The most manufactured device in human history was not invented by Edison, Tesla, or Steve Jobs. It came from Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng, two scientists whose own employer failed to see what they had created.
Atalla was born in Port Said, Egypt.
He moved to the United States, earned his PhD, and joined Bell Labs in 1949.
At the time, scientists were trying to make smaller and more reliable electronic switches from silicon.
But they kept running into the same problem.
The surface of silicon trapped electrical charges. This made it difficult to control the electricity flowing through it.
Atalla spent years studying that surface.
He eventually discovered that growing a thin layer of silicon dioxide over silicon could protect it and allow electricity to be controlled properly.
It sounded like a small improvement.
It became the foundation of modern electronics.
In 1959, a young Korean scientist named Dawon Kahng joined Bell Labs after completing his doctorate at Ohio State University.
Atalla asked him to use this new method to build a type of transistor scientists had imagined for decades but had never managed to make work.
Kahng succeeded.
The device had three simple layers: metal, oxide, and silicon.
That is where its name came from.
The metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor.
Or MOSFET.
Think of it as a microscopic switch.
It can turn electricity on and off. Put enough of these switches together, and they can store information, perform calculations, display images, run software, and process almost everything a computer does.
Atalla and Kahng had found a way to make these switches small, cheap, and easy to place together on a chip.
They showed their invention to Bell Labs.
The company saw a slow device that solved no urgent problem in its telephone network. It decided not to pursue it.
Kahng tried to explain what they were missing.
In a 1961 memo, he pointed out that the device was easy to manufacture and could be packed into integrated circuits.
Bell Labs still placed it on the shelf.
Researchers at RCA and Fairchild Semiconductor understood its potential and continued developing it.
By 1964, the first commercial MOS devices had arrived.
Then the entire industry began to change.
MOSFETs required less power and took up less space than the transistors used before them. Manufacturers could place thousands on one chip, then millions, and eventually billions.
They entered calculators, memory chips, personal computers, digital cameras, phones, cars, satellites, medical equipment, and almost every other electronic machine.
Modern AI chips contain billions of them.
Every time you unlock your phone, start your car, open a website, send a message, or ask an AI a question, huge numbers of MOSFETs switch on and off to make it happen.
By 2018, the Computer History Museum estimated that humanity had manufactured 13 sextillion MOS transistors.
That is 13 followed by 21 zeros.
No other human-made device has been copied more often.
Atalla and Kahng never became household names.
Their invention became so common that it disappeared inside everything.
The next time your phone turns on or an AI answers you in seconds, remember the two scientists who made it possible.
Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng.
Two students built this robot. 🤖🔥
No billion-dollar robotics lab. No massive engineering team.
Just two students turning an idea into a working machine.
This is what the next generation of engineers looks like.
The future of robotics might already be sitting in a classroom.
Would you have tried building something like this as a student?
🎥 Media: Meng Houy / jeskoo_0 ( Instagram )
⚠️ This content is shared for informational purposes only. CTO Robotics Media is a media platform and does not own or develop the technology shown. Credit belongs to the original creators.
#Robotics #Engineering #Students #Innovation #Mechatronics #FutureTech
🚴🇲🇽 Una imagen para la historia del Tour de Francia.
Al cruzar la meta, Tadej Pogačar e Isaac del Toro lo hicieron tomados del brazo y, después, levantaron el dedo índice sobre sus cabezas para formar el gesto del “toro”, en reconocimiento al ciclista mexicano.
El emotivo momento coronó una actuación histórica de Del Toro, quien se consagró como campeón de los jóvenes y tercer lugar de la clasificación general del #TDF2026.
#IsaacDelToro #TourDeFrance #TDF2026 #Ciclismo #México
⚠️ YOUR GRANDKIDS WILL NEVER SEE A HUMAN CLEAN A HOTEL ROOM
Tesla Optimus Gen 3 just activated “Hotel Cleaning Mode”
and did in 10 seconds what housekeepers spend hours on.
While you’re still thinking “this is years away”…
the robot is already:
– making the bed perfectly
– vacuuming every corner
– folding towels better than any pro
The future didn’t arrive.
It’s already standing in room 214 waiting for you to wake up.
If you still think robots are “just hype” —
you already missed the point of no return.
🚀 ¡Se acerca el #HidrochallengeIPN2026! Evento diseñado para desafiar la creatividad y habilidades técnicas de los participantes: ¿Y tú, ya tienes listo tu prototipo de cohete hidropropulsado o de combustible sólido?
🗓️ Del 14 al 16 de octubre
https://t.co/RIaIpzN5BG
📍 @CIITA_Puebla@CDAIPN
🔴 Çin, orman yangınlarına dronlarla müdahale edebilen yeni bir itfaiye aracı tanıttı.
📍Araçta, saniyeler içinde havalanabilen 10 drone bulunuyor.
📍Dronlar, yangının ilk anlarında su bombaları bırakarak alevlere müdahale ediyor.
📍Amaç, kara ekipleri ve klasik hava araçları gelene kadar yangının büyümesini önlemek.
📍İlk müdahalenin hızlanmasıyla yangınların yayılmasının sınırlandırılması hedefleniyor.
Chinese company Unitree reveal their "all terrain" wheeled robot.
The military potential for this technology is obvious.
Europe is so far behind China, its scary.
¿Eres del “team mezcal” o del “team tequila” 🍋🧂? Si escogiste la segunda opción, te gustará saber que #UnDíaComoHoy se celebra el Día Internacional del Tequila, bebida emblemática de México y originaria del pueblo mágico de Jalisco del que recibe el nombre. Mira una cápsula de @TVUNAM para explorar su origen, su proceso y más... https://t.co/XWs4jgIgzY
Infografía de @UniversumMuseo 👇.
Antonio Gómez Rodríguez fue el artista que realizó el modelo del Escudo Nacional adoptado durante el gobierno de Venustiano Carranza, sus restos descansan en el Panteón Municipal de Pénjamo, en la gaveta num. 993
Si buscas algún componente para tu proyecto, reparación, práctica, difícil de conseguir, haz contacto con nosotros. #ELECRRONICA
WhatsApp 5572806415. Cotiza y haz tu pedido. #ELEYELEMX
@Cuauhtemoc_1521 Hola! Todavía hay algunos reproductores de cassette y nosotros aún tenemos refacciones para ello. Ahora hay algunos modelos que se fabrican de origen asiático. Saludos! #ELEYELEMX
Recuerdas cuando la música se compraba en este formato? En las calles se podía adquirir un cassette para reproducirlo en tu casa o en tu walkman. Recuerdas que se podían grabar las canciones desde las estaciones de radio? Podías pasar toda una tarde esperando para que la volvieran a pasar! Qué cassette tuviste que fue tu preferido? Cuál aún conservas?
Yo recuerdo el soundtrack de la película Batman, así como el de Roxette, Ace of Base y Guns and Roses #PARTICIPA
Robotic traffic cones! 🚧
In China, emergency response teams are testing robotic traffic cones that can secure accident sites quickly.
Instead of sending responders onto active roadways to place cones by hand, these robots deploy directly from the emergency vehicle.
Once released, they drive themselves into position, forming an instant safety perimeter around the scene.
They can be activated remotely or operate autonomously, reducing the time it takes to secure the site.
Great to see more, and more unconventional applications for robots!
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