technology

Kickstarting on-demand heirloom produce

A new online project takes the traditional CSA model one step further by allowing eaters to help decide what heirloom produce farmers plant.

Check out this high-tech prosthetic for amputee cyclists

The Cadence leg prosthetic looks like something Chell from Portal might wear, but it's actually specially designed for riding a bike. Design student Seth Astle just won the James Dyson award for Cadence, which helps give below-the-knee amputees the fluid leg movement necessary to pedal a bike efficiently. 

Engineers: We have all the tech we need to cut carbon

Apparently the world's engineers are getting sick of being told that cutting emissions is an engineering problem. Eleven of the biggest engineering organizations have released a joint statement saying, in effect, "You want carbon cuts? We can give you carbon cuts. Just say the word, smart guy." 

We already have all the tech necessary to cut emissions 85 percent by 2050, say the engineers. What we don't have is support from governments -- laws that prioritize carbon reduction, and funding to put the technology into action.

Teen's invention boosts solar panel output 40 percent

Nineteen-year-old Eden Full is going to be taking a few years off from her studies at Princeton. That's because she's been getting a ton of grants to finish developing her SunSaluter, a technology that allows solar panels to track the sun, boosting output by 40 percent.

Energy genius wins MacArthur grant

Shwetak Patel is revolutionizing home energy use, and people are noticing. Patel was just awarded a MacArthur Fellowship -- affectionately known as a "genius award" -- for his work creating user-friendly ways for people to monitor and control their utilities consumption. In other words, this is what certified energy genius looks like.

The iPhone game that will make you ashamed for having an iPhone

Aw look, it's Phone Story, a fun little game where you produce things and catch things and shoot things at people! It's like Farmville AND Cut the Rope AND Angry Birds! Except that instead of saving your eggs or feeding your dinosaur, you're simulating the production of your iPhone -- which means you're actually abusing workers and manipulating consumers in order to score your points.

Could 3D-printed foods make you healthier?

Researchers at Cornell University have developed a 3D printer that can fashion food out of raw ingredients. Potentially, they say, this could mean a new kind of fast food -- one that's just as fast, but made out of actual food. "We can make health food more fun, interesting, and appealing with this technology," said one of the scientists at the Cornell lab. "What kid wouldn't eat a space shuttle, even one made of peas?"

How Gmail saves energy

There are a lot of benefits to cloud computing. For instance, if you believe the commercials, it lets you replace your family’s heads with better heads! Also, it saves you storage space and means you can access your data with multiple devices. But this might be the best argument so far: Switching from local email […]

Introducing the self-inflating bicycle tire

PumpTire has developed the world's first self-inflating bike tire, which actually takes in air and inflates to ideal pressure as you ride. This won't keep you from ever getting a flat or anything, but it could spare you a lot of tedious adjusting and checking of tire pressure.