It’s not every day that we get to write about advancements in battery technology — much less one as potentially groundbreaking as what a group of engineers at Northwestern University claim to have pulled off. In fact, Professor Harold Kung and his team say they’ve successfully managed to increase both the charging capacity and speed of lithium ion batteries by a factor of ten. The key, according to Kung, is the movement of the lithium ions nestled between layers of graphene. via Engadget</ … Read More → "Researchers increase charging capacity, speed of lithium ion batteries by a factor of ten"

1904: British engineer John Ambrose Fleming invents and patents the thermionic valve, the first vacuum tube. With this advance, the age of modern wireless electronics is born.

Although the Supreme Court eventually invalidated Fleming’s U.S. patent — ruling that the technology he used for his invention was already known — he remains the acknowledged inventor of the vacuum tube, a diode (having … Read More → "Nov. 16, 1904: vacuum tube heralds birth of modern electronics"

Forty years ago today, electronics and semiconductor trade newspaper Electronic News ran an advertisement for a new kind of chip. The Intel 4004, a $60 chip in a 16-pin dual in-line package, was an entire CPU packed onto a single integrated circuit (IC). via ars technica

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Dr Geoff Bunn’s 10 part History of the Brain is a journey through 5000 years of our understanding of the most complex thing in the known universe. From Neolithic times to the present day, Geoff journeys through the many ideas of what the brain is for and how it fulfils its functions. While referencing the core physiology and neuroscience, this is a cultural, not a scientific history. What soon becomes obvious is that our understanding of this most inscrutable organ has in all periods been coloured by the social and political expedients of the day no less than by … Read More → "A history of the brain"

Remember a few months ago when a group of politicans wanted to repeal parts of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007) in order to bring back the inefficient incandescent light bulb? Well, Panasonic have developed a solution for all those that can seem to let go of the past, with a high-tech LED alternative that resembles the bulbs of old. via Read More → "Panasonic designs energy efficient LED bulb that looks like an incandescent"

Bret Hartman’s life changed after he got hacked in March this year—and so did the perception of America’s vulnerability to cyberattacks in the minds of many experts. As chief technology officer of computer security company RSA, Hartman was used to working with companies that learned the hard way that they were unprepared for a cyberattack. But in March, RSA become such a victim. Hartman learned that attackers had infiltrated the company’s network to steal data that could be used to in turn attack clients relying on RSA security software. There are … Read More → "America’s vulnerable digital border"

Over at MIT, researchers have unveiled a chip that mimics how the brain’s neurons adapt to new information (a process known as plasticity) which could help in understanding assorted brain functions, including learning and memory. The silicon chip contains about 400 transistors and can simulate the activity of a single brain synapse — the space between two neurons that allows information to flow from one to the other. via Read More → "MIT unveils computer chip that thinks like the human brain"

You don’t get to hear this often: not only does a job opening exist, but it’s for perhaps the coolest job any human can or ever will have: exploring space. NASA’s opening its next astronaut class, live, right here. via Gizmodo

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It’s a cornerstone of the Internet. The fake identity. And now CNET reports that the DOJ wants to make it illegal to use a false identity on Facebook or lie about your weight on Match.com. You’re kidding right?

CNET obtained a statement from the Department of Justice that’s scheduled to be delivered tomorrow to Congress. The DOJ will tell Congress that it wants … Read More → "Department of Justice wants to outlaw lying on the internet"

Eye Asteroids is the first eye-controlled arcade game, created by Tobii, a company that develops eye-tracking tech. Debuting at New York’s Dave & Buster’s arcade this week, the game has just one button, and you only press it once to start. Once you do, the game uses a strip of infrared sensors below the screen to scan your eyes and calibrate the system. Then it’s up to you to defend the planet Earth from flying rocks — by looking at them. As soon as your eyes fix on something, a big red … Read More → "Eye Asteroids: world’s first eye-controlled video game"