The price of unlocking the secrets of your DNA has dropped to stocking-stuffer range as Google-backed 23andMe said today that a major new investment was allowing them to offer their personal gene scans for $99.

The company co-founded and run by Anne Wojcicki, wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, announced Tuesday that it had raised $50 million in its latest round of venture capital funding. Wojcicki told WIRED the money was a “game-changer” because it allows the company to bring the scans down to $99 from the previous regular price of $299, effective today.
via < … Read More → "Getting your DNA scanned now costs less than an iPhone 5"

… Read More → "A humanoid robot with lifelike bones and muscles"

Dr. Sami Kilic oversees doctors training to become surgeons at a hospital in Galveston, Texas, and he’s also the parent of a teenage boy. Like many parents, Kilic is concerned about how much time his son spends playing videogames. But now he’s also worried that his resident physicians aren’t playing them enough.

According to a study by Kilic and others at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, doling out death in the virtual world of first-person-shooter games might help the next generation of surgeons save lives in the … Read More → "How videogames could help train the next generation of robotic surgeons"

IBM announced what it called a technological breakthrough today in San Francisco. The company verified in a manufacturing environment the feasibility of using light instead of electrical signals to transmit information. IBM had proven the concept of such technology, called “silicon nanophotonics,” back in 2010, but this announcement, following a decade of research, nudges the field towards commercial applications.

In its 2010 announcement, IBM described the invention … Read More → "Computing with light"

The Mayan apocalypse paranoia has gotten so widespread that NASA was compelled to create a website that explains why the world will not end later this month on 21 December 2012. 

In response to the question of whether the world will come to harm in 2012, NASA’s answer is an irrevocable ‘no’—in their words, “the world will not end in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and … Read More → "NASA explains why the world won’t end this year"

Time to retrain our brains people. Just as touch-typing has become something of a sport, with lightning fast texting and constant keyboard contact, a new app is looking to change the paradigm. The Slice Keyboard app is a new on-screen rotary board that redefines typing by creating new finger movements.

The idea is the typer will always have certain fingers on the touchscreen of their device. Depending on which circle the users’ fingers are on, a rotary wheel appears with certain characters that allow the user to quickly access via simple taps.

It’ … Read More → "App replaces keyboard with touchscreen circles; blows the mind"

One of the main reasons that solar cells aren’t more efficient at converting sunlight into electricity is because much of that sunlight is reflected off the cell, or can’t be fully absorbed by it. A new sandwich-like material created by researchers at Princeton University, however, is claimed to dramatically address that problem – by minimizing reflection and increasing absorption, it reportedly boosts the efficiency of organic solar cells by 175 percent.

Developed by a team led by electrical engineer Prof. Stephen Chou, the material is known as a “plasmonic cavity with subwavelength … Read More → "Nano-sandwich material claimed to boost solar cell efficiency by 175 percent"

Way to be on time, Microsoft.

Microsoft has launched its own social network that allows users to create collages and posts in a Pinterest-style layout. 

Called ‘Socl’ (pronounced as ‘social’), it was initially launched in May this year and was—until now—been open only to invited Microsoft employees and college students. 

Now open to the public, anyone can … Read More → "Microsoft launches its own social network"

It’s December, folks— the mad dash for holiday shopping is upon us. So go ahead and pound a festive caffeinated beverage and let’s get crackin’ with these 15 gorgeously designed gadgets.

You know that your loved ones want tech, but they didn’t give you a specific wish list. That’s okay, we’ve got you covered, and this time we have a whole gallery of gadgets that come straight from the design gods themselves.
via DVICE

< … Read More → "15 gorgeous gadget gifts for geeks who care about design"

Thanks to the photographers and cameras on the International Space Station there’s no shortage of amazing space imagery, most of which is easily accessible online. One film student from Italy decided to take some of that footage and create a time-lapse masterpiece.
via DVICE

Continue reading

… Read More → "ISS time-lapse mashup is like a love letter from outer space"