Orion Jones

3D printers have moved quickly from the industrial scale to home use but, despite futurists’ claims to the contrary, they are not quite ready to make you a tea, earl gray, hot. 

The chipmaker has announced a $100 million fund to support investment in ‘connected cars’, an innovation that will lead both the computing and automobile industries in the years ahead. 

Novel mobile phone chargers are on display at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, demonstrating innovative fixes to the growing energy requirement of our mobile devices. 

A new point-and-shoot camera captures light rays instead of pixels which allows you to focus the image after you have taken it, changing which part of the photo you want to emphasize. 

The United Nations has raised the profile of asteroid 2011 AG5 which, measuring 460 feet wide, could be set on a collision course with Earth if it is further influenced by the planet’s gravity. 

Two American physicists have put forward a new theory of how the first planets formed which reverses many aspects of the old model left unchanged for nearly 40 years. 

Although some counterintuitive thinking was necessary to realize that planet GJ 1214b is full of water, scientists now believe there is a greater hope for extraterrestrial life than ever before. 

Offshore wind farms have access to stronger, more consistent winds and new technology will allows them to float in the sea. Next, wind farms may fly to capture atmospheric winds. 

A company that makes low-cost batteries for high energy storage will begin scaling production soon in Pennsylvania, looking to replace power grids in the developing world. 

When signing up for a new service on the Internet, may people use Facebook Connect to establish their identity on the new site. Could we use physical Facebook ID cards as well?

Despite the company’s mantra, “Don’t be evil”, a spate of privacy violations have occurred over the last two months like never before, leaving many to wonder if Google has gone bad.

An editorial in the scientific journal Nature argues that software used to interpret data from scientific experiments must be open source so that others can attempt to repeat the experiment.

Under certain circumstances, giving authorities the password to encrypted computer files is the same as giving testimony against yourself, which is protected by Fifth Amendment.

The stateless media organization has released five million emails taken from the private security firm Stratfor, which carries out its own assignments and those of the Pentagon.

Given the pervasiveness of information technology, electronic attacks on Internet infrastructure can prove debilitating. The stakes are getting higher as technology advances.

Conventional measures of economic performance, such as investment and productivity, are often skewed to favor short-term profits. Here is how capitalism can take a longer view.

The prediction goes like this: China will overtake the US first in real GDP, then in per-capita GDP. In other words, it will become the new America. Yet doubts persist about Chinese growth.

An economic report compiled by the Economist details how many years of economic growth have been lost due to the global recession. Greece has lost 12 years; France, 6; the US, 10.

When the World Bank presidency becomes vacant in July, the US should break with tradition and help appoint an economist and development expert to the post, says Jeffrey Sachs.

Since the rise of the positive psychology movement a decade ago, happiness has been all the rage. But is it something more than having a cheerful personality? And how do we get happiness? 

Japanese scientists have uncovered that the body overcompensates for the drain of physical activity by pumping the brain full of glycogen, a carbohydrate that acts as an energy store. 

Despite the chorus of neuroscientists who say they are finally unraveling the mind’s mysteries, do we understand ourselves better as a clump of cells and a blur of electricity?

The study of brain chemistry is the latest doubt cast over the idea that humans have a free and independent will. Now, thinkers are poking holes in what was once an air-tight case.

The Oscars are tonight! But why do we care so much? Not everyone is a movie buff. More likely, we are drawn to the lives of celebrities because of an evolutionary drive for status.

Doctors have successfully transplanted human windpipes grown in laboratories but vital organs, like hearts and kidneys, are much more complex. How far away is that technology?

The way we think of and treat cancer is rapidly changing thanks to falling gene sequencing prices, growing data about cancer genetics and new drugs targeting specific mutated genes.

A number of grocery companies are testing virtual storefronts which allow shoppers at bus stops and subway platforms to buy groceries with their smartphones. Do you dread the supermarket?

Scientists have discovered how to inhibit the activity of pain-sensitive neurons by using a chemical compound that works like a photosensitive switch, turning pain off when exposed to light.

Companies are beginning to capitalize on the computing power of your smartphone to create new medical instruments—hardware and software—transforming the way we understand medicine.

Businesses are increasingly turning to social networking sites to filter job applicants and get a more transparent assessment of prospective employees’ strengths and weaknesses.