It might make the ultimate amusement park ride, if anyone could survive. Hitting hypersonic speeds of Mach 8.5–that’s 6416 mph, in civilian terms–a 4-stage rocket sled took just 6.04 seconds to blast the more than 3-mile length of track at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico.

The European Space Agency and the Australian National University have successfully tested a new design of spacecraft ion engine that dramatically improves performance over present thrusters and marks a major step forward in space propulsion capability.

According to a recent survey, one in five UK consumers had to pay a penalty fee or charge on a financial product in 2005.  But it is much higher in the US.

Sound and visual artist Alyce Santoro has created Sonic Fabric, a cloth made from pre-recorded, recycled cassette tape combined with other fibers. Using a minimally hacked Walkman, the fabric becomes an audible reminder of its musical past.

Scientific and technological breakthroughs can take years to develop, but when they leave the lab and enter the world at large, word spreads quickly. Here’s a look at the advances you’ll be hearing about in the coming year.

Dancho Danchev:  Malware, the malicious code that haunts user of the Internet on a daily basis, has truly evolved during the last couple of years. Its potential for financial and network based abuse was quickly realized, and thus, tactics changed, consolidation between different parties occurred, and the malware scene became overly monetized, with its services available on […]

Ziv Navoth:  Expanding your business in Europe represents a great opportunity—if you do it right. All it takes is learning from the mistakes of others and avoiding these seven deadly sins:

Kite lovers recently flew what they called the largest kite in the world at Harumi Pier in Tokyo’s Chuo-ku.  Great photo.