In the 1940s, when a young Ray Bradbury began a series of stories that would eventually become The Martian Chronicles, man had yet to even send a satellite into space. Since then, six U.S.-launched landers have touched down on …
Innovation
World IPv6 Launch: Only the Biggest Change to the Internet Since Its Inception
It’s only the most significant architectural development in the history of the Internet, and presto, it transpired last night at 00:01 GMT. Did you notice?
I’m betting not, and that you probably didn’t even know it was …
Self-Serve Revolution: How Touchscreens Are Replacing Human Customer Service
It’s not fiction: The automated future is here. Here are a few of the more interesting and surprising ways that screens are replacing old-fashioned human customer service.
Newton, Reconsidered
A hands-on assessment of Apple’s pioneering, ill-fated Personal Digital Assistant, twenty years after its original unveiling.
Go Home, Folks: ‘Guitar Pee’ Urinal Tops Everything (Times Infinity)
My uncle built a home several years ago and to reward himself for a lifetime of hard work, his sprawling, unfinished basement is filled with tools, gadgets and other items of whimsy. He also had a urinal installed in the …
Google Project Glass: Contact Lenses a ‘Long-Term Thing’
Google’s “Project Glass” augmented reality glasses seem pretty cool, but man, do they look dorky. Fortunately, Google seems interested in putting the technology into contact lenses in the distant future.
“I mean, that’s …
Play-A-Grill: Bling That Plays Music Through Your Teeth
Lil’ Wayne sporting a grill is cool. Lil’ Wayne listening to Lil’ Wayne through his grill is even cooler. Presenting the Play-A-Grill, a device that uses bone conduction to transmit sound from an MP3 player through the teeth, …
MIT Researchers Decode Your Smile
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a way to discern the sincerity—and level of frustration—associated with your grin.
via MIT Researchers Decode Your Smile | NewsFeed | TIME.com.
Synchronized Robots Dance to ‘Thriller’
We shrugged when they learned how to use the microwave. We gave a collective “Meh” when they mastered darts. But this is something mankind can’t ignore — robots can now dance in unison to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
This …
Street Light of the Future Would Provide Wi-Fi, Cell Coverage and More
It seems crazy today that the public infrastructure to support our data-hogging smartphones, tablets and laptops is so limited. That’s why Douglas Coupland created the V-Pole.
Think of it as a smart street light equipped with …
Watch: Non-Barfy Video of Google’s ‘Project Glass’ Specs in Action
Okay, if you make this Google ‘Project Glass’ video full screen and high-def, it might be a little barfy, so don’t say we at Techland never pass along friendly motion-sickness disclaimers. But yes, if you click “play” on the …
Glasses Could Help the Blind See like Geordi La Forge in ‘Star Trek’
If Star Trek: The Next Generation has taught us anything, it’s that being blind in the 24th century is no big deal, mostly because you can just wear an all-seeing visor a la Geordi La Forge. Why scientists in the future couldn’t …