http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png http://io9.com/tag/technology http://io9.com/tag/technology

Scientists have found a way to turn iron nuclei transparent to X-rays, using lasers. And besides the coolness of making things disappear using lasers, this could have huge applications in optical computing. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5883161&view=rss&microfeed=true

We've been hearing a lot about how the future of electronics will involve stretchy circuit boards, or circuits you can glue to your skin. In this video, you can see one crucial ingredient in bendy electronics — stretchable, electrically-conductive gold that can bend with the rubber it's printed on. University of Cambridge engineering researcher Ingrid Graz has been working on creating this type of gold, and here she shows us what this gold looks like on a microscopic level. It's both beautiful and fascinating. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5883765&view=rss&microfeed=true

This one pretty much does what it says on the tin. The face-morphing, augmented-reality app you see here is the brainchild of New York artist Karolina Sobecka, who calls the interface All the Universe is Full of the Lives of Perfect Creatures. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5883713&view=rss&microfeed=true

If you're trying to attract men in San Francisco who like to visit coffee shops, you may want to skip filling in your "about me" section, and spend as much time as possible picking out your very best profile picture. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5883009&view=rss&microfeed=true

With photosynthesis, plants are already busy converting sunlight into usable energy. The question then is how to use plants' natural solar-power abilities to generate energy for us. In this video, an MIT researcher explains how to do just that. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5882853&view=rss&microfeed=true

In early January, President Obama announced a new strategic direction for the U.S. military, slowing defense budget growth and shifting the military's focus to new threats. The novel strategy will shape military spending for years to come. How will it change the shape of future defense technologies? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5882168&view=rss&microfeed=true

Though optimistic pundits have declared Twitter largely responsible for social uprisings like Arab Spring, the microblogging network is hardly going to usher in a more liberated future. It's a business, after all, and it bends to the law like every other business does. Over at Foreign Policy's Passport, Uri Friedman counts the ways that Twitter looks more like a tool of the present than a harbinger of better tomorrows. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5881903&view=rss&microfeed=true

Greek fire. Damascus steel. These are two technological innovations whose secrets are said to be lost to time. Even the original schematics for the Apollo missions have disappeared into the mists of history, forever hidden inside hopelessly obsolete computers. How do we lose technologies that were once so important? Some say that they aren't really lost, and are working on rediscovering them. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5881149&view=rss&microfeed=true

In this video, you'll see an amazing vision of the high-tech future: A series of videos taken under the microscope, documenting a new kind of pixel that could one day turn your tablet computer into a 3D display. University of Cambridge photonic engineer Tim Wilkinson is combining liquid crystals with nanotechnology in an effort to create realistic 3D displays you wouldn't need clunky glasses to appreciate. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5880367&view=rss&microfeed=true

Harold Finch and John Reese track potential crime victims using secret databases and a ubiquitous surveillance infrastructure in the new series Person of Interest. Their world is filled with street corner cameras and espionage — but in the real world, cameras and databases are tracking your every move just as carefully, to the point where you couldn't disappear if you wanted to. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5879143&view=rss&microfeed=true The Pirate Bay is one of the most famous BitTorrent trackers online. Their political agenda and staff have changed a lot over the years, but they've continued to provide a terrific online resource for sharing media files. And now they're taking the first step in the direction of a future that Charles Stross rendered vividly in his recent novel Rule 34, where pirates, makers, and spammers use 3D printers to trade forbidden objects through the ether. That's right - they're getting ready to set up ways for you to share your favorite shoes and devices online, along with your favorite TV and movies. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5878633&view=rss&microfeed=true

Flies and beetles sense the world using organs that humans only dream of. In this gorgeous microscopy video, University of Cambridge materials scientist Chris Forman explains what the foot of a fruitfly and the antenna of a beetle have in common with your nose and hands. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5878327&view=rss&microfeed=true

University of Cambridge materials scientist Chris Forman shows us the eyes of a beetle and a fruit fly in a way you've never seen them before. That's not just because they're electrograph images, which reveal the eyes in amazing detail. Forman also offers a quick introduction to biomimesis, or using biology to shape technological designs. Find out where bug eyes will show up in tomorrow's gadgets. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5877273&view=rss&microfeed=true

Is intelligence related to an increased likelihood of recreational drug use? It's an interesting hypothesis, and one that's been gaining momentum in recent years. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5876304&view=rss&microfeed=true

Author Charles Stross has given the world many a flight of futuristic fancy — post-human worlds where androids carry on our legacy, bank robberies committed inside online games, and god-like meddlers — but what does he think the world will really be like in the next 20 years? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5876247&view=rss&microfeed=true

The virtual dressing room has been a bit player in movies as futuristic as Minority Report and as mundane as Clueless, but it hasn't come to your living room — at least not yet. But one company is developing a virtual dressing room that should work with a webcam or Kinect. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5876085&view=rss&microfeed=true

Next week, the Senate could be meeting to vote on the Protect IP Act (PIPA), the bill that many people are warning could damage the Internet. It's a horrible prospect — but this isn't the first time that Congress has tried to sacrifice a technology at the behest of corporate lobbyists. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5874655&view=rss&microfeed=true

Core77 has a nice interview with "cyborg anthropoloigst" Amber Case, who claims that "Good technology should make you superhuman." She makes an interesting case (no pun intended) that the Industrial Revolution disconnected people from each other, when "everyone was distributed by highways and cars and stretched out into the suburbs." But now, newer technology has "stitched all of that reality together so that you no longer have to worry about being geographically separate. It's giving us back a tremendous part of our humanity." The whole thing is worth checking out. [Core77] More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5874973&view=rss&microfeed=true

Remember the infamous scene in Speed where a bus jumps a fifty foot gap in an elevated freeway? Of course you do, because every physics teacher from that day on illustrated that moment as something that could never, ever happen. Although the freeway was elevated, the bus was careening down a flat section. It would have fallen down from the edge of the freeway the same way a ball rolling off the edge of a table would. Gravity doesn't care if you're going very fast. What's more, since the front section of the bus moved off the freeway first, it would have started falling while the back section of the bus was still being supported. This would have sent the bus into a spin, and if the fall were long enough it would have tumbled end over end into the ground. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5872748&view=rss&microfeed=true

Is predicting the future difficult? Obviously. But that shouldn't keep any of us from giving it our best shot. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5873017&view=rss&microfeed=true

From law-violating subatomic particles to entirely new, earth-like worlds, 2011 was an incredible year for scientific discovery. In the past 12 months, scientific breakthroughs in fields ranging from archaeology to structural biochemistry have allowed humanity to rewrite history, and enabled us to open to brand new chapters in our development as a species. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871725&view=rss&microfeed=true

How much does the Internet weigh? It depends on who you ask. According to one calculation, the information that comprises the Internet weighs little more than a single grain of salt. Other estimates put it at closer to the weight of a strawberry. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871189&view=rss&microfeed=true

Cars have been outfitted with biometric readers like fingerprint scanners and voice recognition for years, but chances are you've never seen an anti-theft system quite like this: we now have car seat that can actually identify you by the subtle curves of your hindparts. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5870484&view=rss&microfeed=true

Lawyers and policy wonks with a futurist bent are advised to take note. The University of Miami School of Law is organizing a conference called "We Robot: Inaugural Conference on Legal and Policy Issues Relating to Robotics." They're seeking scholars, lawyers, and roboticists who want to discuss a topic that will probably be making headlines in a decade: How the law will regulate robots. The school bills the event as one of the first conferences of its kind. Attendees will "examine how the increasing sophistication of robots and their widespread deployment everywhere from the home, to hospitals, to public spaces, and even to the battlefield disrupts existing legal regimes or requires rethinking of various policy issues." More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5869982&view=rss&microfeed=true

A few years ago, artist Kyle Bean decided to tell the story of how mobile phones came to be the way they are today. The resulting vid reminds me of Kraftwerk, if only the weird German synthpop band had been obsessed with nesting dolls. Watch and be mesmerized. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5868833&view=rss&microfeed=true

Turning a sphere inside-out was thought to be impossible for decades. It was officially declared possible in 1958, but remained impossible to picture. It was only until the 1970s, when a graphics expert got involved, that people could finally see the craziest bubbling of a beach ball ever mathematically conceived of. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5868668&view=rss&microfeed=true

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy comes out in theaters today, injecting a little nostalgia into the techno-thriller spy genre. Although spycraft today involves computer hacking and surveillance drones, today we're paying homage to spy equipment from history. Some of it deserves respect for its ingenuity. Some just deserves a laugh. Check out ten ancient pieces of spy gear. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5865792&view=rss&microfeed=true

You know how much gas is in your car, your average miles per gallon, and your road speed. And you want to get from your home to your destination as quickly as possible, as efficiently as possible. Does speeding actually work? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5866122&view=rss&microfeed=true

In the 1970s, a remarkable thing was done; a computer was used to solve a math problem. This, in and of itself, was not remarkable. The difference engine could do it. But this problem was the first one that would probably remain unsolved if it weren't for computers. Find out about the Four-Color Theorem, and why it needed to be turned over to the machines, below. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5864050&view=rss&microfeed=true

The Mars Science Laboratory — also known as MSL, or Curiosity — is the most sophisticated Martian vehicle that NASA has ever built. And it's set to launch for the Red Planet tomorrow. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5862652&view=rss&microfeed=true

Randy Sarafan, who loves to recycle old pieces of technology for new uses, has created the awesome OCCU(PI) Bot, to help the 99% in their quest to protest. Sarafan writes: More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5862451&view=rss&microfeed=true

This is the lab of legendary analog circuit designer Barrie Gilbert, a fellow with Analog Devices who tinkers with circuits in Beaverton, Oregon. To say "tinkers" is an understatement. Gilbert revolutionized many aspects of the technology required to record, broadcast, and manipulate signals. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5862419&view=rss&microfeed=true

Soldiers trapped in the jungle may need to summon help. To do this they need no radios, no signal flares, no high-tech GPS. They just need a simple (but expensive) balloon. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5860625&view=rss&microfeed=true

Your brain is home to around 100 billion neurons, all of which are perpetually establishing and breaking connections, known as synapses, with other neurons. There are trillions of these connections throughout your brain helping orchestrate everything from movement, to learning, to establishing and recalling memories. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5860537&view=rss&microfeed=true

Combine years in the gaming community with access to 3D printers, and you get the business model of My Robot Nation. This small company helps you create customized robot avatars online — and then lets you print them out in ceramic, so your bot friends can join you in real life. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5858833&view=rss&microfeed=true

Has your fast-paced, technology-driven life got you feeling out of touch with nature? There could soon be an app for that. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5858645&view=rss&microfeed=true

We already have optical tweezers, which allow tiny quantities of matter to be held and manipulated by beams of light. With electron tweezers we might be able to grab hold of single atoms. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5858142&view=rss&microfeed=true

Designer Bret Victor has posted an absolutely brilliant rant about the future of interaction design, which everybody must read. You've heard a lot of hype about ubiquitous touchscreens and gestural controls — but Victor has a very eloquent yet simple explanation of why these things are not the future. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5857750&view=rss&microfeed=true

Casinos are keeping their digital eyes on the ball, while keeping an eye on the hands of the customers, in order to stop cheats. Find out how cameras coordinate to catch people. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5856257&view=rss&microfeed=true

We now know that it took no more than eight years following the invention of the telephone for people to realize the comedic potential of playing practical jokes via landline. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5855904&view=rss&microfeed=true