Tech

IBM replaces signals that communicate via copper wires with pulses of light - creating the world's fastest transfer

IBM scientists unveiled a significant step towards replacing electrical signals that communicate via copper wires between computer chips with tiny silicon circuits that communicate using pulses of light. As reported in the recent issue of the scientific journal Nature, this is an important advancement in changing the way computer chips talk to each other.Read More

A musician has harnessed the power of two Nintendo Wii remotes to become a cyborg percussionist with the robo-band Jazari. His playing of one drum machine can evoke an automated response from another, so that he can go around the drum circle in a beautiful display of human-robot improvisation using solenoids.Read More

iPod Shaped ‘iTable’ gives a geeky look to contemporary spaces

Designed for the Milan Design Week, the iTables by Italian artist Mirko Ginepro is a collection of trendy coffee tables that resembles an iPod, giving a geeky look to modern living spaces.Read More

Science Fiction Weapons That Actually Exist

The gear may look like it came straight out of Avatar or Battlestar Galactica. But all of the laser weapons, robots and sonic blasters pictured here are real. Some of these weapons have already found their way onto the battlefield.Read More

VCR Clock website outlines the tribulations of setting a clock on an outdated VCR

Click the VCR Clock link below, but look closely - the link isn't as dead as it appears.

VCR Clock

Glowing handle lets you know if there's rain in the forecast

The Ambient Umbrella lets you know when rain or snow is in the forecast by illuminating its handle. Light patterns intuitively indicate rain, drizzle, snow, or thunderstorms.Read More

Interactive Arduino-controlled Christmas Tree Using Twitter

An interactive Christmas tree with ornaments that react to mentions of specific keywords on Twitter.Read More

The USB Hourglass combines a sand timer with a rotating mechanism and an optical beam through the center of the timer to observe the falling sand. The amount of light reaching a detector is digitized at frequent intervals and processed by a microcontroller to determine when to rotate the hourglass.Read More

Artist Christopher Locke has made these modern fossils by hand, producing everything from cassettes and floppy disks - to Nintendo and joysticks. They represent pieces of modern technology that have virtually become "extinct" due to improved current technology.

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Hide your pets - this robotic mousetrap was designed to detect and exterminate everything in sight

ENLARGE

This shoebox-sized powerhouse would make Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor proud. Like cracking a nut with a sledgehammer, the robotic "Better Mousetrap" goes to the extreme to detect and destroy its target.

ENLARGE

"Many people have been trying to develop a 'better mousetrap' for years, so we decided to build one in the literal sense," says its developer Jake Easton.Read More