Google Fast Flip breathes new life into old news

I honestly can’t remember the last time I bought a periodical. I’ve never had newspapers delivered to my house. I don’t have any magazine subscriptions. I completely avoid the local news. But I am a news hound, and I check multiple sites daily, even when their format isn’t great. For me, the appeal of online […]

XBox 360 graphics chip helps cardiac researchers

The Xbox 360 is many things: games console, media streamer, DVD player (and, in some cases, an expensive paperweight with a shiny red ring.) But now it’s got a new role: predicting heart problems. Researchers in Britain are using the console’s graphics chip (pictured, courtesy of Flickr user avalonstar) to power parallel processing: splitting a […]



Flashback Tech: Pneumatic Mail Delivery, Popular Mechanics, Feb. 1905

By Natania Barron Contributing Writer, [GAS] One of the biggest draws about steampunk technology, for me, is that much of it actually existed in some form or another. Last night, through the joy of Twitter, I discovered the endless wonder of GoogleBook’s expansive Popular Mechanics archive, and spent far too long ogling the various inventions […]

UK government says sorry for 1950s prosecution of computer pioneer Alan Turing

The British prime minister has issued an official apology for the 1950s mistreatment of Alan Turing, the man sometimes dubbed “the father of modern computer science.” It follows a petition signed by more than 30,000 people and may boost the case for Turing receiving a posthumous knighthood. Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for gross indecency, […]

Rat-Brain Controlled Robot

I, for one, welcome our future rat-brain controlled robot overlord. This is no ordinary robot control system – a plain old microchip connected to a circuit board. Instead, the controller nestles inside a small pot containing a pink broth of nutrients and antibiotics. Inside that pot, some 300,000 rat neurons have made – and continue […]

School prepares for book-free library

How many books would you expect to see in a New England prep school library? Until recently, the correct answer in the case of Cushing Academy was 20,000. But soon the answer will be zero. The school has decided to replace its stock of physical books (pictured) with a collection of internet-enabled screens and electronic […]

Saturday Morning Humor: JPEG or PNG?

If you’re sometimes confused about which picture format to use when adding images to your blog or website, check this funny cartoon out: With that said, this doesn’t mean that you should never use JPG files. Check out this old but still relevant article on sitepoint.com about the differences between the most popular picture formats. […]