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NASA wants ideas for how to survive on Mars
Have you been tossing around a practical, well researched idea that could revolutionize space travel, but just don't know how to pitch it to the folks at NASA? You're in luck -- the space administration just announced the launch of NASA iTech, a program calling for ideas from the public, government sectors, academia and the aerospace industry that could shape the future of space travel and help in a potential mission to Mars. Specifically, NASA wants 5-page white paper proposals for technologies in radiation protection, life support systems, astronaut health, in-space propulsion and high-resolution greenhouse gas measurement tools.
This sweat monitoring patch can tell how hard you're working
A group of scientists at UC San Diego are responsible for creating a tiny flexible monitor that can stick right to your sternum. Its purpose? Tracking your sweat.
President Obama wants US to 'reignite its spirit of innovation'
President Obama gave his final State of the Union address on Tuesday. In it, he discussed how far the country has come over the last year and where he sees it going in the future. But beyond the expected talk of a rebuilt, stronger economy, soaring high school graduation rates and new civil liberties, he laid out a bold plan to, as he puts it, make "technology work for us, and not against us."
Junk technology: Why your penis pedometer is DOA
If all you want for Christmas is a penis pedometer, get ready to be disappointed. NSFW Warning: This story may contain links to and descriptions or images of explicit sexual acts.
Charlie Brooker's 'Black Mirror' could become a Netflix exclusive
Only seven episodes of Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror have been made, but their dark and unsettling depictions of the future have garnered a sizeable cult following. Now, Radio Times is reporting that the show has attracted the attention of Netflix, and that the streaming service is keen to pull the show away from British broadcaster Channel 4. The show debuted in the UK in 2011, but it wasn't until last December that it landed on Netflix in the US. The last six months will have exposed the series to a massive audience -- at the same time, the streaming service is looking for popular shows to add to its growing "Originals" initiative. Charlie Brooker has previously confirmed that a third series is in the works, but so far we've only been treated to a Christmas special. If Netflix can persuade Brooker to switch allegiances, it would be another critically acclaimed show to slip in between seasons of Daredevil, Orange is the New Black and House of Cards.
The wearables industry needs to brace itself for the Apple Watch
Since the launch of the iPod, Apple's either dominated or come close to dominating every industry that it has entered. The only market where the company isn't the world number one is in set-top boxes, a field that has always been described as a "hobby." It's not too much of a risk to think that Apple will do to watches what it's already done to personal audio, smartphones and tablets -- even if global success isn't overnight. What then, for everyone else in the world of wearable technology?
Penn & Teller explain the magical power of an iPhone
Penn and Teller are no strangers to technology, but it hasn't impacted the core of their act. In a recent interview with USA Today, Penn Jillete (Teller isn't really the loquacious type) explains that, while all has evolved around it, magic has remained relatively unchanged. It's difficult to make magic work on TV and in online video, he laments. The mind will quickly shed doubt on what it's seeing, and in an age of Hollywood effects, it's tough to impress. "If you like the special effects of Guardians of the Galaxy, how are you going to be impressed with a card trick?" See that trick in person, however, and he says it's "untarnished."
Pipes brings powerful push notifications to customized news
Pipes is a customizable news reader for iPhone and iPad that allows users to select categories and topics of news and read through only what appeals to them. The app aggregates news from a variety of sources and delivers them to your home feed based on the topics you select as well as through optional push notifications. Choose to read a story at its full length or in summary mode, which intelligently picks out the most important information and cuts out the filler details, plus save your favorites. Pipes is free and requires iOS 7.1 or later. To start, Pipes includes one section for the current top stories. Each news topic you add is called a "pipe." Add a new section by tapping "Add Pipe" on the bottom right and then searching for anything that piques your interest. Think of pipes more like tags. Adding one basically tracks stories revolving around that pipe. There's an unlimited amount of options within the four main categories of technology, business, sports and politics. Even just searching for "Apple" brings up topics for "Apple," "Apple Inc," "Apple Event" and "Apple Pay" among others. The stories that display in each pipe aren't ordered by time, so I'm not sure of the arrangement of articles. Perhaps it's based off of popularity. Tap one to read the story. While Summary mode is present throughout most of Pipes, it's not available for every story. However, I've noticed that when Summary mode does work, it's better than reading the full article because Pipes is pulling a bit too much content from the article so that it's not easy to understand. In a nutshell, you're actually better off using Summary mode when possible, but note that it's still in beat. Pipes features powerful push notification capabilities with options to tweak exactly what push notifications you want and when. Rather than deliver notifications for the entire app, notifications are specific to individual pipes. Choose getting notified either once per day, twice per day or never for one pipe, then customize the notifications for the next pipe. It's extraordinary and especially useful for power users. In addition to news, Pipes also delivers tweets revolving around a topic (i.e. "pipe") and a related Wikipedia entry. They don't carry much functionality within themselves, but they offer some nice context outside of the news stories. If you come across a news story you like, tapping the bookmark icon on the top right saves it. All of your saved stories are available in a collection in the left slide-in menu. While you're there, tap "Settings" to manage your connected accounts, setup Pocket integration to save stories for later and a tinker around with some other options. Future idea: Pocket integration should include viewing your list of saved-for-later articles within Pipes as its own pipe. Pipes still has a few bugs to squash and doesn't quite match up to the likes of Flipboard right now, but it's both well designed and solid enough to be a viable alternative. The notification abilities in particular set it apart. Get the iPhone and iPad app free in the App Store.
Pew Research: You know the internet, but you might not 'get' it
Given how ubiquitous smart devices are, one might think that, overall, people would have a pretty comprehensive knowledge of tech. That isn't exactly the case. According to a recent Pew Research survey, 60 percent of the representative sample knew that tweets are limited to 140 characters, but only 42 percent knew that Harvard is where Facebook originated. And despite how much new iPhone announcements dominate the news cycle, only some 36 percent correctly picked 2007 as the year Apple unveiled its first smartphone. Even fewer were able to accurately identify the first "widely popular graphical web browser." Hint: it wasn't Netscape Navigator. As The Washington Post points out, a vast majority of people happen to think that "World Wide Web" and "internet" are interchangeable too.
Facebook's latest page keeps you updated on tech news
You probably don't think of Facebook as a source for bleeding edge tech news, but the social network is determined to improve that reputation. It just launched FB Techwire, a page that blends technology news and commentary in a single feed. The site is ostensibly for journalists, but it's handy for just about anyone who'd like to get all their tech stories in a single place -- you won't necessarily have to dig through a newsreader app or your Twitter timeline to keep up. Give it a look if you're eager to see more in your social stream than the usual vacation photos and family announcements.
Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade discusses Razer Comms integration
Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade is positioning itself to be a blend of MMO elements with third-person shooter elements, and like its source material that means everyone's trying to shoot everyone else. So you're going to need a way to communicate with other players, and if typing out "please help me shoot these guys" is going to take too much time, you'll need a voice chat solution. The development team behind the game has taken this fact to heart, and rather than forcing players to rely on a third-party solution, it's working on integrating the Razer Comms system into the game directly. This also includes filters to help you fully immerse yourself in the setting, tying the game's normal sound and voice chat together. If that sounds like something you'd like to see in action, take a look at the full announcement for more explanation of the integration and what it offers the players.
Royal Quest begins early access... for a price
Royal Quest, an MMO "full of magic, technology, and alchemy," opened the doors to its early access test yesterday. While the game promotes itself as being free-to-play, this only applies starting the second week in August. Before then, anyone interested in checking it out needs to purchase one of the DLC packs. Players who hop into the game will be assigned a regional server (out of three available) based on their location. To access the website's comments and forum, players have to level up a character to 5. Royal Quest is being developed by Katauri Interactive (King's Bounty) and is only being offered through Steam for English users. Among other options in the game, players can own pets, eventually move into their own castle, and engage in special PvPvE zones in the game. [Thanks to Dystopiq for the tip!]
NVIDIA found a way to quadruple display performance in low-res LCDs
Face it, the tech industry is obsessed with resolution; we want every display to be high definition, regardless of size. We also want our devices to be affordable, leaving device manufactures with an interesting problem: how do they manufacture low-cost products with high-resolution screens? NVIDIA researchers have one solution -- stack two low-resolution panels on top of each other to increase pixel density on the cheap. The solution is so simple it sounds ridiculous, but apparently, it works.
Vehicles, blueprints, more join Unreal Engine in 4.2 update
Epic Games has unveiled a list of additions aimed at the developer's latest incarnation of the Unreal Engine, and among a host of bug fixes, camera tweaks and animation changes, Unreal Engine 4.2 also brings with it support for vehicles and blueprints for developer-created content. To celebrate the inclusion of vehicles in Unreal Engine 4.2, Epic has granted developers a free tutorial on how these virtual rides function in the form of a short, off-road racing game. Not only does Unreal Engine 4.2 support your typical four-wheeled conveyances, it also allows developers to design a vehicle with any number of wheels and any number of gears. Further, Unreal Engine 4.2 supports numerous drivetrains, from rear-wheel drive to front-wheel drive to four-wheel drive, with either manual or automatic transmission. The blueprints mentioned above may not be of much concern to players, but they should greatly aid those hoping to build anything complex within Unreal Engine 4.2. Think of Epic's blueprints as similar to those found in the real-world. Once you've constructed an object in the Engine, you can then save the thing in its entirety to a blueprint, which can later be retrieved and used to clone your original creation or make tweaks to the design without damaging the original prototype. For a full list of what's included in Unreal Engine 4.2, visit the Unreal Engine developer's blog. There, those interested in working with Unreal Engine will also find everything they need to subscribe to Epic's nascent licensing scheme. [Image: Epic Games]
Twitter pledges $1 million to help poor SF families learn tech skills
Twitter has just announced that it will set up a technology learning center for homeless San Francisco families called the "Twitter Neighborhood Nest." The company told the SF Chronicle that it will partner with the Compass Family Services non-profit organization, and donate north of $1 million over several years. It's currently looking for space near its home base on Market Street for the project and has already donated 81 computers along with tech support to Compass. Aided by Twitter employees who will donate their time, the center will teach students how to seek jobs online and other basic computer skills. However, as the Chronicle noted, Twitter's motivations aren't strictly altruistic.
Reddit's tech community just got scolded, is no longer front page news
Thousands of self-managed forums make up Reddit's sizable corner of the internet, but only a few dozen bear the coveted "default" status that places them on every new user's list of subscribed communities. Now, there's one fewer. A dramatic saga of censorship, poor moderation and keyword-based deletion scripts have ousted the technology subreddit (/r/technology) from the default list. The change came shortly after users sleuthed out a number of keywords that, if present in a post's headline, would cause it to be automatically deleted. The community's moderators eventually confirmed that a bot called AutoModerator was used to cull content -- specifically targeting politicized or controversial terms. Unfortunately, the banned words included terms like anti-piracy, SOPA, NSA, Snowden, Bitcoin and even CEO, ensuring that dozens of hot-topic stories would never make it to Reddit's front page.
Americans are optimistic about technology, except drones... and robots... and...
If you asked the average American what they think about the coming crop of technologies, you'd probably get some generic optimism. According to a recent Pew Research survey found that 59 percent of Americans expected that technology would make our lives better, only 30 percent worried that we'd be worse off because of scientific progress. More than eight in 10 even expect us to be growing replacement organs in labs within the next 50 years. But when dig into specific technologies, opinions start to turn a little more sour.
PlayStation Now-capable Bravia TVs launching in June
Sony has announced that its upcoming series of PlayStation Now-compatible 4K "Ultra HD" Bravia televisions, first revealed at CES 2014, will launch in June. A total of nine models from three series will hit the market with prices ranging from a $2,099 (49") to $24,999 (85"). With the ability to access Sony's upcoming PlayStation Now service, the Bravia sets will be able to stream PS3 games and play with a DualShock 3 controller (which, for the price, you'd hope would be included, but Sony's press release doesn't specify). The foundation for PlayStation Now is Gaikai, the games streaming service Sony purchased for $380 million in 2012. Sony is one of many television manufacturers that continues to push HD technology into the 4K future. Ultra HD 4K televisions (also simply known as UHD TV) claim to deliver four times the picture resolution of standard 1080p sets; 4K televisions increase pixel count per image from two million to eight million. "We strongly believe 4K is the future for entertainment and we remain committed to leading the 4K movement, from lens to living room, in a way that only a company like Sony can," said Mike Fasulo, president at Sony Electronics.
Banksy's latest works tackle technology, surveillance and our crumbling humanity
They say that the best art imitates life, and let's be honest, our lives are increasingly controlled by technology. After tackling war, human rights and censorship, legendary and anonymous street artist Banksy is now turning his critical eye on our digital existence -- and not surprisingly his view is bleak. Two pieces, one confirmed and one suspected, from faceless man who uses the streets of urban Earth as his canvas cropped up in the UK this week. The location of the first and confirmed piece has yet to be identified, but photographs of it have appeared on Banksy's website. It depicts two lovers in an embrace against a darkened doorway. But rather than looking lovingly into each others eyes, the man and woman are glued to their smartphones, the screens casting an inhuman glow over their faces.
Professor aims to create 'shared moment' using Tetris and a skyscraper
Humans are social creatures yet technology often serves to isolate us. Professor Frank Lee believes it can also be used to bring us together. The footage above captures a recent multiplayer game of Tetris playing out across the sides of the 29-story-tall Cira Centre in Philadelphia. Randomly selected players took turns manipulating and dropping tetrominoes, with their actions displayed via LED lights attached to the building. From that towering vantage, the game was visible to people across the city and for that brief period, the game became what Professor Lee calls a "social beacon" for the citizens of Philadelphia. Speaking to Polygon, Professor Lee also explains that he hopes this event will encourage people toward coding. "Coding is going to be so important in our future," Lee said. "Certainly you have a lot of people saying that as well, but this will be a fun way to engage students who might have never thought about going into programming." "[I want] to use this as a platform to try to reach those groups and those students to think about programming as a very creative endeavor." [Image: Drexel University]
