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Cool Heat: Induction Cooking
Posted on September 19, 2011 | No CommentsBy Michael Clark The act of cooking is behind many expressions in the English language; think of sayings like “Out of the frying pan and into the fire”, or “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”. It’s worth noting that these phrases wouldn’t even exist in a world where there was no fire or heat used in cooking. Could such a strange world exist? Thanks to induction cooking, a brand-new method of food preparation, heat, flames, and sweat could be a thing of the past. Induction... -
Thin is In: How electronic paper will revolutionize your next phone
Posted on September 14, 2011 | No CommentsBy Michael Clark Modern cell phones are smart, small, and incredibly fragile. Most of us have seen at least one phone with a screen that looks like Spider-Man shot it with webbing – the result of a tragic phone fumble. The more technology we cram into phones, the less durable they seem to be. That’s not a problem for a team of researchers at The Queens University Human Media Lab. They’ve developed a tough, flexible, ultra-thin phone out of electronic paper. They call it the PaperPhone, and it lets you... -
Free Speech, Free Energy: Researchers turn ambient sound into power
Posted on September 10, 2011 | No CommentsBy Michael Clark Cell phones have become a ubiquitous piece of technology. Never before has a technology become so common,so fast. Not that it didn’t deserve it. The cell phone packs an amazing number of conveniences into a single device. That glossy black lump of plastic is at once a computer, a camera, a planner, a recorder, and, of course, a telephone that needs neither wire nor quarter to communicate. The centrality of cell phones to our lives makes it seem nothing short of a tragedy when the batteries go... -
Raspberry Pi: A $25 Computer Comes to the Classroom
Posted on September 2, 2011 | No CommentsBy Michael Clark When games developer David Braben and his colleagues devised a small computer that would cost £15 (about $25 in the U.S.), the goal was not to simply make technology more affordable. Giving children of low-income backgrounds access to computers was only part of what motivated Braben, he also wanted to encourage users to learn about computer science – a field that he believes has diminished in importance in the classroom. While schools focus on skills like using word processors, spreadsheets, and presentations, the costs of computers makes... -
if (That’s What She Said) then go to (Now Computers Want Your Funny Bone)
Posted on August 27, 2011 | No CommentsIn February of this year, audiences watched as IBM’s supercomputer known as “Watson” matched wits against two human competitors on the game show Jeopardy. Watson bested former champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter by a significant margin, showing the huge strides made in speech recognition and comprehension technology. Watson won a tidy sum for charity, but the game is simply a demonstration of a wide variety of uses for computers like Watson. According to IBM, the same technology that powers Watson may one day assist doctors in diagnosing diseases. The amount... -
Electric Cars That Charge While You Drive
Posted on July 26, 2011 | No CommentsAlong with the weather and taxes, the price of gas is something that seems to be universally complained about year after year. And year after year people continue to buy cars and trucks that guzzle the stuff. After all, they say, it’s better than buying electric vehicles and having to search high and low for a charge station while gas stations come along every few miles. However, that could be a problem of the past if electric cars are able to charge wirelessly from the road. New Zealand car company... -
2D Glasses Flatten 3D Headaches
Posted on July 16, 2011 | 3 CommentsIt’s no secret that 3D movie technology is on the rise. With the success of movies like Avatar, movie makers find that 3D film draws crowds – and their wallets – to theaters in popcorn-inhaling waves. But 3D doesn’t stop at the cinema anymore. Televisions, video recorders, cameras, and Internet videos now utilize 3D images. Even Nintendo’s new handheld game system, the Nintendo 3DS, uses glasses free 3D technology. 3D is so popular it’s enough to give viewers a headache, and it turns out in many cases, it does. Although...