Going Further on the Same Tank

08-19-2010 • Julie Halpert via Technology Review

A technology coming to Chrysler vehicles can improve the fuel economy of standard gasoline engines by 25 percent

New Battery for Cheap Electric Vehicles

08-17-2010 • Kevin Bullis via Technology Review

Founder of A123 Systems starts a new company to commercialize the technology. A new startup company will attempt to solve the biggest roadblock facing electric vehicles today--the cost of their batteries.

The Science of a Sparkling Shave

08-17-2010 • Cyrus Farivar via Technology Review

A German company hopes a synthetic diamond material, engineered at the nanoscale, becomes a shaver's best friend.

Testing The Goods: The Bobble Self-Filtering Water Bottle

08-10-2010 • Jacob Ward via PopSci

The pitch: fill up from any tap, and the bottle's filter removes all the nasties for clean, pure refreshment

The Army Wants a Genetic Vaccinator that Blasts Doses of DNA Right Through the Patient's Skin

08-10-2010 • Clay Dillow via PopSci

Replacing the Needle for Innoculations in the Field In an effort to increase its ability to respond to biological attacks in the field, the Army wants a DNA vaccination device that blasts gene-filled gas right through the skin then delivers electric

China's Two-Lane-Wide "Straddling Bus" Carries Passengers Overhead, Lets Traffic Pass

08-09-2010 • Clay Dillow via PopSci

Each 3D Fast Bus can carry over a thousand passengers

Video: German Space Agency Builds New Bipedal Robot

08-09-2010 • Paul Adams via PopSci

DLR, the German aerospace agency, is showing a new pair of legs. DLR-Biped, which could use a new name, is a four-foot-eight walking research platform that was developed in less than a year.

Is it dawn or sunset for Konarka’s technology?

08-09-2010 • Scott Kirsner via boston.com

Scouring the labs of University of Massachusetts Lowell in the late 1990s for new technologies with big potential, Howard Berke stumbled across some experiments being done by the chemist Sukant Tripathy, then the head of the school’s Center for Advan

America's first in vitro baby

08-09-2010 • boston.com

She was the most famous baby in America after her birth in 1981 following in vitro fertilization. Yesterday, Elizabeth Comeau gave birth to a baby of her own, Trevor. Here's a look at Comeau's early life as the nation's first test-tube baby.

Holographic Displays, Robot Eyes Hint at Your Interactive Future

08-05-2010 • Priya Ganapati via WIRED

The eyes may be the window to the soul. But what do you see when you look into robotic eyes so real that it’s almost impossible to tell they are just empty, mechanical vessels?

Sikorsky X2 Breaks Helicopter Speed Record

08-05-2010 • Jason Paur via WIRED

Two hundred and fifty-nine miles per hour. That’s how fast the Sikorsky X2 flew during a recent test flight in Florida. The flight broke a record that had stood since 1986 when a Westland Lynx managed 249 mph.

Lawsuit challenges airport full-body scanners

08-04-2010 • Katie Johnston Chase via boston.com

A privacy advocacy group is suing the Department of Homeland Security to suspend the use of the controversial full-body scanners employed at airports across the country, including at every major checkpoint at Logan International Airport.

The end of an era - Photojournalist is entrusted with the last roll of Kodachrome film.

08-04-2010 • Associated Press

Betting its future on digital photography, Kodak discontinued the slide and motion-picture film with a production run last August in which a master sheet nearly a mile long was cut up into more than 20,000 rolls.

Scientists Investigate Possible 'Fear Drug'

08-03-2010 • Marlene Cimons via LiveScience

"We're studying how the biology of the brain is changed by the environment, and how these changes underlie memories and experiences," said Ressler, an associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University Sch

Scientists Look to Spiders for Hi-Tech Fibers

08-03-2010 • Michelle Bryner via LiveScience

The unanswered questions behind a spider’s cunning ability to spin silk, which is tougher than any man-made material, have hampered its use in everything from medical tools to next-generation electronics. Now scientists think they have the tools to u

Hacker Spoofs Cell Phone Tower to Intercept Calls

08-02-2010 • Kim Zetter via WIRED

A security researcher created a cell phone base station that tricks cell phones into routing their outbound calls through his device, allowing someone to intercept even encrypted calls in the clear.

Tesla Subsidy Vanishing Amid Electric Vehicle Boom

08-02-2010 • Darryl Siry via WIRED

Twenty years ago the California Air Resources Board established the zero emissions vehicle mandate requiring the largest automakers to build and sell electric vehicles. Twelve states adopted the same aggressive targets, creating what remains the stro

Cheaper, Better Satellites Made From Cellphones and Toys

08-02-2010 • Jess McNally via WIRED

Instead of investing in their own computer research and development, engineers at the NASA Ames Research Center are looking to cellphones and off-the-shelf toys to power the future of low-cost satellite technology.

Biometric and Other Locks Fail to Foil Hackers at DefCon

08-02-2010 • Kim Zetter via WIRED

It wouldn’t be DefCon without a noted lock hacking team demonstrating the gross insecurity of some of the latest security locks, such as a biometric lock that could be easily cracked with a paper clip.

AT&T, Verizon to Target Visa, MasterCard With Smartphones

08-02-2010 • Peter Eichenbaum & Margaret Collins via Bloomberg

AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile carriers, are planning a venture to displace credit and debit cards with smartphones, posing a new threat to Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc., three people with direct knowledge of the plan said.

Growing Organs and Helping Wounds Heal

08-02-2010 • Nidhi Subbaraman via Technology Review

A strong, stretchy material could provide a scaffold for growing organs or making wounds heal faster.

Rise of the Helpful Machines

08-01-2010 • Corey Binns via PopSci

Meet 10 of the most advanced human-assist 'bots from around the world

Harold McGee, Food Science Guru, Turns His Attention to Serious Drinking

08-01-2010 • Paul Adams via PopSci

The annual Tales of the Cocktail convention happened again in New Orleans last week, I seem to recall. And somewhere between the sazeracs and the rusty nails, I attended a series of enlightening seminars (each accompanied by appropriate cocktails, of

The Goods: August 2010's Hottest Gadgets

08-01-2010 • Corinne Iozzio via PopSci

Each month we look beyond the shelves of your local big-box store to dig up a dozen of the best new ideas in gear. This is the stuff that is better, faster, stronger, and does more than pretty much anything we've seen before it. Click the gallery thu

RIM Said to Plan Tablet for November to Take on Apple's IPad

07-30-2010 • Hugo Miller via Bloomberg

Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, plans to introduce a tablet computer in November to compete with Apple Inc.’s iPad, according to two people familiar with the company’s plans.

App Lets You Know When Friends Are Nearby

07-29-2010 • Erica Naone via Technology Review

New services try to make location information useful but not invasive.

Antibacterial Graphene 'Paper' Could Lead to Better Bandages

07-29-2010 • Clay Dillow via PopSci

A new antibacterial paper could lead to food wrappers that keep food fresh longer, shoes that never stink, and bandages with a built-in ability to deter infection. It turns out a paper-like material made of graphene – thin sheets of carbon just a sin

IBM Researchers Create the Most Detailed Brain Map Yet

07-29-2010 • Clay Dillow via PopSci

Researchers at IBM have created the most complex neurological map ever seen, detailing the comprehensive long-distance network that makes up the macaque monkey brain in unprecedented detail.

In iPhone, adult industry sees pocket porn market

07-29-2010 • Joel Schectman via MyWay.com

It's a maxim of technology: Invent the newest gadget and the porn industry will find a way to cash in.

Kevin Stone: The bio-future of joint replacement

07-27-2010 • Kevin Stone vie TED

Arthritis and injury grind down millions of joints, but few get the best remedy -- real biological tissue. Kevin Stone shows a treatment that could sidestep the high costs and donor shortfall of human-to-human transplants with a novel use of animal t