Interesting Facts

How far would you go for your love of a particular technology?

Last fall, while attending the 2015 IFA conference in Berlin, Icelandian Atli Jarl Martin proved he might just be the world’s most hardcore ThinkPad devotee ever: Atli got inked. Think-Inked, that is! The self-proclaimed metalhead, trucker, barman, and tech aficionado got his first tattoo at 25 (an influential metal album) and one other since, prior to having the ThinkPad logo etched on his forearm. Atli has designed a whole arm tattoo that will eventually portray the ThinkPad in its entirety, building on the logo. Is there any tech you love so much that you'd be willing to get a tattoo of it? Learn more.

Did you ever wonder what kind of laptops astronauts use in space?

Well, think no further. Since 1998, long ago when ThinkPads were once part of IBM, they have been used aboard the International Space Station (ISS). And since 1995, they’ve blasted off on every NASA Shuttle space flight. That’s more than 60 laptops aboard the ISS and more than 50 shuttle flights. Unsurprising, since a ThinkPad is definitely not your run-of-the-mill PC. A ThinkPad needs to pass lots of tests to become certified for lift-off. It has to be tested in space. It has to be tested to non-operational limits. It has to be tested for safety, flammability, and toxicity. It has to be interface tested and usability tested. And it has to be software-compatibility tested. So, if ThinkPads can survive and thrive in outer space, they can pretty much handle whatever comes their way on earth. Check out the video.

How would you augment your reality?

We partnered with Google to develop our new phone, the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro—the world’s first Tango-enabled smartphone. Google Tango lets you overlay virtual objects on top of your surroundings through the use of your phone. Simply hold up the Phab 2 Pro and capture your world. Then, use the 3D tools to see how a new chair or TV might fit in your apartment. Or create a virtual pet, and play with, feed, and train your new puppy. Play cool games, learn about dinosaurs, or devise a whole new world within your home! And later this year, you’ll even be able to navigate indoors—so when you’re in a museum or a store or even a concert hall, Tango will be able to take you to exactly where you want to go to: the rest room, the concession stand, or that item you’re in a hurry to buy! The Lenovo Phab 2 will be available late summer. Learn more about Tango. Learn more about Lenovo Phab 2 Pro.

Have you ever been inspired by nature? We have, and it manifests in some pretty awesome ways.

From cat’s paws to owls in flight, nature has inspired some really cool technology in some of our PCs. Based on testing that shows when you place your laptop on your desk, you plop down the back edge first, followed by the front edge, we developed cat-paw rubber feet. So the toes of the paw hit the desk first, followed by the palm, which was made of a softer rubber to help absorb the impact. But because innovation never stops, and we’re always in search of ever-better, we no longer use the “cat paws” –instead we use long, thin pieces of rubber that rely less on the rubber itself and more on the compression provided by the air inside the rubber structure.

As for owl wings, if you’ve been lucky enough to see an owl in flight, you know how quiet and fast they move. Superior among all predatory birds for stealth, the owl’s near-silent flight has enabled it to successfully survive by feeding on prey that is too perceptive for other, noisier predators. The unique construction of the owl’s wing has inspired the design of aircrafts, wind turbines, submarines, and even modern computers. The wings have distinct features: a comb of stiff feathers along the leading edge of the wing, a flexible fringe on the trailing edge of the wing, and a soft, downy material distributed on the top of the wing. Uniquely, they also possess a notched shape in their leading wing feathers that enables air to pass over the wing’s surface silently.

Faced with the task of keeping laptops cool, while at the same time, making them thinner and lighter, engineers at our Yamato labs in Japan recognized that the owl had already solved the problem of air turbulence. Introducing features from the owl’s wing into our fan-blade design has resulted in the most silent and efficient cooling system ever produced for a commercial computer. How cool is that?

What will your contribution to the world be?

At age 14, Zoltan Takacs caught his first venomous snake. That experience evolved into a passion for all venomous creatures from vipers to spiders, which led him to study and earn a Ph.D. in pharmacology, before becoming a predominant venom researcher. Nowadays, he’s both a scientist and explorer who travels the globe in search of cures for life-threatening diseases that can be treated with venom. As counterintuitive as it may seem to risk your life in order to find a life-saving cure, working with the world’s deadliest animals is more than a just a job for Dr. Takacs—research and exploration are a way of life and how he gives back to humanity. He’s contributed to some of medicine's biggest lifesaving advancements used in hospitals worldwide, and he believes that powerful and reliable technology are crucial to his work. For the last 20 years, he’s relied extensively on Lenovo’s ThinkPad products to power his work in every environment he finds himself in. He credits this technology with helping him to stay connected while on the go in almost any situation, even when in the most remote places on the planet. Learn more about his work.

Did you ever feel like watching on a big screen when all you have is your phone?

Or maybe you just want to share a slideshow of your vacation without posting on social media, or having a crowd hovering over your phone? Well how about a projector that hooks up wirelessly to your smartphone or your tablet? There’s no need to head to the movie theater when you can carry this pocket device around in your bag and pull out the “theater” anywhere you have a white wall!.