Earlier this year, India’s prime minister Narendra Modi was campaigning for reelection and used a rather unusual method for being in many different places at once: he became a hologram. Not biologically, but with the help of a company called NChant3D that broadcast his nearly hour-long speech in 53 different locations. Now a US company called HologramUSA has the rights to … Read More → "Holographic politicians could soon become a normal thing in the US"

Two different radio telescopes have now picked up fast “burst” signals that seem to originate outside our galaxy.

Let’s cut to the chase: Is it aliens?

Right now, scientists don’t have enough examples of the bursts to know what is causing them. It is, however, important to note that there are lots of other potential explanations besides the inevitable first contact hypothesis. That said, they also don’t have enough data … Read More → "Scientists investigate radio wave “bursts” from space"

Of all of the reasons for traffic snarls, impending lane closures bring out a particularly brutal combination of road rage and etiquette confusion. Most drivers know the pain of approaching two lanes in this situation; the left one is backed up much further because the right one will close in less than a mile thanks to, say, construction.

Which lane should a driver pick in this scenario? Steer to the left as soon … Read More → "The beauty of zipper merging, or why you should drive ruder"

Ever wondered how the Wi-Fi signal varies around your house or workplace? Well, a new project by Luis Hernan combines signal strength sensing with light painting to show you just that.

As part of a project for his PhD in Architecture and Interaction Design, Hernan has createdwhat he calls a Kirlian device: it’ … Read More → "These light paintings show how wi-fi swirls and shifts around you"

Photovoltaic cells are one of the more promising alternative energy sources. Mechanically they are very simple, with no moving parts, and are clean and emission-free. Unfortunately they are also inefficient. One of the reasons for this is that they overheat, a problem that a Stanford University team under electrical engineering professor Shanhui Fan is addressing with the development of a thin glass layer that makes solar cells self-cooling.
via Read More → "Stanford researchers develop self-cooling solar cells"

There may be a much more comfortable and stylish way to stay the night next time you head to a big music festival. Two Belgian design firms have created an efficient new type of campsite that stacks tiny sleeping pods together like a honeycomb. The pods look like they should provide a bit more comfort and space than the average tent — they even … Read More → "Stackable cells allow you to sleep on top of your friends at music festivals"

Wearable tech has done a lot to foster the rise of the “quantified self” space, but surprisingly few of these devices focus on enhancing our safety.

Now a new prototype system looks to harness the kind of heartbeat and respiration monitoring features present in some wearables to alert drivers as to when they are dozing off behind the wheel.

Developed by the Biomechanics Institute (IBV) in … Read More → "Sensor-powered seatbelt could save the lives of sleepy drivers"

A set of mysterious pictures of the Sun uploaded to NASA’s servers have caused a furore in the UFO-hunting community, for showing what has been interpreted as a giant alien ship ‘sucking life’ from our star, Huffington Post reports.

Needless to say, NASA isn’t convinced (and neither are we). So what is it? First, let’s take the view of UFO Sightings Daily, … Read More → "Giant UFO harvesting energy from the sun?"

All living organisms need energy. Most animals get their energy by eating other organisms. Plants manufacture energy from sunlight. Now, scientists are finding a strange form of bacterial life that dines on unadulterated electricity.

But the fact the bacteria live on electricity isn’t the weird part.

We all fundamentally live on electricity. Whereas, human metabolism is a complex dance shuttling electrons between sugar and oxygen—the … Read More → "Strange bacteria dine on electricity and link up to form biowires"

A struggling Korean baseball team have invented a novel way to improve atmosphere at their matches – by bringing in a crowd of robot fans.

Hanwha Eagles supporters not able to get to the stadium can control the robot over the internet.

The bots can cheer, chant and perform a Mexican wave – but presumably not invade the pitch.
via Read More → "Cheering robots replace real fans at Korean baseball"