What if you could read my mind? What if I could beam what I’m seeing, hearing, and thinking, straight to you, and vice versa? What if an implant could store your memories, augment them, and make you smarter?

Long the stuff of science fiction, technology that can directly tap into, augment, and connect human brains is becoming science fact. And that means big changes for all of … Read More → "Now entering the neurotech era: Are you ready for your hippocampus chip?"

Scientists think that they have the answer to why the skin on human fingers and toes shrivels up like an old prune when we soak in the bath. Laboratory tests confirmed a theory that wrinkly fingers improve our grip on wet or submerged objects, working to channel away the water like the rain treads in car tyres.

People often assume that wrinkling is the result of water passing into the outer layer of the skin … Read More → "Wrinkly fingers may have evolved to improve handling of wet objects"

Radar is, broadly speaking, the standard way to recognize and identify incoming objects. Aircraft and ships usually broadcast a signal that identifies them anyway, but even in the absence of that signal, you still want to ensure that you accurately identify passing aircraft—and not by the wreckage they leave after you have shot them down.

This is also critical because the approaching aircraft could broadcast a signature that makes it look … Read More → "You can’t hide from quantum radar"

Being a gadget writer at CES may seem like a glamorous gig. Yes, we get to play with a lot of new toys, and yes, that is often a lot of fun. But canvassing the show floor and running to press conferences is brutal on the body.

This year we attempted to measure just how hard a workout it really is.
via Gizmodo

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Smartphones, tablets and computers might fill up the bulk of the convention halls at CES 2013, but TVs — gorgeous, slim, jaw-dropping and super expensive TVs — always end up being the showstoppers. Samsung’s curved OLED TV — the world’s first — is no exception. It’s an absolute gorgeous TV that’s next to unattainable.

Samsung’s curved OLED TV is so new that even Samsung’s PR team didn’t … Read More → "World’s first curved OLED TV by Samsung wants to hug your eyeballs"

Mars One, a nonprofit organization based in the Netherlands, intends to establish a human settlement on Mars in 2023.

They need astronauts.

Anyone on planet Earth can apply if they meet the basic requirements. But obviously, the job isn’t for just anyone.

Today, Mars One released its application criteria. Among other virtues, astronaut candidates must have “a deep sense of purpose, willingness to build and maintain healthy relationships, the capacity for self-reflection and ability to trust. They must be resilient, adaptable, curious, creative and resourceful.” And be … Read More → "Help wanted: astronauts needed for Mars colony"

Infotainment platforms are a dime a dozen these days, but Garmin’s K2 “glass cockpit” is definitely one system that you’re going to want to take seriously. You’ll be interacting with a 10.4-inch capacitive touch screen, which is positioned front and center, while a squat 12-inch digital gauge and information readout console is fixed just behind the steering wheel. The system pulls its realtime … Read More → "Garmin’s K2 ‘glass cockpit’ will change the way you interact with your car"

Bang and Olufsen, the audio systems for wealthy ears, has a new sound system that is meant to be built inside the wall. Made with the BeoLab 15, the BeoLab 16 and Amplifier 1, the system can literally create a wall of sound.

The sound system has four pieces. The BeoLab 15 is a pair of motorized midrange and tweeter units that can move in and out of the wall. The BeoLab 15, which has a 3-inch midrange … Read More → "These discs embedded into the wall are Bang and Olufsen’s new BeoLab 15/16 speakers"

Regardless how you feel about the manned space program, it’s difficult to argue with the logic that motivated one of the more unusual experiments we’ve ever reported on. Given that we’re almost certain to send a manned mission to Mars before the end of the century, the Russian Academy of Sciences organized a six-person crew to perform a simulation of a 520-day mission to Mars.

During the simulated mission, which ran … Read More → "Simulated trip to Mars left crew with sleep, exercise problems"

In the midst of searching for another Earth-like planet using NASA‘s Kepler spacecraft, astronomers are at least finding Earth-sized planets orbiting distant stars. According to research presented at the 221st meeting of the American Astronomical Society, the Milky Way is claimed to have no less than 17 billion planets that are roughly the size of earth.

A new analysis of the Read More → "Astronomers claim there are no less than 17 billion planets in the Milky Way"