The game 'Counter-Strike' was developed in a dorm room

A virtual art gallery in the mode of 'Doom'

One of the earliest video games to use 3D interfaces, 1993's "Doom" was a first-person shooter set on the moons of Mars which ended in hell. It became one of the most critically and commercially successful games of all time. Now, you can wander virtually in an art gallery in the mode of the game, sipping wine and perusing pixelated versions of classic works of art.

Magic: the Gathering was inspired by baseball cards

Richard Garfield originally pitched a game publisher on a more complex game about programming robots, but he was told that they were looking for something less expensive and more portable. Inspired by the way baseball cards were collected and traded, he came up with the idea for Magic: the Gathering, which gave players packets of random cards, effectively pieces of the whole game, rather than the entire deck.

Play an incremental game that teaches the history of particle physics

Developed during the CERN Summer Student Webfest 2014, this game tasks you with building the reputation of your particle accelerator as you discover particles and hire staff to collect data. A historical breakdown accompanies each discovery, allowing you to recreate the timeline of the field.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Bill Gates and Paul Allen were childhood friends before founding Microsoft

The two bonded over a teletype terminal at their school, which required a $40 hourly fee for computing time. They were banned from using the device after exploiting a bug that allowed them to bypass the fee, only to be later offered free computing time for finding more bugs.

Understanding how Claude Code and other AI coding agents function

Under human oversight, a supervising large language model interprets user tasks and delegates work to subordinate LLMs, which can generate code, fix bugs, and run tests, often most effectively for proofs of concept. Incremental backups and versioning are crucial when using such agents, which can lose details during their work as a result of compressing context history to work around memory limitations.

Clue, the murder-mystery board game, was designed during World War II air raids.

Microsoft's Flight Simulator is one of history's longest-running software products

The program originated from a master’s thesis project on generating three-dimensional graphics, which was later combined with flight equations. The first version ran on the Apple II in early 1980, but its creator licensed the program to Microsoft two years later,

The foundation for computer viruses was published after its creator's death

In the late 1940s, Hungarian American mathematician, scientist, and engineer John von Neumann gave a series of lectures where he explained the theoretical framework for a computer program that could replicate itself—the von Neumann Universal Constructor. His lectures were later compiled and published in 1966, nine years after his death from cancer.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Married computer scientists at Stanford University built the router that became the foundation for Cisco

Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner were both computer scientists at Stanford University in 1984 when the pair created a router that connected computers on different networks. The pair asked for Stanford's permission to manufacture the router, but the university declined, and the couple decided to leave their jobs to launch Cisco, one of the tech companies that powers the internet.

Most of the ‘Super Mario Bros.’ sequel was borrowed from a preexisting Nintendo game

Nintendo was eager to create a sequel following the success of “Super Mario Bros.,” but the original “Super Mario Bros. 2,” released in Japan, proved too difficult. Crunched for time, the company used the bones of a preexisting game, “Doki Doki Panic,” and inserted elements from Mario’s world for the US release of “Super Mario Bros. 2,” making for a follow-up that was drastically different from its predecessor.

Facebook launched in a Harvard University dorm room in 2004

The controversial "FaceMash," where students rated each other's attractiveness, was the precursor to Mark Zuckerberg's social network. The platform rebranded as Meta after several acquisitions and a push into virtual reality, distancing itself from controversies.

Elk Cloner, the first computer virus to spread in public, was written as a practical joke by Richard Skrenta, a Pittsburgh high school student.

Neuralink brain implants have enabled a paralyzed person to play video games

As one of twelve test subjects in Neuralink's PRIME study, Rob Greiner's implant translates his brain's activity into digital commands for the 'Battlefield 6' game. He can now also design 3D models and 3D-print objects using his thoughts.

Tetris was launched in the US at Summer CES 1988

Tetris first appeared in the US at the 1988 Summer CES, where Henk Rogers—who would later publish and market the game—first encountered it. This interview revisits that moment, with creator Alexey Pajitnov and Rogers reflecting on how the game gained global recognition.

Read Linus Torvalds' commenting on his first posts about Linux in the comp.os.minix newsgroup

On August 1, 1991, he posted a request on what would be the first version of Linux, writing, "I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. [...] I'd like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat."

At the age of seven, Grace Hopper dismantled alarm clocks

Foreshadowing a career in computers, Hopper exhibited a curiosity for gadgets at a young age and took apart seven clocks, determined to understand how they worked. Despite having a dollhouse, Hopper built an elevator for it and showed a greater interest in building toy furniture than playing with dolls.

A 21-year-old college student designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

In 1981, a 21-year-old Yale architecture student, Maya Lin, won the national design competition for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The design was controversial for rejecting heroic statues, using a black wall, and avoiding overt patriotic symbolism.

Hackers once used 'Fortnite' to clean money from stolen credit cards

Hackers using stolen credit cards would create "Fortnite" accounts and purchase V-bucks, the in-game currency. The hackers would then sell the entire "Fortnite" account on sites like eBay. For instance, an account with $100 worth of stolen V-bucks might sell $25 on eBay.

Play the role of a student as you try to navigate college and remain debt-free

A vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business after it was convinced to give away items for free and sell a video game console.

The origin of atmospheric science while testing nuclear weapons during the Cold War

The arms race between the US and the Soviet Union saw both countries stockpiling and detonating hundreds of bombs underground, underwater, and in the atmosphere. To better predict where nuclear fallout would travel after these tests, scientists developed models that would serve as a foundation for those used to explain atmospheric circulation.

Camus was a soccer goalie as a teenager

The writer played for Algiers Racing University but had to quit after contracting tuberculosis. He remained a fan, though, once suggesting that the game taught him important lessons about morality. In the 1957 interview below, he briefly reflects on his time as a goalie and speaks about his recent Nobel Prize.

The betting scandal that rocked college basketball

In the 1940s and '50s, illegal bookmaking in college basketball was rampant at Madison Square Garden. In the 1949-50 season, City College of New York players shaved points during games, though they played honestly in the NIT and NCAA tournaments, winning both. This OddsShark.com article explores how the points-shaving scandal was exposed, who went to jail, and its impact on the NIT and CCNY.

Spielberg submitted 'Schindler's List' and 'Jurassic Park' for college credit

After dropping out at 21, Spielberg reenrolled as a student at California State University, Long Beach in 2001, and earned a paleontology credit for “Jurassic Park.” His final project for an advanced film studies course was “Schindler’s List,” which won the Academy Award for best picture nearly 10 years earlier.

Several bestsellers began as fan fiction

Ali Hazlewood's "The Love Hypothesis" began as "Star Wars" fan fiction. Cassandra Clare's "Mortal Instruments" series was about "Harry Potter" characters Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley. Anna Todd's "After" series was an example of "real life fiction," or fan fiction that is about real people rather than fictional ones (the books were originally based on the boy band One Direction).

Modular data centers can be transported on a truck for rapid deployment

Bypassing the complications involved in building larger facilities over the course of several years, such as construction costs and permits, these pre-fabricated, self-contained pods, roughly the size of shipping containers, can carry thousands of graphics processing units for small- and medium-scale AI-related tasks.

One halfpipe skier qualified for the Olympics via loopholes

Freestyle skier Elizabeth Swaney reached the 2018 Winter Olympics by completing safe, trick-free halfpipe runs and accumulating ranking points in low-participation events. The story, told humorously in this brief video, highlights how qualification systems can reward persistence and rule optimization over peak athletic performance.

Watch how algorithms can be designed to train themselves and self-improve without human input, to the point where the optimized code is too complex for programmers to understand.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

The Ramones' 'Pet Sematary,' the theme song for the Stephen King novel of the same name, was written while the band was admiring the writer's collection of horror memorabilia.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

Experimental hantavirus vaccines and therapies, still under development, have long been funded by the US military.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.