The Grouse

Mourning the Death of the Meta Media Experience

Face it: On-demand is the future of TV. But is passive channel surfing and collective viewing something we won't know the value of until it's gone?

I tend to think of my cable bill kind of like my health insurance premium. Every month, I begrudgingly pony up the funds necessary to continue this so-called “service” wondering the what the heck it is I’m actually paying for--especially since most of what I regularly watch can be found online in some form--all the while deathly afraid of the consequences should I ever stop wiring in my money.

Every month, I consider amputating cable from my bottom line once and for all. But what’s holding me back is that I think I might actually miss it.

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New Space Telescope Could Search for Both Exoplanets and Dark Energy

Europe's proposed Euclid mission would use a microlensing technique to hunt both ET and dark energy

Dark Energy Hunter: Europe's Euclid space telescope could pick up on distorted light from distant galaxies, and pick up clues on the existence of dark energy.  S. Colombi (IAP), CFHT Team
Dark energy may not have much in common with aliens, unless there's a flotilla of freaky monoliths out there with really weird physical properties. But astrophysicists hope to build a two-in-one space telescope that can search for signs of dark energy along with exoplanets.

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High-Tech Space Gloves Win NASA's Astronaut Glove Challenge

Two teams claimed $250,000 and $100,000 prizes for besting NASA's current top glove design

Glove designers walked away with a total of $400,000 in prize money at NASA's second Astronaut Glove Challenge yesterday. The U.S. space agency awarded the money because the private glove designs beat the in-house version, and NASA may incorporate the designs into the Constellation spacesuit intended for next-gen astronauts returning to the moon.

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BOWN

China Central Television (CCTV) Headquarters

Better buildings through geometry

CCTV‘s new headquarters in Beijing wears its engineering on its sleeve. So complex is this 768-foot-tall anti-skyscraper that the architects, the Netherlands-based Office of Metropolitan Architecture, chose to show off the structural seams for visual effect.

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The (Slightly) Poorer Man's Tesla: ECOS Harbinger

Italian looks, German engineering and American electrics. Zero to 60 in five seconds, scissor doors, and you'll even get some change back from a $100,000 bill

For around 13 grand, Electric Cars of Springfield (ECOS) will turn your old beater into an all-electric commuter car. But for a few bucks (around $77,000) more, they'll build you an entire, turn-key sports car. It's called the Harbinger. It hits an electronically limited 117 miles per hour, gets to 60 mph in five seconds and undercuts the Tesla roadster on price. Did I mention it comes with Lamborghini-style scissor doors?

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Decoded Corn Genome Promises Higher Yields, Better Biofuels, New Plastics


Corn, Illinois:  Randy Wick/Flickr
With its annual output of over 330 million tons a year feeding animals, running cars, and decorating South Dakota tourist attractions, maize is clearly Americas most important crop. That's why the newly published complete corn genome could drastically change the food, automotive and plastic industries.

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Everything You Need To Know About Chrome OS


Until today, Google's Chrome OS has been little more than a wordy concept. Now, finally, we truly know what it is, what it looks like, and how it works. Here's the breakdown.

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BOWN

Sea-Doo GTX Limited iS 255

A personal watercraft puts on the brakes

Rocketing along the water at 60 mph in a personal watercraft (PWC) is a lot of fun, but it’s not traditionally the safest pastime. PWCs make up less than 10 percent of recreational boats yet account for 24 percent of all accidents, in large part because they have no brakes and cannot be steered when the throttle is released. After eight years of research and development aimed at reversing those gloomy statistics, Sea-Doo finally unveiled the GTX Limited iS 255, the first PWC with on-water braking.

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National Archives To CSI-ify Haldeman's Paper Notes In Search Of Watergate's Lost 18 Minutes


Of the remaining mysteries surrounding the Watergate break-in, none confound conspiracy buffs more than the 18 and a half minutes of tape deleted from the June 20th, 1972 meeting in the Oval Office. Now, after 37 years and several forensic analyses of the audio tape itself, the National Archives will turn its attention to the only physical notes taken during that meeting in the hope of extracting more information about the famous recording gap.

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Thousands of Worms Headed to International Space Station For Muscle Tests


The perils of space flight number in the hundreds, from radiation exposure to the impact of micro-asteroids. But for astronauts who spend an extended amount of time floating weightlessly in the near-endless void of space, muscle atrophy remains the most common health problem. Thankfully, a shipment of RNA-treated worms may help scientists on the International Space Station solve that issue.

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December 2009: Best of What's New

In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.

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