2000s in science and technology

	1990s .2000s in science and technology. 2010s
	Other topics: Anthropology . Fashion . music . Sociology . Video games

Last updated January 08, 2025

This article is a summary of the 2000s in science and technology.

Science

Using the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, scientists studying the universe measured that its age is 13.77 billion years; "solidly supported" that it has been expanding and cooling since the Big Bang; and calculated that the universe is composed of about 4.6% atoms, 24% dark matter, and 71% dark energy.^[1]
The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission successfully reached the surface of Mars in 2004, and sent detailed data and images of the landscape there back to Earth. Whilst NASA's original mission timeline of three months was incorrectly speculated, the mission was tremendously successful overall in the long term, as the MER Mission continued until 2018, lasting nearly 25 times the projected length.
The Human Genome Project was completed in 2003.^[2]
The National Geographic Society and IBM funded The Genographic Project.
In 2002, Perelman posted the first of a series of eprints to the arXiv, in which he proved the Poincaré conjecture,
2004 – The astrophysicist and radio astronomer Naomi McClure-Griffiths identifies a new spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy^[3]
On 29 July 2005, the discovery of Eris, a Kuiper Belt object larger than Pluto, was announced. In August 2006 Pluto was "demoted" to a "dwarf planet" after being considered a planet for 76 years. Other "dwarf planets" in our solar system now include Ceres and Eris.
Space tourism/Private spaceflight began with American Dennis Tito, paying Russia US$20 million for a week-long stay to the International Space Station.
The Voyager 1 spacecraft entered the heliosheath, marking its departure from the Solar System.
Scientists discovered water ice on the Moon in 2009.^[4]
AFIS and CODIS became the main forensic tools for fingerprint and genetic code investigation in the industrialized world and some developing countries.
infraluciferin became the go-to luciferin for in vivo imaging and threatening to replace natural luciferin entirely.

Technology

Information technology

There was a huge jump in broadband internet usage globally - for example, it constituted only 6% of U.S. internet users in June 2000^[6] and one mid-decade study predicted 62% adoption by 2010.^[7] Yet, by February 2007, over 80% of US Internet users were connected via broadband and broadband internet became almost a required standard for quality internet browsing.^[8] There were 77.4 million broadband subscribers in the US in December 2008, with 264 million broadband subscribers alone in the top 30 countries at that time.^[9]
There was a boom in music downloading and the use of data compression to quickly transfer music over the Internet, with a corresponding rise of portable digital audio players, typified by Apple's iPod, along with other MP3 players. Digital music sales rose, accounting for 6% of all music sales in 2005.^[10] Digital music options were integrated into other devices such as smartphones and the popular PlayStation Portable (PSP). By the latter half of the decade, generic MP3 players were starting^{[ citation needed ]} to mimic the features of the extremely popular iPod and Zune.
As a result of the widespread popularity and social impact of Google Search, the word "google" came to be used as a verb.
Adobe Flash technology reached the point of being able to make video players. As a result, YouTube, a website which allows uploading and viewing videos, was created. YouTube's popularity grew explosively and it was acquired by Google.
Data storage prices continued to drop, going from approximately US$7 per GB in early 2000 to US$0.07 per GB in 2009.^[11]
Due to an increase in capacity, USB flash drives rapidly replaced Zip disks and floppy discs (by Iomega) and 3.5-inch diskettes.
The first 2 TB hard drives were developed and beginning to be used.^[12]
Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003 became ubiquitous in personal computer software, although their successors Windows Vista and, by the end of the decade, Windows 7, saw increasing market penetration.
Open-source and free software continued to be a notable but minority interest, with versions of the Linux kernel gaining in popularity, as well as the Mozilla Firefox web browser and the OpenOffice.org productivity suite.
Blogs, portals, intranets and wikis became common electronic dissemination methods for professionals, amateurs, and businesses to conduct knowledge management.
- Wikipedia began and grew, becoming both the largest encyclopedia, and the most widely read wiki in the world.
Wireless networks became ever more commonplace in homes, education institutes and urban public spaces.
Peer-to-peer technology was used in a major way, such as internet telephony (Skype), file-sharing. The Internet became a major source of all types of media, from music to movies, thanks initially to file-sharing peer-to-peer programs such as Kazaa and LimeWire. The debate continued over the ethics of file sharing. Legal music download services such as iTunes and streaming services such as Spotify opened up new markets.
The video game industry's profits surpassed the movie industry's in 2004.^{[ citation needed ]}
The US tech bubble burst for the most part in early 2000s and after three years of negative growth the technology market began its rebound in 2003.^{[ citation needed ]}
Social networking websites like Myspace and Facebook and microblogging platforms like Twitter gained in popularity.
Smartboards in schools gained acceptance and were adopted rapidly during the middle years of the decade.
E-book readers using electronic paper technology were developed, and enjoyed modest popularity.

Software development

The Agile Manifesto was launched and agile project management approaches such as Scrum grew in popularity. However, due to factors such as inflexibility in procurement processes, and lack of expertise among civil servants, government computing projects continued to fail with regularity, notably in the United Kingdom.
A large number of software development and software testing jobs in rich nations were offshored to less wealthy countries such as India and Russia, mirroring a globalisation trend that had already occurred in physical manufacturing.
- There was also a trend of offshoring software development work to cities like Dubai and Singapore - where Western developers rubbed shoulders with other foreign workers - and "offshoring" within the EU (including nearshoring).

Video

Digital cameras became very popular due to rapid decreases in size and cost while photo resolution steadily increased. As a result, sales of film reel cameras diminished greatly, and integration into mobile phones increased greatly; sexting by teenagers also became a controversial social issue, with teenagers - and even in one case a school administrator who investigated a sexting case - being arrested.^{[ citation needed ]}
Graphics processing units (GPUs) and video cards became powerful enough to render ultra-high-resolution (e.g. 2560 × 1600) scenes in real time with substantial detail and texture.^{[ citation needed ]}
Flat panel displays began displacing cathode ray tubes. This was a dramatic change during the decade, as very few flat panels were sold through the mid-2000s (decade)^{[ citation needed ]} and the majority of stores sell only flat panel TVs by the end of the decade.
Handheld projectors entered the market and were then integrated into cellphones.
The digital switchover started to be enforced for television.
The introduction of digital video recorders (DVRs) allowed consumers to modify content they watch on TV, and to record TV programs and watch them later, leading to problems as consumers could fast-forward through commercials, making them useless, and save TV shows for later viewing, causing a decline in live TV viewing.^{[ citation needed ]} However, these problems were already present with video tapes.
Internet usage surpassed TV viewing in 2004. Satellite TV and cable TV (with the exception of digital cable) lost ratings as network television ratings gradually increased.^{[ citation needed ]}
TV networks started streaming shows online.
There was an increase in usage of online DVD rental services such as Netflix.
DVDs, and subsequently Blu-ray Discs, replaced VCR technology as the common standard in homes and at video stores, although inexpensive VCRs and videocassettes could still be found at some thrift stores and discount stores.

Vehicles and energy

There were major advances in hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius, Ford Escape, and the Honda Insight.
Many more computers and other technologies were incorporated into vehicles, such as Xenon HID headlights, GPS, DVD players, self-diagnosing systems, advanced pre-collision safety systems, memory systems for car settings, back-up sensors and cameras, in-car media systems, MP3 player compatibility, USB drive compatibility, self-parking systems, keyless start and entry, satellite radio, voice-activation, cellphone connectivity, adaptive headlights, HUD (Head-Up-Display), infrared cameras, and Onstar (on GM models).
There was greater interest in future energy development due to global warming and the potential scenario of peak oil, even though these problems had been known about for decades. Photovoltaics increased in popularity and decreased in cost as a result of increased public interest and generous public subsidies.

Communications

The popularity of mobile phones and text messaging surged in the 2000s decade in the Western world. The advent of text messaging made possible new forms of interaction that were not possible before, resulting in numerous boons such as the ability to receive information on the move. Nevertheless, it also led to negative social implications such as Text "bullying" and the rise of traffic collisions caused by drivers who were distracted as they were texting while driving.
Due to the major success of broadband Internet connections, Voice over IP (VoIP) began to gain popularity as a replacement for traditional telephone lines. Major telecommunications carriers began^{[ citation needed ]} converting their networks from TDM to VoIP.
Unusually for a development heralded by science fiction, videophones were cheap and abundant, yet even by mid-decade, they had not received much attention, perhaps due to the high cost of video calls relative to ordinary calls.
Mobile phones adopted features such as Internet access, PDA functions, running software applications, video calling, cameras and video recording, and music and video playback as standard. Higher end smartphones continue to offer extra features such as GPS and Wireless.
Due to improvements in mobile phone displays and memories, most mobile phone carriers offered video viewing services, internet services, and some offered full music downloads, such as Sprint in 2005 and more common use of Bluetooth. This led to a virtual saturation of cell phone ownership among the public in the developed world, increasing the use of mobile phones as everyday carry items, and a sharp decline in the use and numbers of payphones.

Robotics

As in previous decades, robotics continued to develop, especially telerobotics in medicine, particularly for surgery.^{[ citation needed ]}
Home automation and home robotics advanced in North America; iRobot's "Roomba" was the most successful domestic robot and sold 1.5 million units. (Others of interest include: Robomower, and Scooba as of May 2006)
The first robotic vehicle completed the DARPA Grand Challenge in 2005 and became the first vehicle to be able to navigate itself with no external interference.
Humanoid robots and robot kits improved considerably, to the point of retailing as toys. This was typified by RoboSapien and Lego Mindstorms respectively.

Space technology

GPS (Global Positioning System) became very popular, especially in the tracking of items or people, and the use in cars. Games that utilize the system, such as geocaching, emerged and developed a niche following.
The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred in February 2003.
SpaceShipOne made the first privately funded human spaceflight on June 21, 2004.^[15]

Healthcare

Corrective eye surgery became popular as costs and potential risk decreased and results further improved.^{[ citation needed ]}
244 new drugs were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.^{[ when? ]}

General retail

RFID (Radio Frequency ID) became widely used in retail giants^{[ citation needed ]} such as Wal-Mart, as a way to track items and automate stocking and keeping track of items.
Self-serve kiosks became very widely available, and were used for all kinds of shopping, airplane boarding passes, hotel check-ins, fast food, banking, and car rental. ATMs became nearly universal in much of the First World and very common even in poorer countries and their rural areas.^[16]

Related Research Articles

Telecommunications in Moldova are maintained at a relatively high performance level. Because Moldova is a small country, telecommunications companies managed to achieve good coverage in both wired and wireless communications infrastructure. Landline is available in most settlements, however mobile phone popularity has vastly increased in recent years. Mobile communications infrastructures are fairly well developed but suffer from high prices, nonetheless the amount of mobile subscriptions is growing very fast compared to the landline. As far as the Internet is concerned, Moldova has one of the best wired Internet connections in the world as well as one of the cheapest in $ per Mbit.

The People's Republic of China possesses a diversified communications system that links all parts of the country by Internet, telephone, telegraph, radio, and television. The country is served by an extensive system of automatic telephone exchanges connected by modern networks of fiber-optic cable, coaxial cable, microwave radio relay, and a domestic satellite system; cellular telephone service is widely available, expanding rapidly, and includes roaming service to foreign countries. Fiber to the x infrastructure has been expanded rapidly in recent years.

Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telephone line which could be connected using an RJ-11 connector. Dial-up connections use modems to decode audio signals into data to send to a router or computer, and to encode signals from the latter two devices to send to another modem at the ISP.

Iran's telecommunications industry is almost entirely state-owned, dominated by the Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI). Fixed-line penetration in 2004 was relatively well-developed by regional standards, standing at 22 lines per 100 people, higher than Egypt with 14 and Saudi Arabia with 15, although behind the UAE with 27. Iran had more than 1 mobile phone per inhabitant by 2012.

Telecommunications in Israel are the most developed in the Middle East. Israel's system consists of coaxial cables, optical fibers, and microwave radio relay. Prior to the 1990s, Israel's telecommunication market was dominated by Bezeq, a government-owned corporation. During the 1990s, the Israeli telecommunication industry transitioned from government owned monopolies to diversified private competition by a range of new companies. As of 2014, the telecommunications sector in Israel had revenues over ₪15 billion, representing about 2% of the GDP.

Technological convergence is the tendency for technologies that were originally unrelated to become more closely integrated and even unified as they develop and advance. For example, watches, telephones, television, computers, and social media platforms began as separate and mostly unrelated technologies, but have converged in many ways into an interrelated telecommunication, media, and technology industry.

The global digital divide describes global disparities, primarily between developed and developing countries, in regards to access to computing and information resources such as the Internet and the opportunities derived from such access.

Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live television that is streamed over the Internet (multicast) — in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable transmission formats — as well as video on demand services for watching or replaying content (unicast).

Mobile telephony is the provision of wireless telephone services to mobile phones, distinguishing it from fixed-location telephony provided via landline phones. Traditionally, telephony specifically refers to voice communication, though the distinction has become less clear with the integration of additional features such as text messaging and data services.

Videotelephony is the use of audio and video for simultaneous two-way communication. Today, videotelephony is widespread. There are many terms to refer to videotelephony. Videophones are standalone devices for video calling. In the present day, devices like smartphones and computers are capable of video calling, reducing the demand for separate videophones. Videoconferencing implies group communication. Videoconferencing is used in telepresence, whose goal is to create the illusion that remote participants are in the same room.

In-flight entertainment (IFE) refers to entertainment and other value-added services available to aircraft passengers during a flight. Frequently managed by content service providers, the types of in-flight entertainment and their content vary significantly based on the airline, aircraft type, and geographic region.

Mobile broadband is the marketing term for wireless Internet access via mobile (cell) networks. Access to the network can be made through a portable modem, wireless modem, or a tablet/smartphone or other mobile device. The first wireless Internet access became available in 1991 as part of the second generation (2G) of mobile phone technology. Higher speeds became available in 2001 and 2006 as part of the third (3G) and fourth (4G) generations. In 2011, 90% of the world's population lived in areas with 2G coverage, while 45% lived in areas with 2G and 3G coverage. Mobile broadband uses the spectrum of 225 MHz to 3700 MHz.

Internet in Japan provides high quality services to more than 90% of the population and almost 100% of medium to large businesses, with mobile Internet on devices like smartphones being the most popular type of service. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) oversees the telecommunications, Internet, and broadcast sectors, but regulation of Japan's Internet industry is largely through voluntary self-regulation. There is little or no explicit censorship or restriction of Internet content, with the government respecting laws for freedom of speech and of the press, but there are concerns that the government indirectly encourages self-censorship practices. The Internet in Japan is not a singular medium and affects Japanese culture in a variety of ways as diverse groups of Japanese people interact online.

The LG VX10000, also known as the Verizon Voyager or LG VX10K, is an Internet-enabled multimedia smartphone designed by LG Electronics and carried by Verizon Wireless in the US, Telus, and Bell Mobility in Canada, and Reliance in Asia. The external screen is touch enabled with a virtual keyboard and buttons. It features an internal screen for use with the included full QWERTY keyboard. Both screens of the Voyager have WQVGA resolution. The Voyager's functions include those of a camera phone and a portable media player, in addition to text messaging, and Internet services including e-mail and web browsing. It is a dual-band mobile phone that uses the CDMA standard. It supports the EVDO data technology.

This article is a summary of the 1990s in science and technology.

Telecommunications in Hungary include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

A mobile phone, or cell phone, is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones. This radio frequency link connects to the switching systems of a mobile phone operator, providing access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Modern mobile telephony relies on a cellular network architecture, which is why mobile phones are often referred to as 'cell phones' in North America.

Mobile technology is the technology used for cellular communication. Mobile technology has evolved rapidly over the past few years. Since the start of this millennium, a standard mobile device has gone from being no more than a simple two-way pager to being a mobile phone, GPS navigation device, an embedded web browser and instant messaging client, and a handheld gaming console. Many experts believe that the future of computer technology rests in mobile computing with wireless networking. Mobile computing by way of tablet computers is becoming more popular. Tablets are available on the 3G and 4G networks.

An online video platform (OVP) enables users to upload, convert, store, and play back video content on the Internet, often via a private server structured, large-scale system that may generate revenue. Users will generally upload video content via the hosting service's website, mobile or desktop application, or other interfaces (API), and typically provides embed codes or links that allow others to view the video content.

References

↑ WMAP mission (2006-03-16). "The Age of the Universe with New Accuracy". NASA. Archived from the original on 23 January 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
↑ Zhang, Sarah. "The Human Genome Is—Finally!—Complete". The Atlantic. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
↑ "Milky Way spiral gets an extra arm". New Scientist. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
↑ "SPACE.com -- It's Official: Water Found on the Moon". Space.com . 23 September 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-10-03. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
↑ "Beige/White Cases". Directron.com, Inc., Houston, Texas. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2008. Beige/White had been a common color for PC cases and monitors for years. It lost popularity to other colors like black
↑ Bethea, Neil; Jacob Williams & Yiwen Yu (June 2003). "Broadband services in the United States" (PDF). Ohio State University. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2006. Retrieved 20 January 2008. Growth of Broadband Users:June 2000:total:4,367,434
↑ Sharma, Dinesh (2005-08-02). "Study: Broadband penetration to surge by 2010". CNET News.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
↑ "US Broadband Penetration Breaks 80% Among Active Internet Users". WebSiteOptimization.com. May 2007. Archived from the original on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
↑ "Total broadband subscribers by country (Dec. 2008)". OECD. May 2009. Archived from the original on 7 March 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
↑ "Digital Music Sales Booming". Wired News. Associated Press. 2006-01-19. Archived from the original on 2012-12-10. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
↑ "Disk Drive Prices (1955-2015)". Archived from the original on 2015-07-14. Retrieved 2015-07-25.
↑ History of hard disk drives#Timeline
↑ "Archives for the category: Mobile phone projects - Third World". textually.org. Archived from the original on 25 January 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
↑ Selanikio, Joel (2008-01-18). "The invisible computer revolution". BBC News. Archived from the original on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2008. important sub-groups in that region [high-growth areas of sub-Saharan Africa, the fastest growing cell phone market in the world,] have much higher penetration than the general population ... many [of whom] have access to one via a friend or family member
↑ Belfiore, Michael (2007). Rocketeers: how a visionary band of business leaders, engineers, and pilots is boldly privatizing space. New York: Smithsonian Books. pp. 80–111. ISBN 978-0-06-114903-0 . Retrieved 2014-12-28.
↑ Williamson, Simon (2003-11-26). "Why run Windows on an ATM?". Archived from the original (blog) on 26 April 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2008. Remember, a lot of banks in third world countries have ATMs.

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[1] WMAP mission (2006-03-16). "The Age of the Universe with New Accuracy". NASA. Archived from the original on 23 January 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2021.

[2] Zhang, Sarah. "The Human Genome Is—Finally!—Complete". The Atlantic. Retrieved 8 January 2022.

[3] "Milky Way spiral gets an extra arm". New Scientist. Retrieved 2024-12-14.

[4] "SPACE.com -- It's Official: Water Found on the Moon". Space.com . 23 September 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-10-03. Retrieved 2009-10-05.

[5] "Beige/White Cases". Directron.com, Inc., Houston, Texas. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2008. Beige/White had been a common color for PC cases and monitors for years. It lost popularity to other colors like black

[6] Bethea, Neil; Jacob Williams & Yiwen Yu (June 2003). "Broadband services in the United States" (PDF). Ohio State University. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2006. Retrieved 20 January 2008. Growth of Broadband Users:June 2000:total:4,367,434

[7] Sharma, Dinesh (2005-08-02). "Study: Broadband penetration to surge by 2010". CNET News.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2007.

[8] "US Broadband Penetration Breaks 80% Among Active Internet Users". WebSiteOptimization.com. May 2007. Archived from the original on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2008.

[9] "Total broadband subscribers by country (Dec. 2008)". OECD. May 2009. Archived from the original on 7 March 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2009.

[10] "Digital Music Sales Booming". Wired News. Associated Press. 2006-01-19. Archived from the original on 2012-12-10. Retrieved 20 January 2008.

[11] "Disk Drive Prices (1955-2015)". Archived from the original on 2015-07-14. Retrieved 2015-07-25.

[12] History of hard disk drives#Timeline

[13] "Archives for the category: Mobile phone projects - Third World". textually.org. Archived from the original on 25 January 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2008.

[14] Selanikio, Joel (2008-01-18). "The invisible computer revolution". BBC News. Archived from the original on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2008. important sub-groups in that region [high-growth areas of sub-Saharan Africa, the fastest growing cell phone market in the world,] have much higher penetration than the general population ... many [of whom] have access to one via a friend or family member

[belfiore2007-15] Belfiore, Michael (2007). Rocketeers: how a visionary band of business leaders, engineers, and pilots is boldly privatizing space. New York: Smithsonian Books. pp. 80–111. ISBN 978-0-06-114903-0 . Retrieved 2014-12-28.

[16] Williamson, Simon (2003-11-26). "Why run Windows on an ATM?". Archived from the original (blog) on 26 April 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2008. Remember, a lot of banks in third world countries have ATMs.

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