Stories by Larry Greenemeier

Brighter Idea: Next-Generation Inorganic LEDs Promise Longer Lives and More Lumens [Slide Show]

New ways of making light-emitting diodes (LEDs) could lead to brighter, more energy-efficient video screens and lighting

Apple, E.C. search for cause of alleged iPhone explosion

Both Apple and the European Commission's consumer protection division say they are investigating possible cases of iPhones and iPods overheating and exploding.

New Bone Cement Could Improve Spinal Treatments for Osteoporosis Sufferers

Vertebroplasty, a procedure to shore up fractured bones, has at times been dismissed as unnecessary, but a new bonding material could change this

Justice indicts three for alleged role in U.S.'s largest financial info heist

The Origin of the Computer Mouse

Now an endangered species, it was crucial to the development of personal computing and the Internet

IBM and Caltech experiment with DNA-size computer chips

Gadget makers have for decades relied on ever-shrinking microchips to make more portable, yet more powerful, devices. But as the components used to make these chips become smaller, with widths measured in dozens rather than hundreds of nanometers, they become increasingly more difficult to assemble.  Since microchips are the engines performing the logic functions that make computers, cell phones and countless other electronic gadgets run, technology makers like IBM have been looking to pack more transistors closer together in smaller spaces.  Now comes a potential solution...

The Great Electric Car Quandary: How to Build a Charging Infrastructure Before Demand Grows

Dozens of new electric-vehicle models from General Motors, Ford, Toyota and others are expected to hit the streets within the next couple of years. Will there be enough juice to keep them moving?...

NASA review panel to deliver grim news to Obama on moon-landing goal

Less than a month after the U.S. celebrated the 40th anniversary of its first moon landing, the country's space agency faces the dour possibility that it lacks the funds needed to be able to return there by 2020, a goal established by the Bush Administration in 2004...

i4i Defeats Microsoft in court over XML, but that's hardly the end of the story

What would Microsoft be without its omnipresent Word word-processing software? If a U.S. federal court has its way (and that's a big "if"), we could see the day.

GM touts Volt's fuel efficiency--With caveats

General Motors today announced that its Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle, set to begin production in late 2010, is expected to achieve city fuel economy of at least 230 miles per gallon, based on a new U.S...

Getting Back the Gift of Gab: Next-Gen Handheld Computers Allow the Mute to Converse

The latest assistive communication devices are here, and they work a bit like your iPhone

Twitter attack triggers conspiracy theories, but few seem plausible

The same week that the Obama Administration lost its acting cyber security czar, cyber attacks torpedoed several of the Web's most popular social-networking sites, in particular Twitter and Facebook ...

Going with the Flow: The Recipe for Baking a Better Solar Cell

Researchers seek to understand how organic thin-film solar cells work at the nano level

Voyage to the Pacific Ocean's garbage patch: Sadness, anger and a plea to help avoid catastrophic changes in the marine ecosystem

Editor's Note: Scuba instructor and underwater videographer Drew Wheeler  is traveling on board the Algalita Marine Research Foundation's 50-foot Ocean Research Vessel, Alguita , on a two-month voyage to sample and study portions of a 10-million-square-mile oval known as the North Subtropical Gyre (aka "Pacific garbage patch" )...

Federal cyber security revolving door continues as Hathaway departs

White House acting cyber security czar Melissa Hathaway on Monday became the latest to walk away from a position that (ostensibly, at least) promises to play the primary role in protecting the nation's digital infrastructure...

Power-hungry supercomputers going green

Google Android, iPhone May Be Vulnerable to SMS Hackers

Security researchers say at this week's Black Hat security conference that they can break into and/or shut down popular smart phones

The science of smiles

Microsoft and Yahoo join forces against Google--Finally

Yawn: A new cue for drowsy driver warning systems