From Riffs To Robots: 15 Facts That Will Make Your Mind Explode

Technology has come a long way since we first bashed out the wheel. A long, long way. Intel are big believers in innovative technology and changing design. Take a #LookInside to see for yourself.

1. The first computer mouse was made in 1964 and was made out of wood

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In fact, it consisted of two balls in a wooden box. This is Doug Engelbart, the inventor.

2. It would have been more expensive for NASA to fake the moon landing than to actually do it

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Back in 1969 the level of technology required to fake a moon landing would have cost more than actually sending someone to the moon!

3. And it was done with technology less powerful than your mobile phone

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The computers used to navigate the Apollo 11 were less powerful than that lump of tech that you use to check Facebook.

4. There are computers made especially for the Amish

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A few Amish people bend their strict rules to use 'necessary' modern day technology for business. These Amish-friendly computers don't allow music, video or internet - only programmes that can be used for work purposes.

5. 12 million floppy disks were sold in 2009

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You know that little 'save' button button at the top of a document? That's actually a floppy disk (RIP). Despite 12 million of them being sold in 2009 the last company to manufacturer them pulled the plug on the floppy in 2011.

6. Qatar uses robot jockeys in their camel races

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In Qatar robot jockeys are used to race camels in the place of real-life humans. Why? Because the robots are small and light. Before this four-year-old boys were used - which lead to all manner of problems.

7. Happy Birthday was the first song to be played on another planet

WARNING: this is a tearjerker.

NASA programmed the drone Mars Rover Curiosity to sing itself 'Happy Birthday' on the anniversary of its voyage. All alone. On Mars. 208 million miles away from its human family.

It didn't even get a birthday cake.

Scroll to 1.15 to hear it.

8. Leonardo Da Vinci created a robot lion

He didn't just draw a pretty picture: Leonardo Da Vinci was an inventor way ahead of his time. One of his inventions included a mechanical walking lion. 500 years after his death artist Renato Boaretto built the model from his sketches.

Not only can the lion walk, roar and shake its mane, experts say the technology was 300 years ahead of its time.

9. Hitting your TV to get it to work has a name

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It's called "percussive maintenance", and no, we don't advise it.

10. You can blame technology for Dorothy's Ruby Slippers

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In the book L. Frank Baum wrote about a pair of silver slippers. However, when the Wizard of Oz was being made for the big screen a film technology known as Technicolor was being used to produce vibrant colours on the screen.

MGM producers wanted to show off this new advanced technology, so changed the colour of Dorothy's slippers to a more vibrant red.

11. South Korea have created an army of robots that kill jellyfish

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Why? Because smacks of jellyfish cost the South Korean marine industry over £200 million a year in lost revenue. That's not even including all the people who get stung.

The jellyfish-slaying robots have GPs systems and a camera used to detect the jellyfish. When they find them they scoop them up into a net and shred them.

12. The internet in outer space is as fast as it is in Australia

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If you're in outer space, you're going to want to tell everyone about it: which is probably why the International Space Station can boast an internet connection as fast as the average Australian home (and that's pretty fast).

13. Auto-tune was voted one of the worst inventions, ever by Time magazine

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According to Time magazine auto-tune is one of the worst inventions known to man - coming in just behind deadly toxin DDT, honeygar - a mixture of honey and vinegar, and Hair-In-A-Can.

14. Soon scientists are going to be able to use 3D printed organs

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Organ donation could soon be a thing of the past - Organovo , a San Diego-based company that focuses on regenerative medicine is looking at printing human organs out of 'bio-ink': living cells than can be layered to build entire human organs.

This isn't as crazy as it may sound - 3D printer that add skin cells to wounds in order to help them heal have already been developed.

15. Despite all this… Stephen Hawking doesn't think we should try and contact aliens. Yet.

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According to the great man, if we contacted aliens now their technology is so advanced that it would be like theNative Americans contacting Columbus. He thinks they'd be more likely to enslave us with their superior technology and conquer our planet. Which would be a bit of a downer.

Want to see what else technology can do? To showcase the potential of tablets with Intel processors inside, Intel collaborated with Flume:

Watch the video to see the tablet-powered instruments come to life to perform an especially composed track. For more Inspired Innovation that's changing the world #LookInside the world of Intel.