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Google has a new smartwatch but it’s probably not for you. A product of the secretive Google X team, the watch is more about health than notifications. It packs in more sensors and tracking features than you can find anywhere else. Designed specifically for use in clinical trials and drug test, the watch has an impressive amount of features. It can track: Pulse Heart rhythm Skin temperature Light exposure Noise levels That is presumably on top of traditional fitness-tracking features like steps taken, sleep quality, and other accelerometer-based features....

Media Platforms Design TeamApple started building Thunderbolt ports into its Mac computers in February 2011, but for a long time the technology seemed like a port to nowhere. Only at the beginning of this year did we see a large-scale rollout of Thunderbolt peripherals. Apple says that its new proprietary standard is up to 12 times faster than FireWire 800 and 20 times faster than USB 2.0. The Thunderbolt spec allows for two 10 Gbps channels; USB 2....

Media Platforms Design Team1. PilotsGamera pilots have strict power-to-weight ratio requirements. The team uses cyclists who weigh a maximum of 135 pounds and can produce 8 watts per kilogram while operating both sets of pedals for 1 minute.2. Pedals To make sure power is distributed evenly, not just on downstrokes, Gamera’s pilots crank with hand and foot pedals.The drawback: Pilots have no free limbs, so the craft has no steering mechanism....

Media Platforms Design TeamThese days when you have a storage problem, the solution is usually a bigger hard drive or maybe a new CD burner. Personal space is defined in megabytes, and when you run short, you can’t simply grab the nearest empty shoebox. Not so with the more tangible features in our lives. Things can and do get left piled on the sofa or stuffed into an already crowded closet....

It started off easy. I stepped onto my board at 6:42 a.m. in calm waters just off Dionis Beach, on Nantucket, Massachusetts. The brisk wind that was building from the south immediately began to push me toward Cape Cod, about 25 miles away. I scanned the horizon for my escort boat. My plan was to perform the first known crossing of Nantucket Sound by stand-up paddleboard. I had been waiting weeks for the right wind direction....

Why UAVs Aren’t ScaryWhen Boeing’s Laser Avenger shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a laser last week, the technological might–with focus on a one-kilowatt laser that replaced the Avenger’s usual surface-to-air missiles–aimed at a small flying robot begs the question; Since when did flying robots become a threat to U.S. or allied forces? To date, the U.S. military has spent essentially zero time or money on the prospect of countering hostile UAVs....

Media Platforms Design Team “Follow The Leader,” the penultimate episode before Lost’s fifth season finale, began to move all the pawns into their proper positions for next week’s two-hour checkmate. While “Leader” was chock full of action, it was a little light on the science side. But the episode did reveal one big piece of information: Jughead, the hydrogen bomb that’s supposedly going to save the island, is stored directly under the Dharma village....

They underpin our economy, all mass communication, and at this point, even most of our government. But make no mistake, scientists are quickly learning that our traditional computers—from your laptop to our most advanced supercomputers—are intrinsically slow and wasteful. It’s a fact: certain, everyday problems we have computers solve are becoming exponentially—almost absurdly—harder and more time-consuming as more data gets thrown into the mix. And it’s an unavoidable problem because its based in how all our computers work....

Can someone become radioactive intravenously?In Milford, Mass., an unmarked van screeches to a stop on a quiet street. Two people in hazmat suits throw out a sickly woman named Emily. She makes her way to Holly’s Diner, and after a few bites of vegetable soup, she dies gruesomely–and so does everyone else in the restaurant. Agent Broyles says they were all exposed to high levels of radiation; Emily was irradiating three times as much as the other victims....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe first Super Bowl ever staged in the New York metropolitan area happens on Feb. 2, and law enforcement organizations are putting into play a safety plan 2 years in the making—one that will put roughly 4000 police and private security personnel around MetLife Stadium and include a series of checkpoints and safeguards to protect one of the biggest events to come to New York since 9/11.“Nobody at this table needs to be reminded, in the shadow of the World Trade Center, how important this event is to make people safe in our region,” New Jersey Transit police chief Christopher Trucillo said during a news conference....

The idea behind Google’s Im2Calories technology is simple: You take a photo of your food, it tells you the calorie load. The system recognizes the items on your plate and finds the corresponding calorie info thanks to the magic of AI deep learning. It can take into account quantity, volume (by comparing to other objects in the vicinity), and more.The goal, according to Popular Science, was to build something that’s an aide to those who keep “food diaries” of their daily intake, making it easier to play the dieter’s game of calorie counting....

Cassini is no more. In the early hours of the morning, the long-lived spacecraft plunged into Saturn (intentionally) and broke apart, ending its 13-year run of exploring the sixth planet and it moons. Now the outer solar system is a lonelier place—and NASA is a decade out from having another visitor.The Juno spacecraft at Jupiter set to crash into that world next year. Everything else out beyond the asteroid belt is hastily departing, too....

There are a lot of highs in the Star Wars franchise, but plenty of low-lows. While many attempts have been made, in one way or another, to salvage the prequel trilogy, the most virtually unsalvageable Star Wars spinoff remains Holiday Special, which is famous for two things: introducing Boba Fett, and otherwise being awful hot garbage that George Lucas has worked hard to bury. But Nick Acosta, creator of an amazing prop tricorder and inserting the original series Enterprise into the Star Trek films, has a new project: trying to turn a piece of garbage into a trailer as exciting as The Force Awakens, Wookie family and all....

Media Platforms Design TeamBy now, you probably know why we’re eagerly anticipating the Ford Focus ST that arrives later this summer. This hot-rod version of the capable Focus will include a 252-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter engine (with 270 lb. ft. of torque), six-speed gearbox, and a host of other performance enhancements. It’s Ford’s version of the VW GTI that starts at a reasonable $24,495.We won’t drive it for a couple of months, but in the meantime, Ford released an audio file of the engine’s soundtrack....

KEY LARGO, Fla, April 17 - This morning, just before 7 am, I drive along a quiet dead-end street to a nondescript, green stucco duplex that fronts on a canal here in Key Largo. There are no clues there are no clues that this is anything but a normal Florida condo until I walk over to the covered portico. There, over a hundred steel and aluminum tanks share space with a pumping station to filter and blend mixed gases, surrounded by a dizzying array of the very latest in high-tech scuba gear hanging from the walls, ceiling, and splayed out over boxes and crates....

Media Platforms Design TeamRick Wagoner (right), General Motors Chairman and CEO and Robert A. Lutz (left), General Motors Vice Chairman (Photograph by Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images) If you haven’t heard, GM is in rough shape right now. The company is deep in the red, CEO Rick Wagoner is out and Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is following close behind and Obama’s Task force has given a June 1 deadline for the company to shape up (or go bankrupt)....

With the passing of Leonard Nimoy, here is how some of his coworkers, friends, and fans have reacted to the Mr. Spock’s departure.Jonathan Frakes, aka Commander William Riker from “Star Trek: The Next Generation"View full post on TwitterJeri Ryan, Seven of Nine in “Star Trek: Voyager"View full post on TwitterJolene Blalock, T’Pol from “Enterprise"View full post on TwitterWil Wheaton, Wesley Crusher from “The Next Generation"View full post on TwitterRick Berman, “Star Trek” producerView full post on TwitterRobert Picardo, the Doctor from “Voyager"View full post on TwitterNana Visitor, Kira Nerys in “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"View full post on TwitterUPDATED:Zachary Quinto, Spock in the new film seriesView full post on TwitterView full post on InstagramMarina Sirtis, Commander Deanna Troi in “The Next Generation"View full post on TwitterGeorge Takei, Captain Hikaru Sulu in “Star Trek"View full post on FacebookProducer Brannon BragaView full post on TwitterLeVar Burton, Lt....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn-Sale Date: October 2011Base Price: $20,500 (estimated)Competitors: Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Chevy Malibu, Hyundai Sonata, Ford FusionPowertrains: 2.5-liter I4, 178 hp, 173 lb-ft; 3.5-liter V6, 268 hp, 248 lb-ft; 2.5-liter I4 with electric–hybrid, 200 hp (net system); six-speed automatic, CVT; front-wheel drive EPA Fuel Economy (city/highway): 25 to 43/30 to 39 estimatedWhat’s New: The arrival of a new Camry carries a sense of occasion. It has been the best-selling car for 13 of the past 14 years, and is the car that solidified Toyota’s dominance in the U....

Media Platforms Design TeamTwo years after launching the plug-in hybrid Volt, Chevy now has its first pure EV. Consumers have quickly warmed up to the gas version of the Chevy Spark for its fun styling, great handling, and solid fuel efficiency (though you can read why it doesn’t get better fuel efficiency here), so the Spark was a natural choice for electrification.The Spark EV will have a 20-kwh lithium-ion battery pack with a peak power output of 100 kw and 400 lb-ft of torque....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Detroit Auto Show (or takes a deep breath the North American International Auto Show, if you want to be a stickler about it) has come and gone. And now we are left with one very obvious and pressing question: Who wears it best? “It,” of course, being a big ol’ hole in the lamp. In the past year we’ve seen two performance cars that have use cleverly engineered lights....