Getting a ticket for speeding is a fear that most drivers face every day. For 16 percent of drivers this year, that fear will become a reality. Of those, only 5 percent of people will not contest their ticket, costing them an average of 150 dollars. While many drivers do get pulled over for speeding, there are others who have learned to avoid the police officer’s radar gun with a device of his or her own — The radar detector. A radar gun uses radio waves to detect distance and speed of objects based on the doppler effect. A radar detector is able to detect these waves before they catch the speeding car. A…

Energy is all around us. Even the smallest particles that we cannot see without a microscope have the potential to unleash enough energy to destroy large portions of the world. There’s a huge gas ball that rises over our east horizon every morning, unseen wind currents that can turn power-capturing turbines, and good ol’ fossil fuels that are still in abundance beneath our feet despite decades of massive collection processes. With all of these standard energy sources, it’s still refreshing to see that some people are being creative with the ways that we collect the energy around us. It is a collection…

Well, it wasn’t easy, but integrating more technological resources in schools is finally starting to pay off. Eighty-seven percent of parents think that effective implementation of technology is important to their child’s success in school, and 50 percent label it as extremely important. And a respectable 64 percent of parents think their child’s school is doing a good job with incorporating technology into student achievement. Many teachers find the use of technological devices for classroom use beneficial to their lesson planning and sharing information between other teachers. It…

In 2011, robot sales hit about 160,000 units, translating to $8.5 billion in sales—this was by far the highest level recorded for any single year. Employment isn’t for humans only—there are currently 1.1 million working robots in the world. Today, robots sort through construction waste for reusable materials, and the even play a major role in automobile production. In fact, 80 percent of car production is completed by machines. By using artificial intelligence, Hyundai Motors reduced delivery time by 20 percent and increased inventory turns from 3 to 3.4. “Baxter” is a humanoid…

When people worry about protecting themselves from hackers, it’s usually their computer that they’re concerned about. No one concerns themselves with their printers, or their webcams, or their home security systems because nobody can hack them… right? As technology becomes more focused on connectivity, cloud computing, and being wireless, it inevitably becomes more intertwined with the internet. How is your iPhone able to control that RC helicopter? They’re connected through the internet. How is your HD camera able to send pictures directly to your computer? They’re connected…

Small business owners know they need internet presence, but what many people don’t realize–often until it’s too late–is that there’s a big difference between a website and a web page. When many business owners think they’re getting a website, they’re actually getting a web page. Web pages are generally low cost or free, but they share space with other people. This means the options are limited, speeds can be slow, but it’s a good choice for a very small business. A “shared hosting account” is a great way to save money, but there are of course risks. There’s a reason people can get one of these accounts…

The process of invention may be intrinsic to human nature and almost entirely unique to humankind, but the process of attributing credit to individual inventors and empowering those inventors to earn a living from the fruits of their ideas has been a long and often arduous one. The changing landscape of inventions and patents Today patent law is incredibly nuanced and complex, but back in 500 BC when the Greeks first held forth that whosoever invented something which improved quality of life should be guaranteed the ability to profit from that invention for a period of no less than one year, laws…

There are a lot of ways that Hollywood has changed the way we use the internet. On one side, the internet is an incredible well of knowledge and innovation, a place of creativity, inspiration, and easy communication. There is no question that the internet has, for better or for worse, morphed the way we view ourselves and our place in society. Consequentially, it has also changed entertainment, marketing, and networking. Alongside the innovations of the internet and of new technology are the innovators who use these tools and give them purpose. There is no point in having this technology if no…

The technology that Microsoft has been envisioning for the future is astounding, realistic, and will give us the opportunity to be more productive. That much is true. What’s not true is that they say these technologies will help bring families together. Judging by the recent history of technological advances, that’s the exact opposite effect of the technologies they describe in their video, “Microsoft’s New Envisioning Center: Live, Work, Play.” Take smartphones, for example. They are technological wonders that allow multiple methods of communication from face-to-face video interaction…

They can survive temperatures near absolute zero or as high as 300 degrees. The crushing pressure at the bottom of the ocean doesn’t faze them, nor does the vacuum of space. Radiation 1000x the level strong enough to kill an elephant doesn’t slow the tardigrade down. They are so durable that scientists are either not able to make conclusions about them or they’re coming up with the wrong ideas. The tardigrade, known also as a water bear (because they look and move like an 8-legged bear) or a moss piglet (because they love moss and look sort of like piglets), is a polyextremophile. Its ability to survive…