French scientists have created the first synthetic polymers that can store information as bits of 0s and 1s. You might think of it as a highly simplified version of DNA, another molecule that is very, very good at storing information. These new polymers could one day replace DNA in the burgeoning field of molecular barcoding.

Molecular barcodes are basically invisible … Read More → "Secret molecular barcodes could be used to fight counterfeits"

Doctors often keep patients awake during brain surgery to monitor them for injuries in real time. Put in this situation, most of us would probably do very little of anything other than respond when spoken to and pray for a swift end to the experience.

That didn’t sound like much fun to Anthony Dias. During … Read More → "Patient jams out during his own brain surgery"

A Stormtrooper was arrested yesterday outside an elementary school in Lynn, Mass. George Cross, 40, said he “was walking through the neighborhood showing friends” his costume and blaster when the principal spotted him and called police. According to WHDH, Cross was “arraigned on charges of disturbing a school in addition to violating a city ordinance of loitering within 1,000 feet of a school.”

via … Read More → "Star Wars Stormtrooper arrested outside of elementary school"

Airships lost much of their popularity after the fiery Hindenburg disaster in 1937. But one company’s looking to revive the technology with the biggest aircraft on Earth.

It’s called the Airlander 10: over 300 feet long, it’s a floating airship that’s 25 percent bigger than a Boeing 747. It’s 1,340,000 cubic feet in volume, and … Read More → "The world’s biggest aircraft could launch a new age of airships"

We have featured the crazy inventions of Colin Furze before, like his huge butt-shaped machine that produces the world’s loudest farting sound and his own retractable Wolverine claws. 

His newest invention is the ‘FurzoToasto’, a bread knife that slices and toasts at the same time. His creation uses a microwave transformer to heat the blade, so that the bread surface it touches becomes toast. Furze also … Read More → "An electric knife that slices and toasts bread at the same time"

If students want to cheat their way through one of China’s most difficult exams, they’ll now need to thwart a patrolling drone. The National Higher Education Entrance Exam, known as “gaokao,” is held each year and determines whether youngsters will get into the top universities. It’s been described as the “world’s toughest exam” and can be stressful, even traumatic for students trying to achieve higher grades. Some entrants, ingeniously, try to cheat by  … Read More → "Drone catches cheating students in ‘world’s toughest exam’"

The latest development in slightly-less-unpleasant wakeup calls encourages you to follow your nose out of bed, before you put it back to the grindstone.

SensorWake gradually rouses users with a scent of their selection, plugged in before bed. At the designated time, the alarm releases the fragrance in order to gently wake you. (If you have a stuffy nose or are particularly deep in slumber, a traditional … Read More → "This alarm clock wakes you up with scent of your choice"

Speaking at an Aerojet Rocketdyne plant, NASA administrator Charles Bolden said the program is looking into advanced propulsion technologies that can cut the current eight-month journey to Mars “in half.” Technologies such as solar-electric propulsion are definitely in the cards, but NASA may look towards more unconventional solutions such as nuclear rockets as well.

via Ars Technica</ … Read More → "NASA wants to cut travel time to Mars “in half” with new propulsion tech"

Here on Earth, our days are predictable, with sunrise following sunset each day at regular intervals. The Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. But what if that wasn’t the case? What if the Sun set in the west one day and in the north the next?

Inhabitants of two of Pluto’s moons—Nix or Hydra—would not know when each … Read More → "Chaotic orbital interactions keep flipping Pluto’s moons"

You probably remember when you had the chicken pox. Maybe you recall a few times you caught the flu. But you might have had some infections that you never even realized or that you don’t remember. Even if you don’t remember, your immune system does—it has special antibodies to combat those viruses should they ever return. Now researchers have developed a quick, inexpensive method called VirScan that can detect the … Read More → "This blood scan reveals every virus that’s ever infected you"