are made in computer graphics with computers becoming better and more affordable, as seen in movies, TV shows, and video games.
- The first Hybrid vehicles are produced in 1997.
- Cars are being installed with automatic doors, windows controlled with electric levers replace cranks, GPS are installed, and CD drives are put in cars.
See also
- 1990 in science
- 1991 in science
- 1992 in science
- 1993 in science
- 1994 in science
- 1995 in science
- 1996 in science
- 1997 in science
- 1998 in science
- 1999 in science
- 2000s in science and technology
- History of science and technology
- List of science and technology articles by continent
- List of years in science
References
- ^ "About the Human Genome Project: What is the Human Genome Project". The Human Genome Management Information System (HGMIS). 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
- ^ Wolszczan, A.; Frail (9 January 1992). "A planetary system around the millisecond pulsar PSR1257 + 12". Nature. 355: 145–147. doi:10.1038/355145a0. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
- ^ "Dolly the Sheep - A Life of Dolly". Dolly The Sheep. University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
- ^ Quittner, Joshua (March 29, 1999). "Tim Berners Lee — Time 100 People of the Century". Time. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
He wove the World Wide Web and created a mass medium for the 21st century. The World Wide Web is Berners-Lee's alone. He designed it. He loosed it on the world. And he more than anyone else has fought to keep it open, nonproprietary and free. .
- ^ Berners-Lee, Tim. "Pre-W3C Web and Internet Background". World Wide Web Consortium. Retrieved April 21, 2009.