Computing has the USB cable. Analog audio visual equipment (in Europe at least) has the SCART lead. High definition has the HDMI cable. And now the International Space Station has its own standard plug/socket combo. Five international space agencies have agreed a standard for the docking system used when spacecrafts dock in space stations. While […]
While the iPad has been the mover and the shaker of the tablet world since its launch, there have been many rumors and unanswered questions about other tablets entering the market. Some have come and gone with little fanfare, others have been but speculation. Now, Samsung’s Android-based Galaxy Tab is hoping to rise to the […]
Pictured above: those are LEDs. On the tip of a pencil. Yep, in this article io9 talks LEDs–thin, bright, flexible LEDs that are so slight they can be slipped under paper, on pencil tips, and, well, under your skin. Just imagine the possibilities. John Rogers of the University of Illinois is the brain behind this […]
In case you were under any illusion about whether the Xbox 360 Kinect motion control system was being aimed at a mainstream, casual gaming, dare-I-say-Wii audience, Microsoft has scored what many US publicity seekers consider the jackpot: an appearance on Oprah. It’s also unveiled the 17 games that will appear at or imminently after launch: […]
When a man dies and his obituaries mention the discovery of geometric shapes with a Hausdorff dimension that exceeds its topological dimension, you might think he’s just another hardcore mathematician. But when a man dies and his life’s work encompasses cauliflower, the stock market, and paisley shirts, you know there’s something special. That man was […]
When a man says he wants half a million dollars to build a steam powered computer, it’s not exactly the most conventional of funding pitches. When that same man says he wants to build the world’s first digital, programmable computer, the pitch begins to look stranger. But for John Graham-Cumming, the author of science history […]
A filmmaker has accused Google of “fencing stolen goods.” It comes after reports that Google wants to charge the music industry for helping it track down online pirates. CNET reports that the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, and its US counterpart the Recording Industry Association of America, recently wrote to Google asking for more […]
13 years on from Deep Blue beating Gary Kasparov, the idea of a computer beating a champion human at chess doesn’t seem that outlandish. But now a computer has beaten a leading player at shogi, more colloquially known as Japanese chess. Why’s that so impressive? Well, the general concept of the game is similar to […]
You may think of Japan as a hive of digital activity, but it turns out users there have the lowest number of friends on social networks. Instead it’s Malaysia where online activity is most frenetic. The findings come from TNS, which has carried out the first in what’s planned to be annual series of studies […]
Hacking an electronic voting system is illegal, undemocratic, deeply irresponsible, and an affront to everyone who ever fought against tyranny. But done the right way, it can also be funny. A web-based voting system, designed for District of Columbia voters to cast their ballot from overseas, has been suspended after students at the University of […]