Stories by Larry Greenemeier

The Trouble with Rocket Packs [Slideshow]

They're crowd-pleasers, but they'll never live up to the expectation Buck Rogers set in the 1920s

Will the Personal Jet Pack Ever Get off the Ground? [Slideshow]

Despite decades of interest in human flight powered by backpack jets, the technology's limitations have kept it grounded, but this could soon change

Tornadoes Take the D.C. Area by Storm

Hundreds are injured in Maryland and Virginia as rare cyclonic storms, more common to the Midwest, inundate the region

News Bytes of the Week--Get rowdy at this pub and you'll get bounced by a bot

New drug raises hope Alzheimer's cure not far off; Does ennui lead to errors? (hint: oui); and more . . .

150-Year-Old Computer Brought to Life [Slideshow]

A Silicon Valley museum brings inventor, philosopher and alleged music hater Charles Babbage's computing contraption to life

Maps Point the Way to Fighting the Flu Virus

An international team of researchers has crafted software that illustrates interactions between immune systems and the flu strains trying to breach their defenses--on a global scale

Lawmakers: Terrorists May Tap Same Web 2.0 Tools as Military

A new congressional study indicates that terrorists may be using the same technologies to plan attacks that the U.S. military uses to train troops

News Bytes of the Week: Toxic Pets?

Trading security for sweets, Researchers trick Wi-Fi, Traders' testosterone levels predict their profits and more...

DARPA Pushes Machine Learning with Legged LittleDog Robot

With phase two testing wrapped up, six teams of roboticists are focused on improving LittleDog's speed and agility

Leggy "BigDog" Robot Set to Step Up for the Military

DARPA wants to see a robotic workhorse navigate treacherous terrain on its own by the end of the year, in preparation for possible deployment to Afghanistan or Iraq

Brawn or Brains? Researchers Push the Limits of Legged Robots

Advances in mechanical and software systems give the DARPA-funded BigDog and LittleDog robots a leg up

Millennium Foundation Recognizes Inventors and Technologies That Changed the World

Scientists at Bell Labs, Harvard--M.I.T. and the University of Leicester are among the finalists for the $1.8-million Finnish award

Tech and Broadcast Companies Battle for Unused Airwaves

Wireless companies want to control so-called white spaces between TV channels, but broadcasters say handing it over could cause interference with their digital TV plans

Knee-Jerk Power

News Bytes of the Week--Smoldering Hawaiian volcano an ongoing geologic hottie

The oldest voice recording, Nose for danger, A new twist on silicon circuits and more...

Space Cadets, Grab Your Sunscreen: Space Tourism Set for Liftoff

XCOR sets 2010 as the date when its Lynx suborbital spacecraft will bring civilians to the cusp of space

Security Breach: Feds Lose Laptop Containing Sensitive Data -- Again

This time, a thief made off with a computer containing unencrypted details of about 2,500 participants in an NIH clinical trial

News Bytes of the Week--Can Money Make You Happy?

A camera with a thousand lenses, fMRIs can't finger fibbers and more...

Forget Diamonds--Is Zirconia a Jet Engine's Best Friend?

Although not exactly the faux rocks that dazzle on home shopping networks, a new diamondlike coating protects jet turbines from extreme heat, allowing the engines to run hotter and cleaner...

Rainforest Climate Change Sensor Station Goes Wi-Fi

U.C.L.A. researchers are setting up a wireless data collection, dissemination and analysis system in Costa Rica's La Selva rainforest