Former NASA astronaut Franklin Chang Diaz has developed a plasma rocket which could cut the cost of space travel by more than half, transforming the aerospace business and clearing the way to exploration for more countries, such as his native Costa Rica. For now, Franklin plans to use the rocket, called the VASIMR, as a a mail-carrier for outer space, a garbage truck for orbital debris and, the ul... read full post picked by analumass 3 days ago

Some mental health experts fear that a growing technology addiction, perhaps Accelerated by the popularity of smart phones and social networks, will lead to a breakdown of interpersonal relationships and an increase in attention deficit disorder.
*I haven't been outside for weeks* picked by Bornbad 6 days ago

I'm touching a wet slab of protein, what feels like a paper-thin slice of bologna. It's supple, slimy, but unlike meat, if you were to slice it down the center today, tomorrow the wound would heal. It's factory-grown living tissue. picked by Bornbad 1 week ago

According to this article by Newsweek, the Internet is destroying the culture of newspapers, television, music and film. picked by Moogle 1 week ago

Call me. picked by Bornbad 1 week ago

"I recently married my dream husband. We have incredible chemistry and a shared commitment to each other. When we disagree, we settle our differences by balancing logic and gut feelings. That is, until we came to our disagreement on which laptop I should buy to replace my Mac PowerBook..." picked by gammerus 1 week ago

AT&T files suit against Verizon to stop there new "There's a Map for that" ad campaign as it's "misleading". picked by icepigs 1 week ago

Imagine if the most important sentence you ever wrote was a Facebook status update that goes something like this: "ON THE PHONE WITH THIS FAT CHICK......WHERER MY IHOP." Now you know how it feels to be 19-year-old Rodney Bradford, who used that all-caps message to keep himself out of prison. picked by suebe 1 week ago

...in conjunction with a bunch of service providers beginning now through the middle of January. picked by choco 2 weeks ago

On HBO Nov 29th, 2009
Set list. picked by Bornbad 2 weeks ago

Posting online comments under multiple aliases is apparently against the law, at least in the case of Raphael Haim Golb, 49, who is suspected of using 50 different e-mail addresses and monikers — some of the names belonging to academic rivals — to bolster his arguments about the origins of the Dead Sea Scrolls. picked by suebe 2 weeks ago

On Thursday, a 20-pound engine tail cone fell from a Boeing 777 plane headed from JFK Airport to Tokyo and onto the front yard of Michelle Russell in Roosevelt, Long Island. The Delta crew only realized the four-foot piece of metal was missing after it landed in Tokyo—14 hours later. picked by suebe 2 weeks ago

As technology develops at an alarming rate and gadgets become more and more energy-sapping by the week, the need for more powerful batteries with which to feed modern, portable electronics is greater than ever. picked by iamamaniac 2 weeks ago

"iPhone users find cool gadgets more attractive than college degrees, frequently watch "adult material" on their phones, and have no qualms texting or emailing a break up, reports a new study from Retrevo." picked by gammerus 2 weeks ago

A few examples of the best and most creative wooden iPhone accessories. picked by iamamaniac 3 weeks ago

...Computer simulations could help soldiers with post traumatic stress disorder.

"They experience the sights, sounds, smells and vibrations of their original experience. It is a way of overcoming a natural difficulty in using their own imagination during the therapeutic process." picked by bingo 3 weeks ago

A woman whose shoplifting bid was thwarted by employees at a Kentucky lingerie shop fled the store Monday night wearing only a hoodie and two pairs of stolen thongs.

(I hope meggy has an alibi) picked by Bornbad 3 weeks ago

Trippish does it for you! Just enter in your start and end location along with your departure time, and it calculates a travel route, as well as weather forcasts at regular intervals between your starting point and destination. It even can automatically determine the best time to leave based on current forcasts. Quite handy for those cross-country Plimeets. picked by sidran32 3 weeks ago

Fluid dynamicists have worked out how to stop teapots from dribbling, once and for all.

Teapot technology is largely ignored by mainstream media (some say unfairly). But today, scientists in France unveil a technique that should breath hi-tech life into a new generation of bespouted objects. picked by bingo 4 weeks ago

Steampunk is a kind of speculative fiction that usually takes place in urban settings where the future meets the past: Victorian era inventions clash with often dark alternate realities.
*I love me some Steampunk!* picked by Bornbad 4 weeks ago

First off, there is an Association of Professional Animal Waste Specialists. Last week this group had a convention, and "while much of the talk at the seventh annual Pooper Scooper Convention, as usual, centered on business, it also featured the yearly tribute" to the death of the pooper scooper. That's right, the instrument in which the law is named after is nearly extinct. picked by suebe 1 month ago

If you’ve ever needed to measure the width of a box but have no ruler, here’s a handy (literally) tip. picked by iamamaniac 1 month ago

One research group continues to claim that the "sky is falling" on the Internet thanks to high data growth rates and that network neutrality means the whole Internet could just "go away." Ars sifts through the hyperbole looking for a kernel of truth. picked by Bornbad 1 month ago

Netscape, one of the most influential names in the history of the web, is 15 today picked by ruthstark 1 month ago

Possibly the coolest new mode of public transportation. picked by gammerus 1 month ago