Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institut in Germany have created the closest thing we have to a real life holodeck using a wireless Oculus Rift and multiple cameras distributed inside a 32-foot by 32-foot room. Of course, it's still far away from Star Trek, but it works. Subjects in the lab wear markers and are tracked down... Continue Reading →

The Senate has approved a bill (which already passed in the House) that makes it legal for you to unlock the phones you own so you can choose which carrier you use. The Senate passed the bill unanimously, and left out the terrible "bulk unlocking" rules that would have made it hard to found businesses... Continue Reading →

Scientists at The Australian National University (ANU) have uncovered the secret to twisting light at will. It is the latest step in the development of photonics, the faster, more compact and less carbon-hungry successor to electronics. A random find in the washing basket led the team to create the latest in a new breed of... Continue Reading →

Stem cells are seen as one of modern medicine's most promising magic bullets, but that doesn't mean that we understand them. A paralyzed woman from the US has learned this the hard way, after an experimental treatment caused her to grow a nose-like tumor on her back. The unnamed person took part in a trial... Continue Reading →

They're everywhere. They're charging over your keyboard's home row, pulsing at your camera's flash, swirling around the base of that halogen desk lap, and coursing right through your brain when you go up to your roof and stare off at the horizon. Electromagnetic fields are omnipresent. They're the collective build-up of an increasingly data-driven modern... Continue Reading →

On July 14th, 2014, the Department of Justice and the Attorney Generals of New York, Delaware, Illinois and Massachusetts arrived at a $7 billion settlement with Citigroup—the same bank that received almost half a trillion dollars in government assistance in the wake of the crisis. The settlement ends investigations into whether or not Citigroup violated... Continue Reading →

Thermoelectrics -- which use wasted heat to generate electricity -- could get a lot more interesting thanks to a company called Alphabet Energy. It's set to commercialize tetrahedrite, a metal that more than doubles the efficiency of current tech for as little as a fiftieth the cost. Thermoelectric materials work because they can do a... Continue Reading →

A far-reaching marijuana decriminalization law takes effect in the District of Columbia Thursday that replaces jail time with a $25 fine for the possession of one ounce or less of marijuana, ending a year-long effort in the nation’s capital to reduce severe racial disparities in marijuana law enforcement by D.C. police officers. The “Marijuana Possession... Continue Reading →

The FCC has extended a period to submit comments about the agency’s proposed rules on net neutrality due to a surge in traffic on its website. An agency spokesperson said in a statement that so many people were trying to submit comments during the public period its system was overwhelmed. So the agency extended the... Continue Reading →

A couple of weeks ago California officially killed a law prohibiting the use of any currency that’s not the “lawful money of the United States,” like community currencies, frequent customer points, or bitcoin. The law had been ignored for so long few people knew it even existed. Certainly the first wave of Silicon Valley area... Continue Reading →