Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany, have visualized for the first time the finest details of neurons in the brains of a living mouse.

The researchers, led by Stefan Hell, have taken a decisive step towards unraveling the finest structures of the brain to…

iRobot Corp. has announced plans to invest $6 million in InTouch Health, a telemedicine company operating in 80 hospitals around the world, possibly building on iRobot’s Ava, a tablet-compatible telepresence robot. [Technology Review]

A gravity-mapping spacecraft orbiting the moon has beamed home its first video of the lunar far side, a view people on Earth never see.

The new video was captured by one of NASA’s twin Grail probes using a novel camera called MoonKAM, which will eventually be used by students on Earth to snap photos… [Space.com]

Sandia National Laboratories researchers have built a prototype of a four-inch-long, small-caliber bullet capable of steering itself towards a laser-marked target located approximately 2,000 meters (1.2 miles) away.

Aided by little fins, the on-board guidance and control electronics use the information passed on by an optical sensor located in the nose to calculate the… [Gizmag]

Artificial intelligence researcher Hooman Samani has invented the “Kissenger,” a small pair of lips stuck to a circular body that you can plug into your computer via a USB cord while you’re Skyping with your partner far across the world.

Simply kiss it and have your partner (human or robotic) do the same. The… [Huffington Post]

Scientists at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) and ITN Energy Systems have developed a new circular polarization filter with the potential to aid in early cancer detection, enhance vision through dust and clouds, and even improve a moviegoer’s 3D experience.

Polarization is the process by which…

Life in this world is not like it used to be just a few decades ago, and the availability of world-class education on-demand, at almost no cost, is likely to help things change all the more as this century unfolds.

YouTube now hosts more than 500,000 educational videos, on a wide variety of topics.… [ReadWriteWeb]

After drilling for two decades through more than two miles of antarctic ice, Russian scientists are on the verge of entering a vast, dark lake that hasn’t been touched by light for more than 20 million years.

This is the first direct contact with what scientists now know is a web of more than… [Washington Post]

New findings by neuroscientists at the University of Bristol reveal why the brain may become less able to function as we grow older.

In mice studies, the research identified a novel cellular mechanism (sodium channels) underpinning changes to the activity of neurons, which may underlie cognitive decline during normal healthy…

The Defense Advanced Research Projects (DARPA) agency is working with Innovega to create  wearable contact lenses with tiny, full-color displays that digital images can be projected onto to give the wearers better situational awareness in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) activities, according to the agency.

iOptiks are contact lenses that enhance… [Information Week]

During the next five years, NASA technology development efforts should focus on 16 high-priority technologies and their associated top technical challenges, says a new report from the National Research Council, sponsored by NASA.

The high-priority technologies include items such as radiation mitigation; guidance, navigation, and control; nuclear…

NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) has captured the best and most complete glimpse yet of what lies beyond the solar system.

The new measurements give clues about how and where our solar system formed, the forces that physically shape our solar system, and the history of other stars in the…

Research by Vivek Wadhwa, VP of academics and innovation at Singularity University, and his team found in a survey that the average and median age of the founders of successful U.S. technology businesses (with real revenues) is 39.

They found twice as many successful founders over 50 as under 25,… [Technology Review]

Mouse skin cells can be converted directly into cells that become the three main parts of the nervous system, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

The finding is an extension of a previous study by the same group showing that mouse and human skin cells can be…

I’m sick of hearing about how we need to cave in to repressive governments and throttle back Google, Twitter, Facebook, and other information services and accept Web censorship and limits on free expression. Get the hell off my cloud.

“If a full-surveillance world prevents us from speaking, then we need to make…

Move over Siri, Evi is the new kid in town.

It’s no Watson, but Evi, created by True Knowledge, a Cambridge, U.K.-based semantic technology startup, like Siri, can answer questions posed by voice (using Nuance software) in a conversational manner or by typing.

But unlike Siri (only available on iPhone 4S),…

If you’re driving on the Autobahn right now, I advise you keep an eye out for this guy, who is apparently praying his driverless BMW doesn’t crash into something (note: this is a highway without speed limits — not reassuring).

(Videos here.)

Hey, BMW: why not toss in a…

Stoner alert: psilocybin (the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms) messes with your brain.

OK, not exactly a news flash. But that’s what researchers in the U.K. and Denmark found when they scanned the brains of 30 people tripping on psilocybin.

But here’s what’s interesting: the researchers did two different types of functional MRI (fMRI) brain…

It’s not just that workers are cheaper abroad, according to an important article in The New York Times Saturday. Most of the components of cellphones, computers, and other electronic products are now manufactured in China (and European and other East-Asia countries), so assembling the device half-a-world away would create huge logistical challenges, the…

We received an interesting email from sustainability expert/Singularity University grad Eric Ezechieli:
On January 27, I will be delivering a TEDx Trieste presentation, and I will speak in ‘”Exponentialish.” In exponential times, half a gallon of brain does not suffice to keep up with what is going on, and in any…

“Better the government shut down than Wikipedia go on strike. That would be like part of my mind going on strike. Just give them [Wikipedia] whatever they want — we don’t even need to hear what it is.” — Ray Kurzweil

What? You thought distracted drivers texting on cell phones and swerving erratically is a problem? That’s so 2011.

Imagine a future in which icons flash on your car windshield, hologram-style, as your car approaches restaurants, stores, historic landmarks or the homes of friends, effuses CNN.

Simply point your hand at them,…

The 1961 classic science-fiction movie Fantastic Voyage movie is about a team of scientists who are shrunk down and sent in a miniature submarine inside the body to repair a blood clot in an ailing colleague’s brain. How far have today’s scientists come in exploring inside the body?

Pretty far. We’ve reported…

China Telecom is reportedly launching mobile services in the U.K., the first time a Chinese telecom operator has launched MVNO services outside China (an MVNO is a mobile operator that sells services directly to its customers but does not own any of the infrastructure), according to China Tech News.

The service will…

“We are creating systems of comprehensive surveillance in which a billion people are involved and those people’s lives are being lived under a kind of scrutiny which no secret police service is the 20th century could ever have aspired to achieve,” claims militant digital privacy advocate Eben Moglen, Betabeat reports.

“And all…

Could this be the “Limitless” breakthrough we’ve been looking for?

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine  (BCM) have discovered that when the activity of PKR — a molecule normally elevated during viral infections — is inhibited in the brain, mice learn and remember dramatically better.

“The molecule…

OK, this one’s right out of The Matrix and The Manchurian Candidate.

Imagine watching a computer screen while lying down in a brain imaging machine and automatically learning how to play the guitar or lay up hoops like Shaq O’Neal, or even how to recuperate from a disease — without any conscious…

The next generation of the Kinect (bundled with future Xbox consoles) may be “so accurate it can lip read,” the Technology Review Hello World headline breathlessly reads — evoking HAL 9000 in 2001.

What’s more, says Eurogamer, citing a nameless source, “Kinect 2 will be so powerful it will enable…

How will we know if we have passed through a Singularity? Damn good question, one that keeps me up at night. Like right now.

Science fiction writer Vernor Vinge, originator of the technological Singularity concept, came up with some interesting answers in an io9 video interview: “When things begin to…