Electronics

Apple got a patent for a system to adjust your falling device in flight to minimize the damage on landing. Larry Greenemeier reports

 

The president is offering Cuba something the Castro government never asked for: access to U.S.-backed telecommunications services and gadgets

With services like Twitter and Facebook ready at our fingertips, the internet is making it possible for people to share more than ever about their personal experiences.

It’s that time of year, when we all look back over 2014 and reflect on all the cool science stuff that happened. Today, Jen-Luc Piquant has compiled her Top 20 physics-themed videos of 2014 — with the caveat that not all of them were actually created in 2014.

Americans looked to Google for information on Ebola, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and the actor Robin Williams’s suicide this year—all of which ranked among the hottest search terms of 2014.

A couple of months ago, the sun sported the largest sunspot we've seen in the last 24 years. This monstrous spot, visible to the naked eye (that is, without magnification, but with protective eyewear of course), launched more than 100 flares.

IBM scientists in India developed an experimental power supply from reusable lithium ion cells salvaged from three-year-old laptop battery packs. Larry Greenemeier reports

 

By using tiny carbon nanotubes tuned electronically to particular gases, researchers turned smartphones into toxin sensors. Cynthia Graber reports

 

I wrote a post yesterday about the missing fundamental effect. It’s a startling auditory illusion in which your brain hears a note that is lower than any of the notes that are actually playing.

The innovation industry faces an uncertain future, as long as the United States R&D Tax Credit remains a Congressional roller coaster ride.

Telephones lie about sounds because odd numbers aren't even. Once again with those integers and sound perception! Telephones can only pick up frequencies above 300 or 400 Hertz (cycles per second, also called Hz), but most adults’ speaking voices are lower than 300 Hz (approximately the D above middle C).

New York City public schools are missing hundreds and possibly thousands of computers, due to poor record keeping, theft, corruption or some combo. Larry Greenemeier reports