The picture is clear for retailers: high-definition TV is today’s hot item and will be for years to come.

As the Gulf Coast region struggles to return some semblance of normality after Katrina’s battering, consumer advocates are raising a new alarm: Thousands of cars soaked by the hurricane are expected to enter the U.S. car market over the next few months and could be snapped up as bargains by unsuspecting buyers.

The drug intended to reclaim sex for the over 60s is now the number one party pill for the under 30s.

Mike Mahon’s digital life occasionally resembles a disorganized closet. A year ago, the 30-year-old programmer from Austin, Texas owned two laptops and two desktops, eight e-mail addresses and three separate versions of Microsoft Outlook, where he entered various and sometimes conflicting calendar appointments and phone numbers. The resulting digital disorder was debilitating.

For five decades, Amar Bose has puzzled over why potholes seem harder to conquer than Mount Everest.

A fascinating paper from David Blackburn, a Harvard PhD student, on the economics of P2P file-sharing concludes that it does indeed depress music sales overall. But the effect is not felt evenly.

Chris Anderson:
On the occasion of today’s gruesome statistics on the continuing fall of newspapers, here’s an updated look at mainstream entertainment and media in decline:

Today NTT DoCoMo announced a new model cellphone made especially for elementary school kids.

The IntelliMat is a wireless computer embedded in a very thin mat made of a lightweight thermoplastic alloy with four LCD screens, creating a 30-inch diagonal display with full multi-media capability. Great photo.

The Pong Clock from Buro Vormkrijgers plays games of Pong that last for exactly one minute each, with alternating sides winning. Complete with photos and video.

U.S. theoretical chemists, who calculate how quantum mechanics govern electron motion, were surprised when they added water to their models.

Carbon nanotubes display an exceptional combination of strength, flexibility, and low density, making them attractive and interesting materials for producing strong, ultra-light foam-like structures, a US study concludes.

Pulsar Advanced Technologies has announced will next week launch its lead product, the Vulcanus MK4, a water heater USING microwave technology to heat water on demand.

Two cleaning ladies are being investigated for using industrial vacuum cleaners to suck cash out of casino slot machines.

Rich Karlgaard:
Sorry, grinches, but the U.S. economy looks like Santa’s sled is being powered by GE/Rolls-Royce jet engines. The third quarter clocked a 3.8% GDP growth rate. The third quarter! Recall: This was the quarter of Katrina, Rita and $70-a-barrel oil. The buckle-your-belt, we’re-going-down quarter. But we didn’t go down.

Michael Arrington:
There are a number of companies and/or products that I would like to write about but don’t exist. I’ve been keeping a list over the last few months and I am posting it now.

Jim Collins:
Peter F. Drucker once responded to a request to discuss his personal strategies for self-renewal with a teaching point about self-renewal: “One of the secrets of keeping young is not to give interviews but to stick to one’s work — and that’s what I’m doing. Sorry, I am not available.”

Cranberries, which already are known to help thwart urinary tract infections, may also prevent tooth decay and cavities, dental researchers reported in the January issue of the journal Caries Research.

The number of mobile phone subscribers in China reached a record 383 million at the end of October, the Ministry of Information Industry announced.

Researchers at Switzerland’s Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne have developed a machine to determine how electrons behave inside a single nano object.

A computer disc about the size of a DVD that can hold 60 times more data is set to go on sale in 2006. The disc stores information through the interference of light – a technique known as holographic memory.

Question: “How hard is it to shoot off a lock?” Answer: “Very hard.” Complete photo essay.

The ancient Greeks worshipped it. Freud said women envy it. And on Tuesday, a man pulled a truck with it. Complete with photos.

Jim Carroll: I wrote this when thinking about the problem I see at many conferences … I spend a huge amount of time speaking at organization and corporate events, and have long seen a problem where the folks planning a meeting are stuck in a creative rut. Every year, they bring in the same […]

Student scientists have turned E coli bacteria in a Petri dish into a “living camera” which can produce high-resolution pictures.