When you execute something synchronously, you wait for it to finish before moving on to another task. When you execute something asynchronously, you can move on to another task before it finishes. That being said, in the context of computers this translates into executing a process or task on another "thread." A thread is a series of commands (a block of code) that exists as a unit of work. The operating system can manage multiple threads and assign a thread a piece ("slice") of processor time before switching to another thread to give it a turn to do some work. At its core (pardon the pun), a processor can simply execute a command, it has no concept of doing two things at one time. The operating system simulates this by allocating slices of time to different threads. Now, if you introduce multiple cores/processors into the mix, then things CAN actually happen at the same time. The operating system can allocate time to one thread on the first processor, then a...
![The kakapo is a strange little flightless bird native to New Zealand. Sadly there are now only 126 kakapo left in conservation areas, where they eat a range of plants. But researchers who have been studying ancient poo samples have recently found that around 900 years ago kakapo ate a lot of pollen from a root parasite known as "Hades flower". The two no longer exist in the same place and Hades flower is also rare, which begs the question - were the birds responsible for pollinating it? Further research needs to be done, but it's an interesting conservation link.
Read more in Brian Switek's great blog for @[23497828950:274:National Geographic]: http://bit.ly/SK63r7](https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s480x480/379258_10151460677932518_1311340323_n.jpg)
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