Google password pill & tattoo research projects

Passwords have a number of problems, not least of which are bad choices made by users. 

A number of initiatives exist to replace the password, some of which have been reported on these pages.  

One of the most recent to appear are research projects initiated by Google to explore the possibility of using a computer readable pill which is swallowed to facilitate user authentication.  Presumably, the pill would have to be replaced after it exits the body.

More permanent, would be a computer readable tattoo.  Here the potential problem would be replacing the tattoo if its security is compromised.

http://bgr.com/2013/05/30/google-password-pills-tattoos/#more-631772 / password pills.” AllThingsD Regina Dugan former chief of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA head of Motorola special projects division ingested battery powered battery-powered stomach acid 18 bit 18-bit internal signal transforms swallower swallow whole body D11 conference Google Motorola partner partnering company MC10 design electronic tattoo authenticate user traditional seriously thinking outside the box eliminate passwords make accessing content Web easier permanent security hack hacker hacking /

Facebookers, beware: That silly update can cost you a job

Credit: On Device Research/ Cnet

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57586767-93/facebookers-beware-that-silly-update-can-cost-you-a-job/ / festive photo pint of beer glass red wine post posted image Facebook profile parent complained school officials resignation resign resigning suspend suspended suspension resigned officials hiring hire candidate the social Web interview employee turning down young job candidates post social media commonplace report On Device Research photos comments Facebook Twitter Pinterest other social networking sites persons young people rejected employment social media profiles profile marketing manager Sarah Quinn career prospects education career careers /

Mucus found to harbor a previously unknown human immune system

Credit: San Diego University/ Gizmag

http://www.gizmag.com/mucus-new-human-immune-system/27658/ / protective barrier underlying tissues moist trap traps bacteria foreign organisms researchers at San Diego State University SDSU discovered surface site independent human immune system infectious agents tissue lines inner surfaces body outer environment mouth nose sinuses throat lungs gastrointestinal tract protection passive research team biology post-doc Jeremy Barr immune system surface mucus layer bacteria-infecting bacteria bacterium virus viruses bacteriophage actively attack kill infectious harmless bacteria multiply adheres immunity invading bacteria surface layer bond sugar molecules E. coli bacteria attacked killed powerful anti-microbial anti microbial barrier protects animals infection disease hypothesis cells coated coated cells varieties bacteriophage collected defend infection killing infectious intruders comfortable living conditions food hosts replication proposes new immune system demonstrates symbiotic relationship phage animals /

Your brain could be your new password

Credit: Wiki Commons/ Dvice

Really?  Could be some resistance to the headwear.

http://www.dvice.com/2013-4-16/your-brain-could-be-your-new-password / security gatekeeper gate keeper remembering remember forget forgotten multiple passwords technology software solutions lock out data records information university California UC Berkeley School of Information brainwave signals performing set repeatable tasks subjects students thoughts preferences favorite songs brainwaves  Bluetooth headset records Electroencephalographic EEG activity software analyze activity scientists discovered system accurately match brain signals 99% accurate Professor John Chuang study accurately authenticate users unique thoughts individual brain wave patterns identify /

Reversing Alzheimer's

A new drug has been shown to halt & reverse the effects of Alzheimer's in mice.  Not time to start celebrating just yet, but this looks like real progress.

http://www.gizmag.com/tspo-ligands-alzheimers-mice/27618/ / cure disease research conducted University of Southern California drug drugs TSPO translocator protein ligands scientists successful successfully halted reversed effects male genetically engineered to develop progress tested elderly steroid hormones animals testing existing testosterone levels kept low before beginning treatment aging castration castrated level treatment treatments improvements pathology improvements memory behavior /

Keyprop™: Simplest stand + clap-to-snap app by Integral Design (video)

Credit: Integral Design/ Kickstarter

It fits on your keyring!  It fits in your headphone jack!  It fits in your Lightning dock!  It props up your smartphone for comfortable viewing or taking photographs!  It comes with a free self timer app!  It's a Kickstarter project!

It's Keyprop!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alisonw/keyprop-simple-smartphone-stand-self-timer-app / viewing angle tripod bulb timer photograph selftimer photograph photography /

NSW Police test the "Liberator" 3D-printed gun (video)

Risk to the shooter is almost as great as the target.  Gives a whole new meaning to the words, "single shot pistol".

Interesting comments too.

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/05/watch-the-nsw-police-test-the-liberator-3d-printed-gun/ / gun firearm 3D printer cheap download public domain file data danger to operator shoot fire Liberator New South Wales Australia /

Uncertainty is no excuse for procrastinating on climate change

One of the favorite arguments of climate deniers is, "You can't be certain."  So what else is new?  We can never know the future with certainty, & always plan for the future with imperfect knowledge.

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/5/27/science-environment/uncertainty-no-excuse-procrastinating-climate-change?utm_source=exact&utm_medium=email&utm_content=303153&utm_campaign=cs_daily&modapt= / carbon dioxide CO2 greenhouse gas global warming climate change anthropomorphic /

Better Place electric vehicle service files for bankruptcy

Credit: Brian of London/ Green Car Reports

Despite the favorable reception the Better Place battery leasing/ charging/ swapping service has received in some quarters, the bad news continues, with the parent company filing for bankruptcy in Israel.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1084406_better-place-electric-car-service-files-for-bankruptcy

Tesla, (the only company in the world making a profit manufacturing electric cars) on the other hand, is doing very nicely, thank you.

http://qz.com/88214/the-lesson-from-better-places-bankruptcy-be-more-like-tesla/

Or how does a battery with a 1,000 mile range sound? Aluminum-air chemistry:

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1083111_phinergy-1000-mile-aluminum-air-battery-on-the-road-in-2017 / EV car LiIon lithium ion battery charge recharge battery swap exchange battery lithium ion LiIon electric vehicle EV quick charge recharge level 2 robot robotic automatic automated unmanned attendant attended unattended replacement remotely installed Renault Fluence model required only eligible vehicle 2012 Renault Fluence ZE mid-size sedan Turkey France lease battery pack company /

Network transparency: How future mobile networks could be built into glass windows

http://gigaom.com/2013/05/24/network-transparency-how-future-mobile-networks-could-be-built-in-glass-windows/ / Ericsson engineers experiment experimenting cell site embedded window demand mobile data grows grow growth network denser more dense building increasingly smaller cells closer to mobile users glass surfaces cover homes businesses vehicles CTIA Wireless Ericsson Networked Society Evangelist Mats Guldbrand technology equipment maker booth small antenna element embedded pane shielded glass Wi-Fi cellular signal nearby phones tablets laptops aggregate connections sending combined transmission LTE cell tower mobile simultaneous hand-overs cell towers network might battery life is repeater range-booster kits /

How does copyright work in space?

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield recently performed David Bowie's Space Oddity on the International Space Station. It is now playing to an international audience via YouTube.
Credit: NASA/ The Economist

Warning: copyright is even worse in space than it is on Earth.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/05/economist-explains-12 / space International Space Station sing singer performance guitar vocalist Major Tom ground control your circuit circuit's dead is there something wrong nation states Japan USA United States of America Chris Hadfield Canadian YouTube views of his free-fall rendition of David Bowie Space Oddity International Space Station Canada astronaut guitar gravity microgravity low orbit  Commander Hadfield terrestrial intellectual property regimes song lyrics video countries and the rights to it belong to distribution European Space Agency ESA consortium Russia Japan agreement /

GText from MightyText • SMS from Gmail

Credit: Google/ The Gadgeteer

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/05/24/gtext-from-mightytext-sms-from-gmail/ / Google Android Chrome text TXT SMS plugin send receive browser tab open plug-in Gmail compose button standard email compose button exchanges chat integrate /

Samsung Galaxy S4 performance is top-notch (video)

Credit: Consumer Reports

Fast. Fastest. For now. :)

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/04/samsung-galaxy-s4-review/

http://news.consumerreports.org/electronics/2013/05/the-best-smart-phone-in-our-tests-samsung-galaxy-s4.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/20/tech/mobile/galaxy-s4-top-smartphone/ / most advanced Android smart phone smartphone camera touch screen retina display LG Optimus G 5-inch high-definition 1080p touch-screen touchscreen gesture sensor based tools access accessing share sharing content create capture gloves cold weather multi tasking multi-tasker split screen splitscreen split-screen view video e-mail Google Maps Messaging simultaneously battery life voice quality varied mobile cell carriers IR infrared infra red infra-red blaster remote control HDTVs set-top boxes DVR recordings cable listings Google unlocked version Google Play Store LTE data networks GSM 3G 4G Nexus models interface app 4.3 user experience performance /

Auto exhaust contributes to clogged arteries

Add one more to the list of internal combustion engine disasters.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1084351_auto-exhaust-contributes-to-clogged-arteries-study-finds / pollution pollution carbon monoxide CO CO2 dioxide sulphur dioxide hydrocarbons petrol gas gasolene gasoline unburnt ICE internal combustion engine unburnt high low density lipoprotein HDL LDL cholesterol fuel car automobile hardening deposits deposit /

Patent Wars: Apple levels its latest patent complaints at Samsung’s Galaxy S4

Surprised?

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/05/apple-levels-its-latest-patent-complaints-at-samsungs-galaxy-s4/ / Android iPhone iOS patent infringement claim counter-suing counter battle US District Court Northern California lawsuit infringement case verdict latest generation of products added footnote filing infringement suit filed motion array Google services Quick Search Box Google Now infringe infringes Cupertino company OS operating system Federal Circuit's narrowed definitions narrow investigating Google Play Books  Google Play Music Google Play Movies TV Google Play Store Android Market AT&T version attorney motion customizations Android Jelly Bean platform accused products carriers claims asserted accused devices trial 2014 /

Samsung & LG OLED investment failure: moving back to LCD

Credit: Boy Genius Report

Planning on buying an OLED tv? Not likely to happen soon, if at all.

http://i0.wp.com/boygeniusreport.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/samsung-oled-hdtv-2.jpg?w=618 / tv television LED LCD liquid crystal display screen high definition HD OLED display organic light emitting diode sharp /

Space Oddity (video)

Credit: NASA/ Universe Today

David Bowie may have sung it first, but Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, actually did it in space:

/ space International Space Station sing singer performance guitar vocalist Major Tom ground control your circuit circuit's dead is there something wrong /

One year with Better Place: an electric car driver's report

Recently, the news for Better Place has been uniformly bad.  However, here is one customer's very positive experience after a year of all electric driving with Better Place in Israel:

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1084302_one-year-with-better-place-electric-car-drivers-report / battery lithium ion LiIon electric vehicle EV quick charge recharge level 2 robot robotic automatic automated unmanned attendant attended unattended replacement remotely installed /

Forget viruses, look out for ants in your motherboard!

Credit: Joe MacGown/Mississippi Entomological Museum/ DVICE

They're called crazy ants & they like to nest in electronics!  From time to time, they will cause a short circuit which will destroy the device they are nesting in.

http://www.dvice.com/2013-5-19/forget-viruses-look-out-ants-your-motherboard / bridge short circuit alarm pheromone /

Burglary suspects butt-dial 911, record themselves commiting crime

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/dial/ / drugs narcotics Fresno California two men accidentally dialed 911 cell mobile phone butt-dialing or pocket-dialing 911 dispatcher communicate caller caller assistance criminal behavior incriminating evidence police smoking marijuana breaking break stolen property /

iPhone 5S: Parts photos show internal overhaul

http://bgr.com/2013/05/16/iphone-5s-photos-parts-leak-exclusive/ / Apple next-generation iPhone 5S same external design predecessor upgrades flagship iPhone 2013 appearance appear significant internal redesign launch launches autumn fall high resolution high-resolution photos components Earlier rumors have suggested that the iPhone 5S will include several internal changes such as a faster processor, a better camera and possibly even a fingerprint scanner that makes use of Apple’s AuthenTec acquisition. Nothing has been confirmed at this point, but leaked photos of redesigned internal components suggest that Apple is indeed planning an internal overhaul to improve various iPhone features and likely to make room for new components as well high-quality images several internal components source identified parts loud speaker loud-speaker bracket ear speaker bracket vibrating motor assembly Wi-Fi flex cable ribbon SIM card tray upcoming seventh generation seventh-generation vibrating motor assembly leaked before source colour color beige iOS 7 /

BlackBerry Messenger goes cross-platform on iPhone & Android this summer

Now this could be useful & popular. Interesting to see what happens.

http://drippler.com/updates/share/blackberry-messenger-goes-cross-platform-iphone-android-summer / RIM Research In Motion instant messaging IM Apple Google iOS BlackBerry surprise announcement huge conference keynote popular messaging app northern summer BBM other platforms premiere multi-platform IM solution Thorsten Heins CEO on stage free /

University of Glasgow makes 3D models with single-pixel sensors, skips the cameras (video)

http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/17/university-of-glasgow-creates-3d-models-with-single-pixel-sensor/ / capturing 3D models real world real-world objects multiple cameras tricky to calibrate University of Glasgow 4 four single-pixel single pixel sensors stitching 3D image reflected intensity light patterns projector pixel count lowers lower cost per sensor few dollars extends sensitivity terahertz wavelengths products invention useful for cancer detection noble pursuits facsimiles /

Congress sends Google a list of questions about privacy & Glass

Be sure to check the reader comments.  Lots of interesting ideas.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/05/congress-sends-google-a-list-of-questions-about-privacy-and-glass/ / Google camera spectacles glasses interface smart smartphone Bluetooth display prototype explorer congressional bipartisan Congressional privacy caucus letter eight questions protected Google Glass headsets headset photos photo video discreet manner smartphone camera pointing direction subject advances advance facial recognition technology data collected increasingly consolidated user accounts access considerable data about you Co-Chairman incorporate privacy protections device consent information collected by Glass facial recognition would factor into Glass store any personal information limit technology protect user non-user privacy collect privacy policy collect device-specific information response product director Steve Lee addressed social implications people wearing Glass /

Google Glass "prescription edition" makes a cameo at Google I/O

Credit: Engadget

Obvious next step.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/17/google-glass-prescription-edition-makes-a-cameo-at-google-i-o/ / Google camera spectacles glasses interface smart smartphone Bluetooth display prototype explorer /

Would you prefer your MacBook to fall on the floor?

Credit: The Gadgeteer

Apple laptops have a magnetic connector for their charging cable, called MagSafe.  Idea is that if the charge cable is kicked, the connector will disconnect & the laptop won't be damaged by a fall to the floor.

But relief is at hand for those MacBook owners who don't understand that a fall to the floor is not compatible with continued operation of their computer: MagStay Power Connection Lock.

Problem solved?

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/05/13/keep-the-power-cord-connected-to-your-mac-laptop-with-the-magstay-ms-01/ / charge recharge connect connector battery /

Brain creates circuits to bypass areas of damage

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/-2jivi.html     / scientists brain respond damage forming complex new circuits another brain region away injure injury injured site research team Sydney scientists found damage memory forming centre center brain hippocampus circuits front region brain prefrontal cortex rats damage rodent rodent's memories memory extensive training animals relearn tasks results new methods treating brain-damaged brain damage damaged patients novel drug targets enhance recovery findings published ipublish journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences multiple independent circuits perform specific tasks case cases research shows brain recruit completely different pathways in the brain were thought to have other functions learning memory study co-author Bryce Vissel head neuroscience research program Garvan Institute of Medical Research previous studies humans rats showed loss damage hippocampus devastating memory scientists believed recovery would occur close injured region laboratory studies conducted colleagues Michael Fanselow University of California team found rats damage hippocampi needed training could relearn tasks after injury Alzheimer's specialist disease interferes new treatments brain-damaged brain damage damaged  patient patients /

Why digital zoom may not be completely evil after all

Cropped after the event on the left, digital zoom on the right.
Credit: appstorm

We've all heard it: "Digital zoom is useless. It doesn't give you anything you can't get by cropping in an image editor later." You may have said it yourself. I have.

appstorm makes the case that it's not always so simple.

http://android.appstorm.net/general/opinion/why-digital-zoom-may-not-be-completely-evil-after-all/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AndroidAppStorm+%28Android+AppStorm%29 / exposure interpolation optical digital artefact camera detail contrast degrade image capture VGA resolution image blocky upsampled upsample megapixels lens lenses optics crisp sharp detail Android iOS iPhone smartphone cropping crop sensor laws physics electronics software save interpolate between data pixels data smooth smoother exposure focus point exposure focus accurate bright dull dim light available /

Whats happening at Tesla? (video)

Credit: Green Car Reports

Is Tesla about to offer battery-pack swapping for Model S?

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1084147_is-tesla-about-to-offer-battery-pack-swapping-for-model-s

And Consumer Reports has just awarded the Model S 99 out of 100. First time since 2007.

http://www.chargedevs.com/content/news-wire/post/consumer-reports-tesla-model-s-best-car-2007-video

Consumer Reports staff discuss the Model S (video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXP4Do1xPGk&feature=youtube_gdata_player / Consumer Reports Model S best car tested May 10 filing Securities & Exchange Commission, Tesla Motors factors influence adoption electric vehicles ability rapidly swap out battery pack development specialized public facilities perform swapping plan introduce battery swapping design 10-K filing implementing version technology 2013 information statement battery swaps introduce near future imminent announcement previous discussion battery swaps service centers centre center SEC filing, CEO Elon Musk tweet tweeted faster than you could fill a gas tank mystery announcement Financing Plan Service Plan recently announced lithium ion LiIon lithium-ion battery pack SuperCharger quick-charging quick charging  stations /

Commercial quantum computer available now

And, not surprisingly, it's much faster than conventional computers, but only for a specific type of problem.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23519?cmpid=NLC%7CNSNS%7C2013-GLOBAL%7Cdn23519&utm_medium=NLC&utm_source=NSNS&utm_content=dn23519     / commercially available quantum computer D-Wave company Burnaby Canada spooky action of quantum mechanics non-mainstream method adiabatic quantum computing quantum bits qubits zero one values 0 and 1 at the same time theoretically offering much faster computing speed truly quantum the qubits must be linked via the quantum property of entanglement entangled Catherine McGeoch Amherst College Massachusetts consultant D-Wave hardware is optimisation problem minimising minimizing minimize minimise solution complicated equation variables practical applications image recognition machine learning colleague Cong Wang Simon Fraser University, Burnaby problem D-Wave Two computer 439 qubits superconducting niobium loops solve problem high-end desktop computer 3600 times faster best conventional algorithm problem CPLEX performance problems conventional regular computers McGeoch results ACM International Conference on Computing Frontiers Ischia Italy number-crunching Jeremy O'Brien of the University of Bristol, UK strange but highly optimised way of calculating that does not rely on entanglement repeat experiments confirm quantum effect generic computers perform device dedicated solving specific problem McGeoch step would be to build a conventional processor optimised for this task for a fairer comparison says O'Brien algorithms classical system solutions rapidly improvey slowly converge on the best answer D-Wave's computer best solution almost instantly classical algorithm D-Wave team now convincing customers new kind of device solve problems more efficiently academic benchmarking developing real-world applications Williams /

Why drones aren’t that important to you

Credit: Centives

http://www.Centives.net/S/2013/why-drones-arent-that-important/     / technology military civilian purposes stealth passenger jets expensive huge capital investments pilot ground controlling aircraft satellite uplink small drones commercial small range photograph photo videos fuel helicopter transform world express helicopter industry purposes concerns FBI /

Samsung Galaxy S4 review: Jack of all trades, master of one

Credit: Boy Genius Report

http://bgr.com/2013/05/08/samsung-galaxy-s4-review-redux-software-services/     / Android phone cell mobile smartphone screen pixel density retina display glossy plastic previous model buttons technology 1.9GHz quad-core quad core processor 2GB RAM 13 megapixel rear camera 2 front camera 4G LTE, 802.11 a b g n ac NFC 2,600 mAh battery noise cancellation barometer RGB light sensor gesture sensor, temperature sensor humidity gyroscope proximity sensor accelerometer thinner lighter  stretch my hand tap targets slimmer bezel surrounding display Air View stylus hover mouse over S pen s-pen preview Air Gestures interact infrared sensor screen ear wave your hand ear proximity sensor Smart Pause head flagship smartphone mode mobile cell phone battery 2100 2600 mAh milliamp hour Amp LiIon lithium ion screen technology size 4.8 4.99 inch touch Android Google carrier broadband mobile Apple iPhone 4.8-inch Super AMOLED HD screen 4.99-inch FHD display with 1080p resolution 13MP camera quad core processor  wireless charging removable battery microSD slot Exynos 5 Octa processor eight cores uses four at a time /

How long it takes hackers to crack your password with brute force methods

How long?

Depends.

For weak passwords, minutes.

For strong passwords, thousands of years.

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/02/how-long-it-takes-hackers-to-crack-your-password/ / security verify verification alphabetic numeric punctuation spaces eight characters remember random mix mixture upper lower case number numbers numerals punctuation symbols dictionary word English foreign alphabet secret reveal Fast Identity Online Alliance FIDO /

PayPal says it's time to ditch passwords & PINs

How many online services do you have accounts with?  How many passwords?  How many unique passwords?  How many passwords can you remember? 

For many reasons, most people have weak passwords & reuse the same password on different sites.  PayPal says passwords aren't cutting it any more — time for something new.

http://www.macworld.co.uk/digitallifestyle/news/?newsid=3446582

How to construct a strong password
http://www.lockdown.co.uk/?pg=password_guide / security verify verification alphabetic numeric punctuation spaces eight characters remember random mix mixture upper lower case number numbers numerals punctuation symbols dictionary word English foreign alphabet secret reveal Fast Identity Online Alliance FIDO /

Casetop "laptop" uses your smartphone as its brains (video)

Credit: Gizmag

Your smartphone has lots of processing power (4 cores common, 8 in the new Galaxy S4) & storage (at least 4 GB, 64 GB removable in some).  In practice, the biggest barrier to productivity on a smartphone is the user interface: screen & keyboard are too small.

Solution: Casetop adds an 11 inch screen & full size keyboard to your smartphone (iPhone, Android or Blackberry). User interface problems solved. And it charges your phone while it's connected.  Casetop is a Kickstarter project.

Cost: Apart from the screen, all of the expensive parts are already in your smartphone, so you can have Casetop for only $250.

Why is this a fabulous idea? Full size (well, 11 inch) screen, full size keyboard & BIG (!) battery for your smartphone. You could even downsize your smartphone (say S4 replacing Note 2) for a saving on purchase price & a more convenient size phone.

One more thing: funding target is $300,000, not $3 million as indicated in the Gizmag article.

http://www.gizmag.com/livi-design-casetop/27418/

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lividesign/casetop-every-phone-becomes-a-laptop / memory Bluetooth HDMI island keys Apple IBM Android iOS iPhone smart phone Samsung HTC Blackberry Microsoft Windows /

Do you remember?

Probably not.

Despite most people's perception, a memory is not like a snapshot; more a flawed reconstruction.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303815404577334040572533780.html / memory remember flawed changed reconstruction justice injustice /

How much fun is a Tesla electric car?

This much:

/ LiIon battery lithium ion charge recharge EV electric vehicle acceleration excitement squeal scream shriek Roadster /

Pebble smartwatch teardown – iFixit

Credit: iFixit

The bad news: Not possible to repair (or even replace the battery) because large amounts of adhesive mean that the watch can't be disassembled without destroying the display.

The good news: Good battery life & resulting long intervals between battery charges will yield a battery life around 10 years.

More good news: Bluetooth Low Energy is supported by the hardware & will be enabled by an upcoming firmware update.

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Pebble+Teardown/13319/1 / LiIon battery lithium ion charge recharge component cycle durability replace change well made waterproof atmospheres glue disassemble Kickstarter project E-Paper /

GM: Next generation Volt will be $10,000 cheaper to build

And GM will begin making a profit on them.

200 mile pure EV from GM, "in a few years", too.

http://www.plugincars.com/next-generation-volt-will-be-10k-cheaper-127121.html  / EV electric vehicle LiIon lithium ion battery charge recharge range level 1 2 3 charger /

Solar breakthrough could see panel prices fall, efficiency rise

Credit: WikiPedia

To date, a problem with producing electricity with photovoltaic solar cells has been efficiency, typically peaking at 19%.  Conventionally, such efficiency is only achieved using the highest quality (& most expensive) silicon.  Now, engineers at the University of New South Wales have found a method to increase efficiency to between 21 & 23% using lower quality silicon, promising higher efficiency at lower cost.

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2013/5/7/solar-energy/australian-solar-breakthrough-could-see-panel-prices-fall-efficiency-rise?utm_source=exact&utm_medium=email&utm_content=283596&utm_campaign=cs_daily&modapt / PV photo voltaic photovoltaic solar cell silicon hydrogen quality efficiency price cost of production /

Geothermal power plant goes live in Australia

Credit: USA Geothermal Technologies Office

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/02/geodynamics_habanero_goes_live/ / thermal energy electric electricity renewable sustainable green geology heat exchanger injection working fluid best turbine load AC DC high voltage transmission steam power plant dry flash production well ground water geology rock layers heat exchanger binary cycle power plant generator alternator /

Nissan slashes Leaf price to sell electric car in Australia

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1083932_nissan-slashes-leaf-price-to-sell-electric-car-in-australia / EV electric vehicle car LiIon lithium ion battery iron range regen regenerative braking /

World's first 3D-printed gun makes its debut

Pistol assembled from separately printed components.  Only the "firing pin" (actually the nail near the handgrip), & the ammunition, is made of metal.
Credit: BBC

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57582725-76/worlds-first-3d-printed-gun-makes-its-debut/ / Defense Distributed Texas-based nonprofit status Forbes images 3D printed 3D-printed handgun fire firing standard handgun rounds plastic nail firing pin six ounce six-ounce piece of steel allow  detected metal detectors Cody Wilson Defense Distributed plan plans Liberator Forbes gun barrel barrels calibre calibers ammunition publish CAD files mechanics Web share public gun violence 3D printing Stratasy 3D printers printer device gun development U.S. Undetectable Firearms Act detected law enforcement tools handgun /

Jesus lizard (video)

Credit: FactZoo.com

Jesus lizard?  Why do they call it that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45yabrnryXk&feature=youtube_gdata_player / reptile run walk on water Jesus Christ reptile Basilisk Central America related to the Iguana /

Google Glass battery life bad according to early reviews

http://bgr.com/2013/05/01/google-glass-battery-life/ / wearable tech is pundits smart eyewear watch watches connected devices future tech smartphone smart phone cell mobile Explorer version Google’s headset battery life longevity problem portable consumer electronics charging laptop tablet battery limitations charging phones normal usage wearable tech battery life smartwatches smartwatch smart watch Pebble low-power E Ink display Apple iWatch days per charge category wearable devices connected eyewear /

7 foods a nutritionist would never eat

Credit: livestrong.com

Few surprises here!  Rice cakes?

http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/7-foods-nutritionist-would-never-eat?utm_source=Taboola&utm_medium=cpc / rice cakes grits corn fibre simple processed carbohydrates refined vinegar oil saturated fat salad dressing diet food low-fat low fat no-fat no fat glycemic index glucose carbs carbohydrate blood sugar weight loss health fat-free fat free plant oils essential fatty acids antioxidants food companies sugar high fructose corn syrup emulsifying agents seitan meat substitute vegetarian dishes soya beans soy wheat gluten highly allergenic protein wheat allergies intolerances allergy intolerance risk benefit fish omega-3 fats mercury omega 3 health effects shark tuna shark tilefish salmon grain grains food chain concentration vitamins minerals pasta rice sugar sweetened beverage soft fizzy carbonated  /

Mozilla takes aim at spyware that masquerades as Firefox

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/04/finfisher-firefox/ / browser www Web World Wide Web Internet engine /