TECH & INNOVATIONAnnounced via Twitter on Christmas by Elon Musk with details to follow on the Tesla blog, Tesla Motors says they will be releasing some major updates for the Roadster. The Roadster was the electric vehicle maker's very first model. It was also the world's very first vehicle in production to actually use a lithium ion battery. The hype about the fully electric vehicles back then was as justified as the hype about these updates are now.
The newest discovery of fossilized fish, whose eyes have remained largely intact, has provided the proof that the human eye's ability to see in color developed hundreds of millions of years ago.
Thanks to the jolly volunteers at NORAD, the original Santa trackers, and Google, the more recent Santa trackers, kids only need to log onto a website, app, Facebook or Twitter and they can find out where Santa is at that instant.
Amidst a war of words between North Korea and the United States over the communist country's role in the hacking of Sony Pictures, North Korea falls victim to its own potential hack losing Internet service for several hours.
Stanford Graduate student Elliot Hawkes took on the task of creating a Gecko-inspired controllable adhesive for part of his dissertation project. The resulting product is causing excitement far beyond the mechanical engineering department at Stanford.
As stated by the California Fuel Cell Partnership, the primary benefits of operating an FCV are that they provide, "provide customers with a no-compromise electric-drive vehicle with longer range, quick refill, high performance and comfort along with zero emissions and a low-carbon and potentially renewable fuel."
Ever think your electronics may change the way your brain functions? Well as it so happens a new study shows that smartphone usage leaves a mark on the part of your brain that processes touch, although it actually makes you smarter. Swiss researchers were curious about the effect of using digital devices on the digits doing the swiping and tapping, and now according to the study published in the journal Current Biology, all of the typing with your thumb and swiping with your index and middle fingers may be training your brain's somatosensory cortex.
The future arrived this morning. It rolled up on four wheels with a tiny cab and no steering wheel. Today, Google celebrated the release of the of its first fully functioning, self-driving car prototype.
While many were not quite surprised to hear the European Space Agency (ESA) clenched the win for journal Physics World’s Breakthrough of the Year 2014 for its landing of the Rosetta mission’s Philae Lander on a speeding comet 511 million km away, most are also not aware that the list doesn’t just end there.
For several years now, researchers have carefully sifted through data collected from the European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in its first run at smashing particles together. But when productivity hit a peak, and researchers ran out of things to study from the vast data collected only a few years ago, CERN looked towards a round two that would provide additional insights that may help answer questions that modern physics has, in addition to sparking new topics which CERN researchers could study.
In what’s turning out to be the class-action lawsuit of the decade, plaintiffs are suing technology power-house Apple Inc., calling into question their unnecessary software updates that they claim kept iPod prices artificially high and kept competitors off electronics shelves. But it’s not the circumstances of the case, nor the claims of the plaintiffs that make this particular lawsuit of any interest. It’s whom the defense will call to the stand.
It may just be the class-action lawsuit of the decade, but with opening statements beginning this morning, Tuesday Dec. 2, many are already beginning to question whether prosecutors have enough ammunition to go up against technology power-house Apple Inc. Calling into question the unnecessary software updates that kept iPod prices high and revolving version coming through electronics shelves, the plaintiffs began outlining their case against Apple in court today saying that in an attempt to block out competitors, the company hurt the consumer in the process.
Since Google released its innovative version of a technological wearable earlier this year, the Google Glass has made quite a splash in the headlines, while remaining relatively quite amongst the masses. A head-mounted device, resembling a pair of glasses, Google Glass allows people to surf the internet, take pictures, and see the world in a different light. But while Google perfected the concept, making a strange idea into a shocking reality, the first generation of the device was not too popular in mainstream America. The setback was primarily attributed to its high price-tag, in the thousands of dollars USD, which has made it virtually unobtainable to the average consumer.
Perhaps one of Google’s more ground-breaking inventions, the Google Glass has made quite a splash since it was released to consumers earlier this summer. A head-mounted device, resembling a pair of glasses, Google Glass has allowed people to surf the internet, take pictures, and see the world in a different light. But the setback was that the first generation of the device was not too popular with the masses, in that its high price-tag in the thousands made it virtually unobtainable to the average consumer. And on top of that, not everyone was quite convinced with the privacy plans put in place.
It’s a tradition nearly a century in the making, and undoubtedly one of the most recognizable times of the year – Girl Scouts cookies distribution. Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos and Samoas, oh my!
For nearly 100 years The Girl Scouts of the United States of America has instilled business values and of community in this beloved tradition. And while they have walked the walk and talked the talk, they’re looking towards a new future ahead of them by encouraging scouts to soon use the internet to sell their cookies. And with the greatest of ease, one will not only be able to order online, but also receive their orders right at their doorstep.
While the U.S. and the E.U may lead the pack in many sectors of technological advancements, and the concept of smart cities, it’s China’s supercomputers that continue to reign supreme. Commemorating the opening day of the SC14 Supercomputing Show in New Orleans, Monday Nov. 17, a team of researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee and German tech company Prometeus issued the 2014 list of the top 500 most powerful computing systems in the world. And though the race was close this year, China’s massive Tianhe-2 supercomputer topped the list at No.1, for the fourth time in a row.
In the preface to a new book entitled “Starmus”, published last month, Cambridge cosmologist Stephen Hawking said that if indeed the particle is the Higgs Boson, then CERN’s discovery could lead to the demise of the universe if its contents were to become unstable. But a new research analysis published this month in the journal Physical Review D, says that Hawking and the rest of the universe may need not fear, because the particle may in fact not be what it appears.
For years, astronomers have pondered the origins and the contents of the mysterious G2 object floating in the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Drifting towards the galaxy’s supermassive black hole, the passing cloud was thought to be composed entirely of hydrogen gas, giving it the nickname “G2”. But earlier this past summer researchers found that G2 had come in close contact with the black hole, and it survived—leading them on a new theory as to what the mysterious object could be.
“At its simplest, biotechnology harnesses cellular and biomolecular processes to develop technologies and products that help improve our lives and the health of our planet.”
In a day and age where nearly every problem is solvable with the help of the trusty internet and fast-powered search engines, why wouldn’t we expect some help in the health department, much more clinical than what we can find on WebMD? It’s a sector many companies have not been able to explore, but with the support and funding of the world’s largest search engine, researchers at Google are aiming to diagnose cancers, strokes and even a heart attack through tiny technology you can track on a wristwatch.