You know that scene in the film Contact where the “Machine” is spooling up, its three spinning rings kicking out crazy light and an electromagnetic field powerful enough to pitch nearby Navy battleships sideways, as Ellie (Jodie …
Alt Tech
Ultrafast Chips that Run on Light: Nanoswitch Breakthrough Brings Us Closer
When you think about microprocessors and chipsets and circuit boards, if you’re like me, you think in metaphors: tiny green-and-silver cities comprising dozens of chips — some with billions of transistors — on copper …
Netatmo Home Weather Station Kit Brings Out Your Inner Meteorologist
I took a meteorology class in undergrad as an elective because I’ve always been into the weather: tornadoes, hurricanes, derechos, ball lightning, supercells, squalls, you name it. Not enough to pursue it as a career, but let’s …
Penny for Your Rockets: Microthrusters Powered by Ion Beams Could Propel Satellites Through Space
Imagine rockets so small you could fit them through a piggybank slot. Imagine those rockets jetting microscopic beams of ions drawn from a reservoir of liquid plasma. Now imagine — or don’t, because they’re not imaginary — that …
Z Machine Produces Six Times the World’s Energy to Create White Dwarf Star
Calling Tony Stark! The Z Machine at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico is the stuff of comic book legend.
The massive X-ray generator is capable of creating what astronomer Don Winget calls “star stuff,” …
If You Need a Reason to Get Excited About Technology Again, This Is It
Early Monday morning, the 33-year-old version of me watched live as NASA engineers cheered, hugged and patted each other on the back. The Curiosity rover had landed safely on Mars and I was awake at close to 2am on a …
The Future of Smart Health
If you follow my column here at Techland, you will know that I write quite a bit about smart devices. The road map of the technology industry is one where very powerful semiconductors and sensors are being embedded into many …
Curiosity Takes Center Stage as Crowds Cheer in Times Square
It was a bit surreal to stand in the middle of Times Square and hear a throng of revelers chant “NASA! NASA!” as if the space agency had just won a gold medal in the Olympics. They were cheering the successful landing of …
Hacking Your Memory: Could Total Recall Really Happen?
“Total Recall” features technology that erases and implants memories. Is that just sci-fi nonsense, or will we one day be able to reprogram our memories as we see fit?
Neil deGrasse Tyson on the Future of U.S. Space Exploration After Curiosity
In four days, NASA’s Curiosity rover will hopefully survive its “seven minutes of terror” and land safely on the surface of Mars. What comes next for U.S. space exploration?
Techland decided to ask famed astrophysicist Neil …
The Doctor Will Email You Now: Sherpaa Handles Healthcare Online
Dr. Jay Parkinson, 36, gained notoriety in 2007 when he started his own practice in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a neighborhood known for its influx of arty types and bars. Gawker quickly dubbed him the “Hipster Doctor.” He’s also …
Windows that Generate Electricity from Invisible Light? Is This the Future or What?
Slapping solar panels on your humble abode may not seem like the height of fashionable home design, but what if you could just use your windows to gin up a little juice?
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles …