Science

Much like the epic quests of yore, the hunt for the Higgs boson particle has inspired stirring music, Stephen Hawking wagers, and now a timepiece for your wrist.

The Higgs Boson Watch is the God Particle taken the form of a personal accessory. The face of the watch depicts the Higgs decaying into other bosons during a collision. The hands move in a hypnotic spiral. If you stare at it long enough, you may gain an understanding of the very fabric of our universe.… Read more

British scientists have come up with a super-sensitive prototype sensor that lets doctors detect early stage diseases with the naked eye, an innovation that could prove valuable in countries that lack the resources for expensive diagnostic equipment.

The sensor, created at Imperial College London, relies on nanotechnology to analyze serum derived from blood samples.

A positive reaction to p24, a protein that indicates early HIV infection, or PSA, a protein that at certain levels can indicate prostate cancer, generates irregular clumps of nanoparticles that emit a blue color in a solution kept in a disposable container.

A negative reaction, however, … Read more

As almost everyone knows, Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on the East Coast, and when all is said and done, its likely to leave a wide, expensive, and potentially fatal path of destruction in its wake. Yet despite a massive number of legitimate photos of the storm being uploaded to every social network you can think of -- including 10 a second to Instagram -- a number of sensational photos seem to be dominating the conversation.

The photos show incredible images like the eye of the hurricane floating over the top of the Statue of Liberty. Or of a very … Read more

Just in case your visual cortex hasn't been flooded with hurricane graphics yet, NASA has this interesting view of Sandy's interior.

The image was generated based on data gathered by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite, part of a mission jointly run with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Launched in 1997, the satellite can measure rainfall and cloud heights in tropical cyclones, which include hurricanes like Sandy and the typhoons that frequently lash the Japanese archipelago, such as Typhoon Tip, the largest of its kind on record. … Read more

Prepare to witness a tantalizing glimpse at our future robot overlords.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency yesterday released a stunning video showing how an autonomous robot can navigate and jump over obstacles with great ease.

In the clip, the Pet-Proto robot -- a predecessor to DARPA's Atlas robot -- traverses a simulated hallway containing a very tall step and a thin walkway. Pet-Proto easily uses its strong arms to balance itself as it climbs a step, then perfectly leaps down with a thud. The highly agile walker stretches its legs to continue its journey along the thin edges of a gutted hallway floor. … Read more

As a slight arachnophobe, I'm a bit surprised to discover that I find the above photo of live newborn lynx spiderlings stunning -- and the subjects rather adorable. Stunning and adorable are in the eye of the beholder, of course, but I do know that Walter Piorkowski's photo suddenly makes me feel a bit more comfortable with creepy crawlies.

It happens every year when Nikon announces the results of its annual Small World Photomicrography Competition, which celebrates the art of photography shot through a light microscope. Science becomes exquisite (unexpectedly at times) as photomicrographers turn their tiny lenses on the likes of bat embryos, algae, larva, stinging nettles, and ladybug legs. Even insidious cancer cells become visually mesmerizing. … Read more

Your smartphone could soon become a combination personal trainer and DJ.

Thanks to headphones that can measure your heart rate and acceleration, and a smartphone app that can identify which songs on your phone will help you reach your target heart rate, you won't have to guess which playlist best suits your next jog.… Read more

As a child, I used to concentrate really hard on things like pencils and pebbles, trying to get them to budge with the sheer power of my mind. It never worked, but technology is getting us a little closer to the mind control dream. The Muse brainwave-sensing headband from Interaxon is a step in the right direction.

The Muse uses two sensors on the forehead and two behind the ears. You wear it positioned kind of like a pair of glasses. It measures your brainwaves and sends the information to a smartphone or tablet. Viewing that data in real time can show you if your mind is wandering, if you're relaxed, or if you're in a state of intense concentration.… Read more

Perhaps the Red Planet isn't quite so red as we thought. NASA's Curiosity rover has been digging up some unusual bits in the soil of Mars. A couple weeks ago, the rover found a strange bright object which later turned out to be a part of the rover itself. Now we have a new mystery object to contend with.

Curiosity took a few scoops of Martian soil from a patch called "Rocknest." That activity uncovered a bright particle in the pit it created. Unlike the earlier object, NASA has confirmed the new piece is of Martian origin. There are others like it scattered around.… Read more