stealth technology, designs and materials engineered for the military purpose of avoiding detection by radar or any other electronic system. Stealth, or antidetection, technology is applied to vehicles (e.g., tanks), missiles, ships, and aircraft with the goal of making the object more difficult to detect at closer and closer ranges. Since radar is the most difficult form of detection to elude, avoidance is generally accomplished by reducing the radar cross section (RCS) of the object to within the level of background noise; for example, the reported goal of U.S. military designers is to make a fighter plane with an RCS the size of a bird. The RCS is the area of an imaginary perfect reflector that would reflect the same amount of energy back to the receiving radar antenna as does the actual target, which may be much larger or even smaller than the RCS. A pickup truck, for example, with its flat surfaces and sharp edges has an RCS of approximately 200 sq m, but a smooth-edged fighter jet has an RCS of only 2 to 4 sq m. The RCS of any given object, however, differs at various angles and radar frequencies. Much about stealth technology remains classified, but among the antidetection techniques used in the now-retired U.S. Air Force F-117 Stealth fighter plane (which probably has an RCS of 1 sq m or less) are a low profile with no flat surfaces to reflect radar directly back, the intensive substitution of radar opaque composites in place of metals, and an overall coating of radar absorbing material. The implementation of stealth technology usually requires such compromises as reduced payload capacity, aerodynamic instability, and high design, production, and maintenance expenses.

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, at Rapid City; state supported; coeducational; chartered 1885, opened 1887 as Dakota School of Mines, renamed 1943. Of note are an engineering and mining experiment station, an institute of atmospheric sciences, a natural science field station, and a geology museum.

National Institute of Standards and Technology, governmental agency within the U.S. Dept. of Commerce with the mission of "working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements, and standards" in the national interest. It was established by act of Congress on Mar. 3, 1901; until 1988 it was known as the National Bureau of Standards. Its headquarters are at Gaithersburg, Md., with additional facilities located at Boulder, Colo. It conducts four major programs: the Measurements and Standards Laboratories, a number of highly technical research facilities in such fields as electronics, chemical science and technology, physics, and information technology; the Advanced Technology Program, which explores "not-yet-possible" technologies; the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a nationwide network which offers technical assistance to small businesses; and the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, an award given for excellence in business performance in either manufacturing, service, or small business.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Cambridge; coeducational; chartered 1861, opened 1865 in Boston, moved 1916. It has long been recognized as an outstanding technological institute and its Sloan School of Management has notable programs in business, economics, and finance. Among its facilities are five high-energy accelerators, a large nuclear reactor, and a noted nuclear engineering laboratory. The institute also operates a research center (Round Hill) near South Dartmouth, Mass., the Lincoln Laboratory at Lexington, Mass., and an engineering practice school at Oak Ridge, Tenn. Significant among its more than 70 special laboratories are those for artificial intelligence, space research, cancer research, manufacturing and productivity, computer science, plasma fusion, instrumentation, and spectroscopy. The institute also has cooperative arrangements with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Brookhaven National Laboratory. The institute's Boston Stein Club Map Room in the Hayden Library and the Hart Nautical Museum are noteworthy.

Iowa State University of Science and Technology, at Ames, commonly known as Iowa State University; land-grant with state and federal support; coeducational; chartered 1858, opened 1868 as an agricultural college; called Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts from 1896 to 1959. It has schools of agriculture, business, design, education, engineering, family and consumer sciences, liberal arts and sciences, and veterinary medicine as well as graduate faculties. The Ames Laboratory of the U.S. Dept. of Energy is there.

Illinois Institute of Technology, in Chicago; coeducational; founded 1940 by a merger of Armour Institute of Technology (founded 1892) and Lewis Institute (1896). The school's present campus was planned by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who also served as head of the department of architecture (1938-58). Other divisions include liberal arts, design, engineering and science, law, and business. Among its many research centers are the IIT Research Institute, the Institute of Gas Technology, and the Design Processes Laboratory. A technical facility of the Association of American Railroads is also there.

Georgia Institute of Technology, in Atlanta, Ga.; coeducational; state supported; chartered 1885, opened 1888. It is a member school in the university system of Georgia. Significant among its facilities and programs are the Frank H. Neely Nuclear Research Center and the School of Information and Computer Sciences.

European Space Research and Technology Center (ESTEC): see European Space Agency.

Carnegie Institute of Technology: see Carnegie Mellon Univ.

California Institute of Technology, at Pasadena, Calif.; originally for men, became coeducational in 1970; founded 1891 as Throop Polytechnic Institute; called Throop College of Technology, 1913-20. The institute's research facilities, principally in science and engineering, include the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (operated in conjunction with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration), the Palomar Observatory, the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory, and a cosmic ray laboratory. With the Univ. of California at Berkeley and the Univ. of Hawaii, it operates the W. M. Keck Observatory at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, which houses the world's largest reflecting telescopes.

Electronic system for transmitting still or moving images and sound to receivers that project a view of the images on a picture tube or screen and recreate the sound. Early versions (1900–20) of the cathode-ray (picture) tube, methods of amplifying an electronic signal, and theoretical formulation of the electronic-scanning principle later became the basis of modern TV. RCA demonstrated the first all-electronic TV in 1932. Cable TV systems (introduced in the late 1940s), colour TV (in the 1950s), and recording or playback machines (in the 1980s; see VCR) followed. Digital high-definition (HDTV) systems (1990s) provide sharper, clearer pictures and sound with little interference or other imperfections and have the potential to merge TV functions with those of computers.

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Acquisition, recording, organization, retrieval, display, and dissemination of information. Today the term usually refers to computer-based operations. Information processing consists of locating and capturing information, using software to manipulate it into a desired form, and outputting the data. An Internet search engine is an example of an information-processing tool, as is any sophisticated information-retrieval system. Seealso data processing.

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U.S. private university in Cambridge, famous for its scientific and technological training and research. Founded in 1861, MIT has schools of architecture and planning, engineering, humanities and social sciences, management (the Sloan School), and science and a college of health sciences and technology. Though it is best known for its programs in engineering and the physical sciences, other areas such as economics, political science, urban studies, linguistics, and philosophy are also strong. Among its facilities are a nuclear reactor, a computation centre, geophysical and astrophysical observatories, a linear accelerator, a space research centre, supersonic wind tunnels, an artificial-intelligence laboratory, a centre for cognitive science, and an international-studies centre.

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known as Georgia Tech

Public institution of higher learning in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., founded in 1885. It consists of colleges of architecture, computing, engineering, sciences, and public policy and administration. Undergraduate and graduate degrees are offered. Georgia Tech is home to a nuclear research centre and several other research and development centres.

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Private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. It was formed in 1967 through the merger of the Carnegie Institute of Technology (created in 1900 through a gift from Andrew Carnegie) and the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research (founded in 1913 through a gift from Andrew W. Mellon). It comprises schools of technology, science, computer science, humanities and social sciences, fine arts, public policy, and industrial administration. It has built a reputation as an arts centre, operating three galleries, two concert halls, and two theatres.

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known as Caltech

U.S.-based, highly select, private university and research institute in Pasadena. Established in 1891, it offers graduate and undergraduate instruction and research in pure and applied science and engineering. It is considered one of the world's premier scientific research centres. In 1958 its Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in conjunction with NASA, launched Explorer I, the first U.S. satellite. Caltech operates astronomical observatories at such locations as Palomar Mountain, Owens Valley, and Big Bear Lake, Calif., and Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Other facilities include a seismology laboratory, a marine biology laboratory, and a centre for the study of radio astronomy.

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