Two more high-profile patent cases are headed to the US Supreme Court, which has already agreed to hear a patent case this year. The patent system is in chaos, with ever-more-trivial patents being granted, and ever-broader theories of patent infringement being created by the Federal Circuit, the court that oversees the patent system.

A Supreme Court ruling that restored some sanity to patents would be very welcome indeed — but if they went the other way, it would be dreadful. The only solution at that point would be for Congress — whose campaigns depend on revenue from … Read More → "Patent mess goes to the Supreme Court"

… Read More → "This winery’s sorting robot only has eyes for the tastiest grapes"

3D Systems and the recently-acquired Sugar Lab have created a line of 3D printers that can print delicious sugar candies in a variety of geometric shapes and colors. The less expensive ChefJet can print different flavors in black and white, while the ChefJet Pro can print complex, multicolored patterns.
via Laughing Squid</ … Read More → "Colorful geometric sugar candies made with a ChefJet 3D printer"

A study led by Michael Yassa from the University of California, Irvine, sought to establish the effects of small quantities of caffeine on memory function in adults. His 160 participants were asked to study images of objects, and then randomly given either a pill containing either 200 milligrams of caffeine—the same as two espressos—or a placebo.

Read More → "Two espressos enhance your long-term memory"

Music is inherently social, but almost all of the popular music services that exist today are optimized for individual listeners. Chune is a new social music concept designed for parties, offices, and other shared use settings. Users who have the Chune app installed on their phone can tap a custom speaker, and through the magic of NFC, their playlists and musical tastes are transferred to it, creating a crowdsourced mixtape.

Chune’ … Read More → "An ingeniously designed speaker that creates crowdsourced playlists"

I want one of these!!

When the folks at Future Motion set out to build a new electric skateboard, they had one guiding light leading them onward: Back To The Future 2. Inventor Kyle Doerksen knew he didn’t have the Tony Stark-level genius it would take to actually whip up an actual hoverboard, but he still wanted to emulate the feeling the feel of riding one.

And … Read More → "Surf the road aboard the self-balancing Onewheel skateboard"

I’ve been to the Consumer Electronics Show more times than I’d like to admit. And while it’s considered a showcase of technology to come in the next year, it’s a horrible experience. You’re basically cooped up inside a windowless casino where the blackjack tables have been swapped out for iPad case vendors. 99.9% of what you see isn’t worth breathing that stale, … Read More → "12 of the best ideas from CES 2014"

Fine. You didn’t buy a smartwatch. You were never going to anyway. Meet the fitness tracker: a less expensive, more immediately useful tech product that might actually help get your lazy self in shape. Designed to gamify your daily exercise routines, fitness trackers make people do funny, crazy things, like going to sleep at the same minute every night, or taking the long route to the bathroom, just to get in another 20 … Read More → "26 fitness trackers ranked from worst to first"

Normally, you wouldn’t want to have a cannon aimed at your face, much less a cannon that can see your face and follow it around. But a team of mechanical and electrical engineering students at Olin College decided to challenge that notion with their marshmallow-firing Confectionary Cannon. It’s worth getting in this sucker’s sights.
via Gizmodo

< … Read More → "A face-tracking marshmallow cannon aims straight for your mouth"

We’ve already addressed the squirrel menace, and the surprising frequency with which they knock out power here in the US, but it seems other countries have animal problems of their own. Monkeys knocked out all power in the country of Zambia recently. What are you planning, Zambian monkeys?

The outage was relatively short-lived, lasting from 8:00 AM to 9:33 AM on December 30th after monkeys executed their strategic … Read More → "Monkeys knocked out power across the country of Zambia, prepare for the Monkey Revolution"