What words get you censored in China?

Carnegie Mellon University researchers have analyzed millions of Chinese microblogs to discover exactly what terms are being censored.

IBM maps electric charge in single molecule

Big Blue's long had a fascination with the tiny, and now IBM scientists have for the first time been able to measure how charge is distributed within a single molecule.

Laser beams used to detect explosives

Austrian scientists say they've developed a way of using a laser to sniff out explosives from more than 100 meters away.

Phones could be powered by user's body heat


'Perfect' transistor built from a single atom

Physicists have created a working transistor using only a single phosphorus atom placed precisely in a silicon crystal.

Nevada makes driverless cars perfectly legal

Nevada has become the first state in the nation to make it legal to use driverless cars on its roadways, and has just finalized the various regulations that come with such a forward-thinking law.

'Invisibility cloak' could hide buildings from earthquakes


Tiniest room-temperature laser created

Scientists have created the smallest-ever laser to work at room temperature, as well as one that doesn't waste a single photon.

Biological computer reads encrypted logos


'Solve for X' to tackle world's biggest problems

Google's launched a website aimed at solving some of the big problems facing humanity - something like TED, or a sort of X Prize without the prize.

New material gives boost to optical fibers


'Telepathy machine' close to reality, say scientists

Neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have been able to listen in on people's thoughts, using brain waves to reconstruct the actual words that subjects have been hearing.

Big step towards Tricorder medical scanner

Star Trek-style Tricorder medical scanners are a step closer to reality, say scientists, following the discovery of a new way of creating electromagnetic Terahertz waves - as currently used in full-body security scanners.

Search-and-rescue robot inspired by snakes

After months spent at Zoo Atlanta, an engineer at Georgia Tech says he's created a robot for search and rescue missions based on the way snakes move.   

IBM creates 12-atom storage device

IBM has discovered how to store a bit of information in just 12 atoms, compared with the million or so normally required.

Cyborg cockroaches power tiny fuel cells


Superlens could put high-powered microscope in your pocket

Cellphones could soon contain an ultra-high-resolution microscope alongside the ubiquitous camera, thanks to a breakthrough by Michigan Technological University professor Durdu Guney.

Tiny wires fill missing link in nanoscale computing

Wires just one atom tall and four atoms wide have been shown to have the same current-carrying capability as copper wires, giving a new lease of life to Moore's Law.

Tiny ribbons could cool computers


Quantum photonic chip created
