There’s something fishy about the cover of our January issue: We fronted a big story about wearable tech, but you’ve never seen the smartwatch and glasses on the cover. That’s because they’re concepts that we commissioned just for the issue.

In doing so, we wanted to explore a few big questions hanging over the development of wearable devices: For one, should a smartwatch really be, … Read More → "How Wired designed the ultimate smartwatch"

In the spring of 1978, the program guide published by a Los Angeles public television station contained more than just schedules; it told viewers when they could watch its programs—and what they were allowed to do with those programs.

Some programs, the guide showed, could be taped without restriction. For others, viewers could record as long as they followed certain restrictions, such as deleting the recording within seven days. Still other programs shouldn’t … Read More → "Rewinding to Betamax: The path to consumers’ “right to record” – 30 years ago today, a landmark ruling set technology free"

Google unveiled Thursday a contact lens that monitors glucose levels in tears, a potential reprieve for millions of diabetics who have to jab their fingers to draw their own blood as many as 10 times a day.

The prototype, which Google says will take at least five years to reach consumers, is one of several medical devices being designed by companies to make glucose monitoring for diabetic patients more convenient and less invasive than the traditional … Read More → "Google’s contact lens glucose monitor unveiled"

3D Systems announced a deal with Hershey’s Thursday to collaborate on developing a 3-D printer that makes chocolate and other edible products.

In a statement, 3D Systems said making printers that print chocolate is a good way to help the relatively new technology go mainstream. Hershey sees it as a great delivery system for … Read More → "Hershey’s to make 3-D chocolate printer"

Disorientation inside smoke-filled and unfamiliar buildings can be a major obstacle for firefighters – and it’s not as if they don’t have enough to worry about already. Researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm have addressed this problem by developing fancy footwear that allows firefighters to be tracked in places where GPS fails, including up to 25 m (82 ft) below ground.

The digital positioning system developed by Peter Hä … Read More → "Digital positioning shoes keep track of firefighters"

Tokyo-based illustrator and makizushi artist Takayo Kiyota (also known as Tama-chan) creates amazing works of art hidden within sushi rolls. “I never know what the inside looks like so I’m never sure if it will come out the way I imagined. And I can’t make edits once it’s done,” Tama-chan said, as translated by Spoon & Tamago. “Facial expressions … Read More → "Famous paintings and other artwork created with sushi by Takayo Kiyota"

Robots, even very well programmed robots, really don’t care about you. And by “you,” I mean humans. And even if a robot did care about you, most of them don’t have a clue about what you’re doing or what you want. We’ve seen all kinds of examples of robots that have been programmed to collaborate with humans, but few so directly as … Read More → "Muscle sensors allow robots to cooperate better with humans"

When we look for alien solar systems, we tend to look for planets and stars that resemble ones we’re familiar with, including Earth-like planets and sun-like stars. Thanks to the HARPS telescope in Chile, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) not only discovered a star that could be our sun’s twin in a star cluster, but we’ve also found three planets close to it.

The … Read More → "First planets discovered near our sun’s twin"

The global bee population has suffered a lot over the past few years. The USDA reported that 31 percent of the commercial US bee colonies died or disappeared in 2012, and this will have dramatic impacts on our food supply. Now, a group of Australian scientists are trying a new approach to stop them from becoming extinct. Their plan is to strap minuscule sensors to 5,000 … Read More → "Scientists want to put sensors on bees to save them from extinction"

Previously, chemists have managed to create artificial cell walls and developed synthetic DNA to produce self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cells. Now, for the first time, researchers have used polymers to produce an artificial eukaryotic cell capable of undertaking multiple chemical reactions through working organelles.
via Gizmag

… Read More → "World-first working eukaryotic cell made from plastic"