Technology

Here's a scary statistic: the number of incidents involving people shining laser pointers into airplane cockpits has increased roughly 1,100 per cent since 2005. That number comes from the United States' Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which ... recently reported that the number of laser pointer attacks in January 2013 was 346. Meanwhile, throughout the year 2005 there were only 283 of these attacks. For the FAA, this is a very serious matter. So serious, in fact, that it has established a web site dedicated to outlining the threat such attacks pose to pilots and airline passengers. ( ... (view more)

Astronomers in the Ukraine say there's a small chance that a massive asteroid could slam into the earth in less than twenty years' time. According to researchers, the impact would be roughly equivalent to having 2,500 nuclear bombs explode in one ... location. The asteroid -- which has been named '2013 TV 135' -- was recently discovered by scientists at the Ukraine's Crimean Astrophysical Observatory. The scientists say that, with a width of roughly 1,300 feet, the asteroid is much larger than your average space rock. That's why they suggest that, should the object slam into earth, it would be ... (view more)

A Los Angeles, California, man is suing Sprint because he says the telecommunications firm sold his young son a smartphone with adult content already installed. Arsen Garibyan told Los Angeles reporters that he purchased the phone from a Pasadena, ... California-based Sprint dealer two years ago. He says that, when his underage son began using the device at home, he soon discovered illicit images and videos. According to the suit, which has been filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, "After a few minutes, (the boy) started asking, 'Daddy, what is this?' ... When Mr. Garibyan looked at the telephone ... (view more)

NBC is taking reality television where it's never gone before: space. The American TV network says it's reached a new agreement with producer Mark Burnett and Virgin Galactic -- the space travel service of the stars -- to launch reality show ... contestants into space. Unfortunately, the show doesn't actually take place in space. Instead, contestants on "Space Race" will compete with one another to win a flight on board Virgin Galactic's own SpaceShipTwo space craft. At the moment SpaceShipTwo is being tested at California's Mojave Air and Space Port. Virgin Galactic hopes that, once those tests ... (view more)

Sony is launching its own version of the Google Chromecast plug-in stick for televisions. But Sony's 'Smart Stick' will be substantially more expensive than Google's device and may only work with some TVs. Google's Chromecast launched this past ... July. It plugs into an HDMI port on a TV set and lets users play virtually any online videos using a smartphone, tablet, or computer. The Chromecast uses WiFi to connect to the Internet and stream the video. Ironically, Sony's device actually uses Google technology -- in this case, features taken from Google TV, a range of set-top boxes that aimed to ... (view more)

Nissan has become the latest firm to unveil a 'smartwatch'. In this case, the unique selling point is that the device can track your health, as well as the health of your car. Smartwatches, which use mobile Internet connections to power special ... features, appear to be one of this year's big tech tends. Samsung has already revealed a smartwatch called 'Galaxy Gear,' while Apple is reportedly working on a similar device. Nissan Watch Can Track Your Health Nissan's proposed 'Nismo' smartwatch has two main sets of features. The first is health-based, and uses the watch and strap to measure and ... (view more)

Video games are blamed for a lot of things -- exposing kids to violence, encouraging antisocial behaviour, and generally 'rotting' peoples' brains. But a new study finds that a computer game called 'NeuroRacer' can actually improve neurological (or ... brain) activity. In fact, the game is apparently having the most positive impact on players over age 60. NeuroRacer was specially designed for the Gazzaley Lab at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). There, neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley and a team of researchers have been using the game to test its impact on the neurological activity ... (view more)

Have you ever purchased a physical book from Amazon? Then you may soon be eligible to receive a cheap or even free Kindle version of that same book. The new feature is called 'Matchbook,' and applies to any book that a customer has ever bought on ... Amazon (at any time) that is also available for the company's Kindle e-book reader. So far more than 10,000 books have been enrolled in the scheme, largely because of the involvement of publishing giant Harper Collins. Amazon is hoping to get other publishers on board soon. (Source: bbc.co.uk ) Once the system launches in October, users will be able ... (view more)

Nokia is looking to connect automobile drivers with the 'cloud' through a program called "Here Auto", a new in-car navigation platform designed to provide users with real-time navigation data. Nokia says Here Auto is a dynamic tool that ... automatically adapts to the location of a driver. For example, if a driver is navigating city streets, the map they see is close to the ground, thereby displaying local parking lots, restaurants, side streets, and other important details. System Adjusts to Driver Location However, if the driver exits the city and heads out on an interstate highway, they'll be ... (view more)

A University of Washington scientist has transmitted his own thoughts over the Internet in order to make another man's finger move. But he insists this breakthrough isn't quite Star Trek-style Vulcan mind control. The project is designed to explore ... the way the brain operates with electrical signals. (Source: washington.edu ) Professor Rajesh Rao wore a special cap that monitors the electrical signals, or brainwaves, in the skull. Although he didn't physically move, he imagined moving his finger. To make the thought "more powerful", he did so while looking at a computer screen showing a video ... (view more)