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Beyond Lithium Ion: ARPA-E Places Bets on Novel Energy Storage
The largest grant winner in energy storage, PolyPlus Battery, hopes to make a rechargeable lithium sulfur battery.It’s too early to say whether the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E agency has hit a technological home run, but the research it funds is worth tracking closely.
Immelt: 2013 Is the Year Manufacturing Gets Sexy
General Electric’s CEO explains his company’s recent bets on 3-D printing and softwareThere are lots of ideas that pass for interesting and important in Silicon Valley (‘Hey, I’m building a social network for pets!”). Manufacturing technologies aren’t usually on the list.
Who Will Solve Wearable Computing's "Jetpack" Problem?
Wearables are supposed to be the future of consumer tech–and that’s what’s holding them back.One of the best and most short-lived blogs about the future of technology wasn’t about the future at all, but the present–which is where people actually live, buy things, and put technology to use in their daily routines. In a word, it was against “jetpack” technology: stuff that sounds...
A Revolutionary Idea in Semiconductor Manufacturing
Big claims from Swedish researchers. Could the process be streamlined a thousandfold?Flipping through journal headlines, your heart may not skip a beat when you read a title like “Continuous gas-phase synthesis of nanowires with tuneable properties.” But that article, published in the latest issue of Nature, actually points to something very exciting indeed: a novel method that could...
University R&D Hit a High in 2011 but Is Threatened by the Fiscal Cliff
A one-off injection of funds buoyed research in 2011, and Congress is in a budget-cutting mood.While we love to focus on the entrepreneurs and startups that bring new technologies to market, so much of the groundbreaking innovation that has driven the U.S. economy occurs well before the private sector even gets involved. I’m talking about the research and development at universities and...
3-D Chip Promises Better Brain Control
A new device will let scientists create complex patterns of activity within the brain using optogenetics.Optogenetics, which pairs light-sensitive genes with a light source to selectively switch brain cells on or off, has shown promise as a research tool and a potential therapy. But the technology mostly delivers light to one spot, whereas brain activity usually involves complex sequences of...
Augmented Light Bulb Turns a Desk Into a Touch Screen
A computer that can be screwed into a light socket can project interactive images onto any nearby surface.Powerful computers are becoming small and cheap enough to cram into all sorts of everyday objects. Natan Linder, a student at MIT’s Media Lab, thinks that fitting one inside a light bulb socket, together with a camera and projector, could provide a revolutionary new kind of interface—by...
The Cleverest Business Model in Online Education
A startup called Duolingo taps the power of crowds to make learning a language free.Learning a new language is tedious and demands a lot of practice. Luis von Ahn doesn’t want all that effort to be wasted. In fact, it might be a gold mine.
Fixing Apple Maps
The road ahead for Eddy Cue–assuming he can find it.I happened to be on vacation during the Apple Maps debacle, and was almost entirely offline when the update rolled out (see, “Is Apple Losing Its Way?”). As a result, I narrowly avoided updating my iOS, and continue to use my old Google-fueled Maps application. But for those of you who are stuck with Apple Maps (and, let’s face it, for...
WEDNESDAY 28. NOVEMBER 2012
Sneak Preview of the UN's First Confab on Internet Regulation
You’ve heard of Wikileaks. If you’re into the future of Internet control, regulation, and pricing, you can visit Wcitleaks, which is posting a steady stream of documents relating to the upcoming World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), which isn’t open to the public, and starts next week in...
Five New Government-Backed Energy Projects that Stand Out
Sixty-six new energy research projects were announced on Wednesday. Here are some interesting ones.The U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E)—one of the few government agencies with solid, bipartisan support in Congress—announced 66 new research projects on Wednesday that will collectively receive $130 million. Here are five projects from the list that stand...
Windows 8 Is Dead! No, It’s Thriving!
What is going on with Windows 8? Actually, what is going on with the response to Windows 8?Since its launch on October 26, Windows 8 has been the subject of much debate. Several industry pundits and analysts can’t quite agree whether the operating system is succeeding in the marketplace or failing compared to its predecessor, Windows 7. Meanwhile, Microsoft has done little to allay fears. Until...
Bing Revives Decade-Old Fight Over Paid Search Results
Google’s new policy of charging online stores to appear in shopping results is “evil”, alleges Microsoft.A little bit of Web history just repeated today, with the launch of a campaign by Microsoft to discredit Google for charging online stores to appear in shopping search results. The “Don’t Get Scroogled” campaign has strong echoes of battles fought amongst search engines such as...
Watch the World’s Most Promising Young Technologists Pitch their Big Ideas
From EmTech 2012: young innovators present world-changing ideas in three minutes or less.A few weeks ago, at MIT Technology Review’s annual EmTech conference, 24 of our 35 innovators under 35 award winners presented on stage, in three minutes or less, their big ideas for advancing technology across a spectrum of disciplines. If you missed the event, now you can catch all of these presentations...
Good Samaritan Index Identifies Web Users That Most Help Others
In online discussions, people provide vital emotional support for others. Now computer scientists have created an index that automatically identifies Good Samaritans
Good Samaritan Index Identifies Web Users Who Help Others Most
In online discussions, people provide vital emotional support for others. Now computer scientists have created an index that automatically identifies Good Samaritans.
General Electric Pitches an Industrial Internet
With more sensors and more data, GE wants to wring efficiency from industrial systems.General Electric has a new name for where it thinks its business is headed: the “industrial Internet.”
The New Internet Teaching Stars
On the Web, even a teacher can become a little bit rich and famous.Who is Calvin Hollywood? In the world of Photoshop instruction in Germany, Hollywood’s name towers above the rest.
Toyota Plugs Away at the Next-Gen Electric-Car Battery
Magnesium-ion batteries promise to be cheaper and more energy dense than lithium-ion ones.Light and powerful lithium-ion batteries have allowed automakers to make electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles with ample acceleration and reasonable range and life. But lithium is expensive—the battery pack of the Nissan Leaf costs about $12,000—and the range of battery electric vehicles is still...
Same Crap, Different OS: Windows 8
The scourge of crapware refuses to die, even on Microsoft’s latest and greatest operating system, Windows 8.In a recent study on Windows 8 crapware, tech news site InformationWeek polled PC makers to see what software they were bundling into their computers. The vendors were surprisingly forthright, detailing the many first- and third-party programs added to their...
TUESDAY 27. NOVEMBER 2012
A Simple Gene Test Helps Curb Tuberculosis in Prisons
DNA sequencing is the most cost-effective way to screen for drug-resistant strains in prisons, say Stanford researchers.Diagnosis may be the weakest link in treating and preventing tuberculosis, a contagious bacterial disease that infects some nine million people and kills about 1.5 million each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In a study published today in PLoS Medicine,...
Minecraft Invades the Real World in Augmented Reality App
Items from the building-block game appear around you with Minecraft Reality.
Minecraft Invades the Real World Through an Augmented Reality App
Items from the building-block game appear around you with Minecraft Reality.
Artificial Intelligence's Killer App: Getting Things Done
Until task management software can literally think for you, it'll always be cumbersome to use.
Buckle Up, Siri—Meet Your Sassy New Backseat Driver
There’s nothing like having a competent navigator, DJ, and conversationalist on a long drive. Or just an iPhone.