STEM

The world’s forests are being rapidly destroyed, and a new map hopes to help conservationists figure out everywhere that it’s happening. Using technologies from Google Maps and Google Earth, the World Resources Institute has created an interactive map that shows forest coverage almost in real time, marking where coverage has increased and — more often Continue Reading →

When Lego revealed its line of EV3 Mindstorms robots last year, Bay Area tech companies came up with some very goofy applications. 12-year-old Santa Clara resident Shubham Banerjee just came up with a decidedly more meaningful one: a braille printer. Banerjee noticed that braille printers can cost more than $2,000 and wondered if he could Continue Reading →

This is the third (and final) column that looks at the forecasts I have made on events through 2013. As pointed out in the first two columns, the purpose of these columns is to analyze why forecasts were correct and, if not, what they might mean looking forward. As stated in the first column: “… Continue Reading →

When we first broached the Great Smiley Debate a few weeks ago, the question was whether or not a dash-as-nose was appropriate, necessary, or a bastardization of the simple purity of two dots paired with a gentle curve. But a new, equally contentious controversy emerged in the Kinja discussion: Should the parenthesis open towards the Continue Reading →

This is my second of three columns covering a look back at the forecasts I made about things that might happen through the end of 2013. As I wrote in the first column, this is not an exercise in self-congratulation, but rather an opportunity to look back on forecast accuracy and analyze why or why Continue Reading →

NASA and Houston-based company GRoK Technologies will work on the development of new “breakthrough products,” noninvasive medical technologies designed to “regenerate bone and muscle tissues.” It really sounds like something out of Star Trek, but “it’s not just sci-fi anymore.” That’s exactly what GRoK’s founder and CEO Moshe Kushman says: “It’s not just science fiction Continue Reading →

Study hall should be a time for further processing as well as the comprehension of new information learned during the day. Unless a school bans smartphone or tablet usage, these apps are amazing tools for studying, organizing and writing. StudyBlue Flashcards (Free, Android Handheld, Android Tablet) StudyBlue Flashcards uses user-generated content to provide students with an Continue Reading →

Given Imaging Ltd. has won US approval for an ingestible pill camera that can help doctors screen the large intestine for early signs of colon cancer. The Israeli company’s technology uses a battery-powered camera to take high-speed photos of the intestinal tract over eight hours. The images are transmitted to a recording device on the Continue Reading →

The maker movement is officially coming to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. On Tuesday, as CNET reported first, the White House announced its first-ever official Maker Faire, bringing a celebration of science, technology, engineering, and math, not to mention the ground zero of the do-it-yourself world, to the home of the leader of the free world. In Continue Reading →

Imagine having millions of nanobots in your brain that constantly remind you to log into Google+. That seems to be the vision of Google engineering director Ray Kurzweil, who tells The Wall Street Journal that by the 2030s we’ll have “millions, billions of blood cell-sized computers in our bloodstream… keeping us healthy, augmenting our immune Continue Reading →