A new communication device that is supposed to go inside military service members’ heads gives us a hint at the sort of technology a new US Defense Department accelerator programme is funding. Read More >>
You know that thing you do where you talk to your dog like it’s a baby? New research shows that puppies respond well to this silly form of speech, but older dogs couldn't give a crap. So, stop doing it when your dog grows up. Read More >>
Such is the popularity of all-encompassing messaging tool WhatsApp that Facebook was tempted to part with $16/£10.4 billion to get hold of it. It’s designed to be as simple and straightforward to use as possible, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some hidden tricks and features that you might not know about. Let us guide you through some of the best. Read More >>
Whether you have fibre supplying internet access to your home or not, you use optical systems to send and receive information every single day. This stunning video takes a look at the scientists and engineers that have enabled light to be used for human communication. Read More >>
Yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg ran a Q&A on Facebook, answering questions about the future of the social network, its technology and the internet at large. Read More >>
CERN is pimping some images of its newly renovated Large Hadron Collider today. It's an exciting upgrade for particle physics, but it also reminds me of the very first time CERN pimped some images on the web. In fact, CERN scientists pimped the very first image on the web nearly a quarter of a century ago. Read More >>
Half the time I send an emoticon I have no idea what the person on the other end is actually seeing. Which may seem pretty trivial, but is not entirely trivial! A lot of care goes into crafting a chat or text so as to relay tone and intention without body language. The emoji is real. And out of control. Read More >>
A particular detail has always stuck with me from The BFG, Roald Dahl's dark as hell children's book that's actually about giants snatching kids from their bedrooms. The one good, non kid eating giant tells his friend about superhuman hearing: "if I is twisting the stem of the flower till it breaks, then the plant is screaming. I can hear it screaming and screaming very clear." Read More >>
Most people lie. Whether it's once and a while or daily, everyone has to do their thing and sometimes lying seems like the best way to make it all work. But liars have tells, which can be just as important in life as in poker. And a new study suggests that people take longer to respond to texts when they're cooking up a lie. Just one more thing to factor into the social calculus. Read More >>
You might think of pneumatic tubes as an arcane means of pushing letters around big buildings — but there's a quiet revolution in the pipeline which could see them challenging digital communication, at least some of the time. Read More >>
Today, we take for granted the ability to send photos halfway around the world in an instant. (Which is probably why that popular smartphone photograph service is called Instant-Gram™.) But a century ago, getting a photograph across an ocean was a much more involved process than simply snapping a mirror selfie and publishing it to 3,000 of your closest friends. Read More >>
Telepathy isn't real. You can't read minds with nothing but the tools you were born with. But add a little bit of wiring and that starts to change. Scientists have now managed to get two lab rats to think in-sync with just a little augmentation. Read More >>
What is it about technology and Aussie rock band AC/DC? In July a computer hack led to the band's track Thunderstruck belting out at top volume in an Iranian nuclear power plant. Now AC/DC's signature hit Highway to Hell is riding on a laser beam that's being bounced off a drone in mid-flight. When the beam is reflected to a ground sensor, the full glory of the music is reconstructed without a cymbal crash out of place. Read More >>
"What are your favourite Sci Fi movies?" "I like Star Wars and The Matrix," comes the typed reply. I am trying to work out if I'm talking to a "hidden human" in the next room, or actually a machine located somewhere in cyberspace. Read More >>
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