Thinking Tech

Archive: 08-2011

• Infographic: Does more alternative fuel vehicles mean less gas consumption?

  A new report found that greater availability of potential AFVs didn’t necessarily translate into a greener fleet.

  August 12, 2011, 8:07 AM PDT | By Tuan C. Nguyen

• Video: Google veteran builds beer-fetching robot, slashes price

  An upgraded version of the superstar personal robot PR2, from Willow Garage, is being offered for half price, with the intention of exponentially expanding the robotics industry.

  August 11, 2011, 5:56 AM PDT | By Christie Nicholson

• New software may end internet censorship once and for all

  A new system would would turn the entire internet into a proxy server and make it virtually impossible for a censoring government to block individual sites.

  August 11, 2011, 5:55 AM PDT | By Tuan C. Nguyen

• New twist on solar panels may lower costs, improve efficiency

  Turning solar energy into hydrogen should allow for more of it to be converted into electricity than standard photovoltaics.

  August 10, 2011, 6:44 AM PDT | By Tuan C. Nguyen

• Video games like Assassin’s Creed are about to get very real

  New tactile technology will give video game players and movie goers the experience of what they see on screen.

  August 9, 2011, 3:14 PM PDT | By Christie Nicholson

• Video: World’s longest motorcycle seats 25 passengers

  A record-breaking motorcycle that is 72 feet long comes up short when it comes to practicality.

  August 9, 2011, 6:17 AM PDT | By Tuan C. Nguyen

• Invention turns energy in the air into electricity [video]

  A Japanese tech firm has created the “rectenna,” a device that harvests radio waves and converts them into useable electricity.

  August 5, 2011, 3:41 AM PDT | By Tuan C. Nguyen

• Will drivers ever embrace the electric car?

  Surveys have suggested people will want electric cars when the technology becomes cost efficient. But is it enough?

  August 5, 2011, 3:37 AM PDT | By Tuan C. Nguyen

• Video: New tool animates Web photos, might raise privacy concerns

  A powerful new tool that can animate static portraits from the Web that will be presented next week at SIGGRAPH in Vancouver will surely wow but might also raise privacy concerns for Facebook,...

  August 4, 2011, 8:29 AM PDT | By Christie Nicholson

• Our Internet is breaking down, here’s the path to a new one

  As the Internet buckles under the pressures of age and an enormous explosion of content and traffic, researchers are hard at work trying to build a new, more improved version.

  August 3, 2011, 8:33 AM PDT | By Christie Nicholson