the.com/sensor
a synthetic nerve ending that turns the world into numbers nobody asked for
means A device that detects some physical condition — light, heat, motion, pressure — and converts it into a signal a machine can read.
from From Latin 'sentire,' to feel or perceive — the same root that gives us 'sense,' 'sentiment,' and 'sentinel.' 'Sensor' itself is a relatively modern back-formation, shortened from 'sensory' and pressed into service in the 20th century as machines learned to feel on our behalf. So the word literally means 'a thing that senses,' which is exactly what it does.
- in your pocket
- smartphones pack a dozen, from gyroscope to barometer
- animal envy
- sharks sense electric fields no human chip rivals
- market boom
- billions ship yearly, quietly running modern life
- origin word
- from Latin sentire, meaning to feel
- smoke alarm
- many detect fire using a tiny radioactive isotope
hubble space telescope — detects ultraviolet and visible light from space, launched 1990
lidar on tesla vehicles — uses laser pulses to detect obstacles, standard on model s plaid