Technology 
Musk’s million man march to Mars
With SpaceX now set to receive its $2.6 billion slice of the manned space travel pie, Elon Musk has sensed the time is right to set the Mars agenda. He argues that a colony on Mars would just be for … Continue reading
Facebook reportedly working on a community-focused health app
Facebook is reportedly working on its own health app, but don’t expect the network to follow in Apple’s footsteps by tracking your vitals. Facebook’s health initiative is all about community. While the app is in the early stages of development, … Continue reading
IBM unveils new Power8 servers in last-gasp effort to battle Intel’s x86 dominion
Just two days after jettisoning its last Intel/x86-oriented division to Lenovo, IBM has unveiled the first servers based on the new Power8 CPU architecture. Somewhat unusually, IBM’s press release directly attacks both Intel’s “closed and proprietary” way of doing business … Continue reading
Dubai detectives will use Google Glass facial recognition tech to ID criminals
Google’s official stance on Google Glass facial recognition is that it’s not allowed, but that isn’t stopping Dubai’s police force. According to Reuters, Dubai detectives are planning to wear Google Glass with facial recognition capabilities on board. The software, developed … Continue reading
Intel-backed IoT standards group gains support from Cisco and Acer
“Internet of things” standards groups are rallying the troops for efforts to make thermostats, door locks, sensors and other connected devices find each other and share information. On Thursday, the Open Interconnect Consortium announced it has gained 27 new members, … Continue reading
This weird exoskeleton adds the sensation of touch to virtual reality
Virtual reality is so much more than visuals, but most of what we’re used to seeing is little more than head-tracking and 3D imagery in a head-mounted display. For real immersion, VR is going to need to take advantage of … Continue reading
Thom Yorke’s BitTorrent Bundle album hits 1m downloads in a week
The results are in and the recent BitTorrent Bundle experiment from Radiohead front man Thom Yorke was a success—at least according to BitTorrent Inc. The company recently announced that the bundle, featuring Yorke’s new solo album Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes, was … Continue reading
This air-breathing solar panel stores its own electricity, cutting the cost of solar power significantly
It’s a solar cell! No… it’s a rechargeable lithium-air battery! No… wait… it’s both: It’s the world’s first all-in-one solar battery! This is significant, because one of the biggest problems with wide-scale solar power deployment is that you also need … Continue reading
As Facebook’s data tentacles spread, privacy questions resurface
An expansion of how Facebook’s user data is employed for advertising purposes is prompting questions over privacy. This week the firm began rolling out a rebuilt version of Atlas, an advertising server Facebook acquired last year from Microsoft. The technology … Continue reading
