The mannequin moving in the store window is no longer a fantasy. A Japanese firm has developed a mannequin robot that can strike a pose for customers — and spy on who they are and what they’re buying.

In 1997, your cell phone could make two kinds of sounds. It could “ring”—our anachronistic word for the electronic trill that phones produce when you receive a call—or it could play a single-line melody, like “Für Elise.”

Japan’s space agency has announced the possibility of developing a shuttle-style space vehicle by 2025 and eventually constructing a manned Moon base – hot on the heels of last Saturday’s successful launch of a H-2A rocket carrying a navigation and meteorological satellite.

“Perplex City” is the latest well-funded entry in a young medium called “alternate-reality gaming”–an obsession-inspiring genre that blends real-life treasure hunting, interactive storytelling, video games and online community and may, incidentally, be one of the most powerful guerrilla marketing mechanisms ever invented.

Nearly 13,000 new phishing emails and more than 2,500 phishing websites were spotted last month, the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) has reported.

Most single Japanese women prefer not to marry and believe they can live happily alone for the rest of their life, a poll showed Friday, casting another shadow on the future of a country plagued by a falling birthrate.

Hasbro plans on launching a high tech musical toothbrush called “Tooth Tunes” where music is transmitted through the jaw that only the brusher can hear.

Consumers are more individualized than ever, expecting every good, service and experience to be addressing their unique and oh so important selves.

John Gilmore, the millionare who cofounded the EFF, has been prohibited from travelling because he refused to show an ID while boarding an airplane. He’s been under this self-imposed ban since 2002.
From the article: “The gate agent asked for his ID. Gilmore asked her why. It is the law, she said. Gilmore asked to [...]

Bill Gates says US high schools must be redesigned to prepare every student for college, with classes that are rigorous and relevant to kids and with supportive relationships for children.

When a new device is featured on computer chips as small as 40 nanometers (nm) wide –less than one-thousandth the width of a human hair — it can now be measured reliably thanks to new test structures developed by a team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, CO.

Controversial plans to build thousands of wind turbines across Scotland will make almost no difference to greenhouse gas levels, according to new research by leading environmental scientists.

Animal rights activists are disgusted by a new candy from Kraft Foods Inc. that’s shaped like critters run over by cars — complete with tire treads.

The “digital divide” between rich and poor nations is narrowing fast, the World Bank said on Thursday, calling into question a costly United Nations campaign to bring hi-tech telecommunications to the developing world.

The last remaining bottle of the world’s oldest single malt whisky left its distillery in Scotland bound for Hong Kong, where it will be the star attraction at an airport shop.

Damaged optic nerves – which run from the eye to the brain – have been regrown for the first time by scientists working with mice.

Household ants can cause allergies and asthma.
Researchers say if you see ants in the house, then they should be taken into consideration if anyone has breathing problems.

Researchers working with a type of super-cooled helium have made the frigid stuff whistle, an attribute they say might make it the crux of better global positioning systems (GPS) in submarines and airplanes among other things.

First came pacemakers. Now exotic implants are bringing new hope to victims of epilepsy, paralysis, depression, and other diseases

It’s taken a little over three months to create the world’s most expensive teabag. Great photo.

James Dyson has invented a vacuum cleaner that can order its own spare parts.

Adam Penenberg:
The Wall Street Journal is not only the best-written, most elegantly edited newspaper to cover business, it may be the best paper period. But some clumsy decisions about web content are making it insignificant in the online world.

A gel that acts like a liquid condom to block sexually transmitted diseases has proven to inhibit HIV and herpes infection when used by women.

Reusable spaceplanes that propel ticket-holding passengers to the edge of space are slowly becoming reality.

A restaurant in New Zealand has been fined $NZ3000 for advertising out of date prices and dishes on its website. Could there be a better reason for attending Saturday’s “Creating Effective Web Sites” Weekend Crash Course?