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October 2008
- Space Tourist Video Gamer Blasts Off
  
  Reuters | 17 hours, 14 minutes ago
  
  (Newser) - US video game magnate Richard Garriott blasted off into space today aboard a Russian rocket—and all it cost him was $35 million. The "space tourist" was cheered on by his father, a one-time NASA astronaut, Reuters reports. "I can see he is really enjoying it like a little kid in a candy shop," said Garriott's girlfriend. The craft is already in orbit and will dock with the International Space Station in two days. More »
- Flying Cars? Yep (and Sooner Than You Think)
  
  LiveScience | Oct 11, 08 6:45 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Flying cars aren’t the stuff of science fiction anymore. A small California company called Moller is already producing a run of its M200 Neuera, an ethanol-powered two-seater straight out of the Jetsons, LiveScience reports. The car is expected to land next year, and carry a price tag south of $100,000. It’s all the work of Paul Moller, an engineer who’s made the flying car his lifelong obsession. More »
September 2008
- Internet Hookup Would Make Appliances More Efficient
  
  GigaOm | Sep 25, 08 9:09 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Electric bill breaking the bank these days? Your fridge might be able to help, when developers start bringing Internet-ready appliances to market, GigaOm reports. Proactive dashboards could control energy usage to save money and conserve by telling wired appliances to reduce power during certain time periods without human input, and download new settings to lessen consumption. More »
- Scientists, Artists Dominate MacArthur 'Genius' Grants
  
  New York Times | Sep 23, 08 2:29 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Of the 25 recipients of this year's MacArthur Foundation "genius award," 13 are scientists and eight are artists, the New York Times reports. This year, they are “people working on the very edge of discovery and people at the edge of a new synthesis,” says the foundation’s president. Among the winners: Tara Donovan, sculptor of drinking straws and paper clips Alex Ross, New Yorker music critic Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian novelist More »
- Our Economic Cure? Innovation
  
  BusinessWeek | Sep 14, 08 1:37 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Democrats and Republicans do have something in common: Both parties are wrong on how to resuscitate the flat-lining US economy, Michael Mandel argues in BusinessWeek . Tax cuts or increased government spending aren’t the cure. “Innovation is the best—and maybe the only—way the US can get out of its economic hole,” Mandel insists, adding that money alone isn’t enough. More »
- Experiment Raises Hope of Solar Power From Space
  
  Space.com | Sep 13, 08 10:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - An experiment in beaming solar power has raised hopes that humanity can harness huge amounts of solar energy from satellites, Space.com reports. Researchers sent the energy about 90 miles between two Hawaiian islands via radio waves. The transmission of energy a hundred times further than earlier experiments proves the concept can work, said the former NASA scientist behind the test. One hurdle: Only a small fraction of the energy survived the transmission. More »
- Candidates Should Be Talking Innovation, Not Abortion
  
  New York Times | Sep 7, 08 5:49 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - If America hopes to keep its economy strong, our next leaders need to prioritize support for innovation, writes Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times . “The ability to create the new products and services that people want” is key to “growth, prosperity, environmental sustainability and national security,” a tech researcher tells Friedman. But the American drive to invent is “not being supported and nurtured as needed in today’s super competitive world,” Friedman notes. More »
- Two Cloned Dogs Have Pups
  
  AFP | Sep 5, 08 2:23 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Snuppy, the world’s first cloned dog, is now part of another milestone, AFP reports. South Korean researchers said today that Snuppy mated with a cloned female to produce a litter of 9 puppies—the first offspring of two cloned canines. “This shows the reproductive ability of a cloned dog,” said the triumphant lead researcher. The team plans similar breeding experiments with its cloned wolves. More »
- Twitter Outgrows Narcissistic Phase
  
  Ars Technica | Sep 4, 08 3:59 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Don't write off Twitter as a mere time-wasting self-promotion toy, David Chartier writes in Ars Technica. Users have adapted the microblogging tool to business, government, and even art, pushing 140-character posts beyond "what I had for lunch today." Some innovative Twitter accounts include Comcast, which tracks customer service issues, and an Arizona police department that reports important bulletins in real time. More »
August 2008
- Cross-Country Hydro-Car Tour Wraps Up In LA
  
  Reuters | Aug 25, 08 5:12 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A fleet of hydrogen-powered cars wrapped up a 31-city cross-country US tour in Los Angeles this weekend, Reuters reports. The first such trip by zero-emission vehicles aimed to promote the cars, supplied by nine automakers, and the need for more accessible zero-emission fuel. The US has 60 hydrogen stations so far but drivers have easy access to only two. More »
- NY Sushi Sleuths Uncover Fishy Tricks
  
  New York Times | Aug 22, 08 3:20 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Two New York City high school students used DNA testing to uncover a bait-and-switch scam in local restaurants and fish markets, the New York Times reports. Fish being sold as prized white tuna turned out to be the much more common—and cheaper—Mozambique tilapia, while red snapper proved to be anything from cod to endangered Acadian redfish. More »
- Are Cloned Puppies Worth the Risks?
  
  Wired | Aug 20, 08 2:50 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Canine cloning looks set to become big business but critics warn that deformed and diseased failures could outnumber the tail-wagging successes, Wired reports. Cloning fails far more often than it succeeds, and dogs are notoriously hard to clone. A Humane Society report earlier this year charged that "serious animal suffering and disreputable activities" lurk behind pet cloning. More »
- Experts: Warp Drive Is Possible
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Aug 16, 08 5:20 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Two physicists believe the fictional "warp drive" of Star Trek fame could someday become a reality, the Daily Telegraph reports. The scientists theorize that a mysterious cosmic force called dark energy could be harnessed to warp space around a vessel, allowing a spacecraft to travel faster than light—"like a surfer riding a wave." More »
- Fingerprint Test Can Now ID What Person Has Touched
  
  New York Times | Aug 8, 08 2:35 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Cutting-edge technology now means fingerprints can reveal much more than just a person's identity, the New York Times reports. A spray developed by US researchers can analyze tiny molecular compounds left behind by the print and tell what materials a person has recently handled—including drugs or explosives. It can also separate one print from many overlapping ones. More »
- Computer Hard of Hearing? Try This Software
  
  New York Times | Aug 7, 08 2:37 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The latest incarnation of Dragon NaturallySpeaking “takes voice control unmistakably closer to that holy grail of computing,” David Pogue writes in the New York Times —being able to talk directly to your computer. Version 10 is better than 99% effective at transcribing speech, and upgrades make correcting, italicizing, and even Web search much speedier. More »
- In 200 Yards, Tell Your GPS to Shut Up Already
  
  Washington Post | Aug 5, 08 5:45 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - GPS voices, for all their helpfulness to drivers, are still obnoxious and humorless. Now, after years of focusing on packing “navbots” with information, developers are realizing that friendliness counts, too, the Washington Post reports. “Personality, from an engineering perspective, is still an afterthought,” one says. “But every day it's becoming more and more important.” More »
- Koreans Clone 5 Little Boogers
  
  Times (UK) | Aug 5, 08 9:38 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - South Korean scientists have made the world’s first commercial clones, creating five copies of a heroic pit bull named Booger, the Times of London reports. The little Boogers were ordered and paid for—at an introductory rate of $50,000—by Hollywood screenwriter Bernann McKinney, owner of the now-departed original. McKinney says the first Booger saved her life after she was horribly mauled by her pet mastiff. More »
July 2008
- GM Developing Futuristic Windshield
  
  Associated Press | Jul 17, 08 5:45 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - America’s driving population is aging, and GM aims to do something to help older motorists: develop a high-tech windshield that compensates for declining eyesight, the AP reports. The system, now in the research phase, uses lasers and infrared sensors to identify hazards in the road—or perhaps the edge of the road itself in bad weather—and projects them onto the windshield. More » </

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Stories

Space Tourist Video Gamer Blasts Off

Flying Cars? Yep (and Sooner Than You Think)

Internet Hookup Would Make Appliances More Efficient

Scientists, Artists Dominate MacArthur 'Genius' Grants

Our Economic Cure? Innovation

Experiment Raises Hope of Solar Power From Space

Candidates Should Be Talking Innovation, Not Abortion

Two Cloned Dogs Have Pups

Twitter Outgrows Narcissistic Phase

Cross-Country Hydro-Car Tour Wraps Up In LA

NY Sushi Sleuths Uncover Fishy Tricks

Are Cloned Puppies Worth the Risks?

Experts: Warp Drive Is Possible

Fingerprint Test Can Now ID What Person Has Touched

Computer Hard of Hearing? Try This Software

In 200 Yards, Tell Your GPS to Shut Up Already

Koreans Clone 5 Little Boogers

GM Developing Futuristic Windshield