Hey stop looking at me through that magnifying glass
In ant society, workers normally give up reproducing themselves to care for their queen’s offspring, who are their brothers and sisters. When workers try to cheat and have their own kids in the queen’s presence, their peers swiftly attack and physically restrain them from reproducing.

Jupiter’s Anorexia?
The planet Jupiter gained weight in a hurry during its infancy. It had to, since the material from which it formed probably disappeared in just a few million years, according to a new study of planet formation around young stars.

“A friend or an enemy? A drug” Or a resource?”
The pain-relieving effects of nitrous oxide – laughing gas – may be enhanced by suggestion or hypnosis, according to a new study by UCL (University College London). The study’s findings – that people are more suggestible under the gas – mean that dental patients may benefit [...]

 
Ever Find Your Head In The Sand when it comes to weather?
Scientists at the GKSS Research Centre of Geesthacht and the University of Bern have investigated the frequency of warmer than average years between 1880 and 2006 for the first time. The result: the observed increase of warm years after 1990 is not a statistical [...]

Everyone’s worsts enemy and one of the worlds top killers
That pesky buzz of a nearby mosquito is the sound of love, scientists have known for some time. But a new Cornell study reports that males and females flap their wings and change their tune to create a harmonic duet just before mating.

 
Separating the wheat from the chaff as we invest in our future
Thomas Frey: As we begin the process of thinking through the places where we can insert the electrodes and shock new life into the global economy, I would propose a new way of reviewing proposals, allowing the best of the best to [...]

Two words: Choking Hazard
Is organization more important than intelligence? Do accessories that de-clutterize and organize our person and our surroundings define who we really are Or is it just that we can find things and that is overrated? How badly do you need that deed or bankbook anyway?

 
We all need speakers that are as big as a house
Audiophiles will often scoff at professional sound equipment, saying that it isn’t refined enough for truly high performance. While the ugly duckling Ocean Way HR-2A lacks the fancy wood veneers of many big ticket speakers, I wish all audiophiles could all experience them so they [...]

You sure this isn’t for powering a tank
Big fancy expensive audio cables are nothing new, but these power cords from Sine take things to a whole new level.

 
Looks like a video game so where is the joystick
OEM innovator Bosch is looking to bring 3D to your dashboard for GPS applications, replace your mechanical gauges with a customizable LCD and allow for driver and passenger to simultaneously share a screen for disparate uses.

 Terrafugia Transition
The first flying automobile, equally at home in the sky and on the road, is scheduled to take to the air next month.

 
 Hydrogen Mobility X-Tender
In an effort to bring their hydrogen fuel cell expertise to small electric vehicles, Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies’ HMX – that stands for Hydrogen Mobility X-Tender – has finally made the moped cool.

 
A company called Green Peak has developed new low cost/low power radio technology for remote controls. Instead of that annoying point-it-a-device IR remote that needs new batteries every year, Green Peak’s remotes could last the life of the device it controls on a pair of cheap lithium ion button batteries.Not only does this technology enable [...]

 
You knew it was coming. They’ve been dumb for too long. But it makes perfect sense for cash registers to get an IQ upgrade soon, and that’s what the Intelligent Cash Registers concept is all about. They are supposed to remember who you are know what your interests are.

 
CES 2009
The Consumer Electronic Show 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada has more than 2,700 exhibitors that fill more than 1.7 million net square feet of exhibit space to showcase their latest products and services to more than 130,000 attendees.   Here are just a few examples of consumer electronic products trying to make it into the marketplace.

Originally developed by a quadriplegic, “tea geysering” became the
crazy new college sport at Jack’s Cafe on 3rd street
Occasionally we make up words to describe what we are seeing in the photos. And, occasionally we try to mess with your heads as we describe a parallel universe or “think like Hitchcock” in the caption of the [...]