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A coherer is an early electronic device used as a radio detector. Invented by Édouard Branly and later improved by Sir Oliver Lodge, it consists of a tube filled with conductive material, such as iron filings. When a radio-frequency voltage is applied, the material coalesces, or "coheres," allowing an electrical current to pass. This current could then operate a relay to reproduce Morse code signals. Guglielmo Marconi utilized a coherer in his early wireless telegraphy experiments, enabling transatlantic communication. The coherer had to be tapped to separate the filings between signals. It was eventually superseded by more advanced detectors.123

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