Tech

Tech

FDA bans BPA in baby bottles, cups

From now on, U.S. manufacturers may no longer produce polycarbonate baby bottles and sippy cups (for toddlers) if the clear plastic had been manufactured from bisphenol A, a hormone-mimicking compound. Long-awaited, the announcement is anything but a bold gesture. The Obama administration decided to lock this barn door after the cow had died.

Tech

Interactive map like GPS for Roman Empire

A simulation calculates the cost in days and dinarii of shipping goods throughout the classical world.

Tech

The descent of music

Using an evolutionary process, researchers create pleasing tunes out of grating noise.

Tech

Court ‘shares’ researchers’ e-mails, intellectual property

“A situation has arisen involving scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) that should concern all those who value the principles of academic freedom and responsibility,” warns top WHOI officials. They were responding to a court order requiring that two WHOI scientists turn over 3,500 emails and other documents to BP. Included in the information was intellectual property that outsiders could exploit.

Tech

Bacterial trick keeps robots in sync

Communicating information about the environment allows a stumbling machine to rejoin its group.

Tech

Imperfect chip pretty darn good

Faster, smaller and more efficient, processors with that cut corners can still be good for some applications.

Tech

DNA used as rewritable data storage in cells

Genetically encoded memory could track cell division inside the body.

Ecosystems

Darwin’s Devices

What Evolving Robots Can Teach Us About the History of Life and the Future of Technology, by John Long.

Tech

Paralyzed woman grips, sips coffee with robot arm

For the first time, a brain-computer interface is powerful enough to enable useful movement in human patients.

Tech

Networks of networks are all around you — and you are one

Tech

Twitter kept up with Haiti cholera outbreak

Epidemiologists find that social media can be used to track disease outbreaks as they happen, even in countries with little infrastructure.

Tech

Software Scientist

With a little data, Eureqa generates fundamental laws of nature.