1990s in science and technology

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This page contains the scientific and technological developments of the 1990s.

Science

Hubble Space Telescope

• Detection of extrasolar planets orbiting stars other than the sun.
• Dolly the sheep is cloned.
• The Human Genome Project began in October 1990.^[1]
• DNA identification of individuals finds wide application in criminal law.
• Hubble Space Telescope launched in 1990; revolutionizes astronomy.
• Protease inhibitors introduced allowing HAART therapy against HIV; drastically reduces AIDS mortality.
• NASA's spacecraft Pathfinder lands on Mars and deploys a small roving vehicle, Sojourner, which analyzes the planet's geology and atmosphere.
• The Hale-Bopp comet swings past the sun for the first time in 4,200 years in April 1997.
• Development of biodegradable products, replacing products made from Styrofoam; advances in methods for recycling of waste products (such as paper, glass, aluminum).
• Genetically engineered crops are developed for commercial use.
• 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.
• The Global Positioning System (GPS) becomes fully operational.
• Proof of Fermat's last theorem is discovered by Andrew Wiles.
• Construction starts on the International Space Station – 1996
• 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:

Graphic representation of the WWW.

Software

• The World Wide Web and HTML are created by Tim Berners-Lee^[2][3] 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 with DVDs instantly mailed to your home through the internet.
• 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 fist 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 Internet 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, Snake, 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

	1990s portal
	Science portal
	Technology portal

References