In recent years, economists have been drawn to the music industry like lawyers to a car wreck. Napster, Grokster, digital sampling, and Chinese piracy have thrown the industry into chaos. Economists have realized it’s the best place to study what happens when new technologies disrupt established industries. They have also realized it’s really fun.

Forty-three years after Rosie the Robot first made dinner for the Jetsons, the field of consumer robotics is still struggling to find its groove. Robots have become commonplace in the manufacturing industry–and the military’s deep-pocketed interest is growing–but only a handful of commercial robots have made it into the homes of ordinary people.

What’s going on? […]

One of the Australian EDN awards last night, in the wireless category, was won by Grey Innovation for their Infusion device . It’s a Linux based portable internet radio that streams Internet Radio over WiFi. Is this the future of Radio?

A Japanese research team has developed a fuel cell that runs on blood without using toxic substances, opening the way for use in artificial hearts and other organs.