Communication

The first "phone book" (really a one-page sheet) came long before phones like this, but it was an important step towards the printed directories that were ubiquitous in the twentieth century and are now often considered outdated.

The First Telephone Book Had Fifty Listings and No Numbers

It came out less than two years after Alexander Graham Bell invented the device

The phone that made the first 9-1-1 call in the U.S. is still in Haleyville, Alabama, now on display in the town's City Hall.

'9-1-1' Has Meant 'Help, Please' Since 1968

The first 911 call ever placed came from the small town of Haleyville, Alabama

Patients wear a NIRS apparatus—typically a neoprene helmet with dozens of optical sensors sticking out of it.

Patients With Locked-in Syndrome May Be Able to Communicate After All

A new use for brain-computer interfaces gives insight to life with ALS

People lined up to buy the first iPhone in New York, June 29,2007

What Tech Writers Said About the iPhone When It Debuted Ten Years Ago

Not everyone thought the sleek phone/browser/music player would have mainstream appeal

Social media is changing the nature of personal communication

How the Cell Phone Is Forever Changing Human Communication

An ongoing study by Smithsonian anthropologists investigates the dramatic shifts wrought by the smart phone

President Coolidge conducts the first official transatlantic phone call with the king of Spain in 1927

From the Telegram to Twitter, How Presidents Make Contact With Foreign Leaders

Does faster communication cause more problems than it solves?

An original Western Union stock ticker from the Oakland Museum of California.

The Physical Stock Ticker Is a Relic, But Its Influence Reverberates Loudly Today

On this day 149 years ago, the first digital transmitter debuted

The Evpatoria radio telescope RT-70 and the Long Range Space Communications Center, which were used for one of the most ambitious efforts at extraterrestrial communication.

How a Couple of Guys Built the Most Ambitious Alien Outreach Project Ever

You might think it takes vast governmental resources to launch an extraterrestrial communication effort. Nope

Why Do We Still Have Morse Code and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answer

In recent years, enough Arctic ice has melted to clear parts of the Northwest Passage for shipping traffic.

Melting Arctic Ice Might Mean Faster Internet for Some

The dwindling ice has an unexpected benefit: more underwater cables

USMT workers set up telegraph lines during the Civil War.

You Can Help Decode Thousands of Top Secret Civil War Telegrams

Volunteers will transcribe and tease out the messages of of nearly 16,000 communiques

Net Neutrality is safe...for now.

Net Neutrality Was Just Upheld in the U.S. Court of Appeals

It’s a victory for open internet activists—but will it stick?

"Our Modern Prison," by Banksy.

Video Calls Are Replacing In-Person Visits at Some Prisons

For some companies, bans on in-person prison visits mean big business

An ant of the species Iridomyrmex purpureus (center) lifts a leg in an aggressive display when she encounters ants from a different nest.

Antennae Yield New Clues Into Ant Communication

Despite more than a century of study, scientists still have much more to learn about the complex world of ant communication

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler speaking at the 2015 TechCrunch Disrupt conference.

Thanks to the FCC, You Might Soon Have More Control Over Your Personal Data

Regulators are taking on internet service providers over targeted ads

A black-belly dragonfish is just one of the small fish living in the mesopelagic zone 660 to 3300 feet below the surface of the ocean.

This Sound Might Mean Dinnertime in the Deep Sea

Researchers record a chorus of deep sea animals as they migrate through the ocean

What the All Writs Act of 1789 Has to Do With the iPhone

How a law signed by George Washington is being applied to Apple

Texting is blamed for ruining personal discourse and common courtesy.

Texting Isn’t the First New Technology Thought to Impair Social Skills

When Alexander Graham Bell introduced the telephone, skeptics worried about how it might affect people’s interactions

Which States Have the Fastest Talkers?

Next time you hear, "this call may be recorded," an analytics firm could be analyzing every word

Instead of Cheesy Pickup Lines, 19th-Century Americans Gave Out Calling Cards

Consider it the Victorian-era version of OKCupid

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