Tech

Tech

The numbers prove it: This is a data age

An assessment of the world’s computing capacity documents a staggering rise in power and storage since 1986.

Tech

Pint-sized Princess Leia nearer reality

Faster but fuzzier holographic 3-D teleconferencing debuts.

Math

Fruit flies teach computers a lesson

Insect's nerve cell development is a model of efficiency for sensing networks.

Tech

Dirty money 2: Expect traces of BPA

BPA showed up on 21 of the 22 greenbacks surveyed in a new study. And the clean dollar? It appeared quite new, suggesting that dollars only become contaminated as they circulate.

Tech

Terrorist-resistant ‘source’ of moly-99 hits the U.S.

Molybdenum-99 is the radioactive feedstock for the most widely used diagnostic nuclear-medicine isotope. On December 6, the first commercial batch of moly-99 that had been produced using a terrorist-resistant process arrived in the United States from a reactor in South Africa.

Tech

Heavier crudes, heavier footprints

BLOG: Refining heavy oils and tar sands could greatly exaggerate the greenhouse gases associated with fossil-fuel use, a new study finds.

Tech

Newfound water risk: Lead-leaching valves

Hidden elements in drinking-water lines can shed large amounts of lead, a toxic heavy metal. And it's quite legal, even if it does skirt the intent of federal regulations.

Tech

Lots of blame over BP well blowout, panel reports

Crews responsible for drilling BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, this past spring, missed plenty of signs that a catastrophic accident was looming, according to a November 17 interim report by the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council.

Tech

BPA: EPA hasn’t identified a safer alternative for thermal paper

Some researchers and public interest groups have been arguing that BPAfree thermal receipts paper is a preferable alternative, at least from a health perspective. But is it really? That’s what Environmental Protection Agency scientists want to know. And to date, they maintain, the jury’s still out.

Tech

Seeing red: Next installment in BPA-paper saga

Consumers now have a way to identify cash register tape that is free of endocrine-disrupting chemical.

Tech

Election projections for science investments

The November 2, mid-term election results are in (mostly) and pundits are billing it as a historic turnabout. With a divided Congress, passing legislation — never an easy task — risks becoming harder still. And with fiscal austerity having been a leading campaign issue for the newbies, R&D is unlikely to see a major boost in federal funding during the next two years.

Tech

Coming soon: Holographic Skype

The creators of the fastest telepresence system to date predict real-time 3-D TV in a decade.