• Entertainment & Gaming

    Playing Games With Science: N3wton

    By Paul Adams Posted on 9.26.2008 7 Comments

    Newton's Third Law is often quoted as "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." As N3wton's title suggests, the Third Law is at the heart of this little physics-oriented computer game. Click to play. (Warning: there's music.)

  • Entertainment & Gaming

    The Spawn of Spore

    By Sean Captain Posted on 6.17.2008 5 Comments

    Years in the making, Will Wright’s Spore peeks out today with the release of the Creature Creator. The free download is a toolkit for designing the life forms that will inhabit the Spore universe when the full game launches on September 7.

  • Entertainment & Gaming

    The Spawn of Spore

    By Sean Captain Posted on 6.17.2008 5 Comments

    Years in the making, Will Wright’s Spore peeks out today with the release of the Creature Creator. The free download is a toolkit for designing the life forms that will inhabit the Spore universe when the full game launches on September 7.

  • Entertainment & Gaming

    The Science of Superheroes

    By John Mahoney Posted on 1.31.2008 15 Comments

    Spiderman, Batman, the Fantastic Four, Ironman—seems like every time we go to the movies, there's some guy in a unitard saving the world with acts of unnatural physics. We realize that these are works of fantasy, so we don't get too upset when the science portrayed in them comes from some alternative universe.

  • Gadgets

    Border Security to Become Copyright Police?

    By Matt Ransford Posted on 5.30.2008 19 Comments

    As if the security in airports and controls at border crossings weren't slow and intrusive enough, governments around the world are quietly passing laws to allow them to search the contents of your laptop and other electronic devices, like iPods and cellphones. A United States court last month gave border agents carte blanche to hold a laptop for days and even copy its entire contents. The UK government has given its agents authority to search computers at its borders for pornography. But in what may be the most baffling and cumbersome move of all, the US, Canada, UK, and other EU nations are working behind closed doors on a new trade agreement which could turn border agents into the copyright police.

  • Gadgets

    Wind Power on the Go

    By Matt Ransford Posted on 4.22.2008 2 Comments

    digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gadgets/Wind_Power_On_The_Go'; I've seen hand-held solar chargers before—the Solio immediately comes to mind—but I've yet to see a functional wind-powered hand-held charger. Enter the HYmini. It's palm-sized, comes in three colors, costs 50 bucks, and can charge your gadgets with nothing but a stiff breeze. Well, almost. While it's a welcome idea, on closer inspection, the feature set isn't all we'd like it to be.

  • Technology

    The Human Luck of the Draw

    By Matt Ransford Posted on 4.17.2008 13 Comments

    We've talked in this space in the past few months about detecting the existence of Earth-like planets in other solar systems, and on the educated guesswork which goes into putting a number on the probability of intelligent life existing out there as well. You may remember that the discovery of terrestrial planets is well on its way as technology improves; and that the Drake equation—with all its assumptions—has proved to be remarkably accurate.



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