Hypersonic Flight 'Breakthrough' Could Have Us in Tokyo by Lunch | Autopia | Wired.com

Hypersonic Flight 'Breakthrough' Could Have Us in Tokyo by Lunch | Autopia | Wired.com: “[The] pre-cooler technology is designed to cool the incoming airstream from over 1,000 Celsius to minus 150 Celsius in less than 1/100th of a second, without blocking with frost,” the company claimed in its press release.

Next Years 3-D Printers Promise Big Things — Really Big Things

Next Year's 3-D Printers Promise Big Things — Really Big Things: 2012 has been a big year for 3-D printing, but the industry has quietly been growing for decades. And the innovations are impressive ? for every new plywood-clad 3-D printer kit that makes the rounds on the internet, engineers are developing ways to print titanium parts for jet engines that will change the aerospace industry. This week at Euromold, a manufacturing trade show, the companies behind these devices are demonstrating new products and highlighting the novel technologies that will change the way we build things.

The Future of the Mac: Networking | Macworld

The Future of the Mac: Networking | Macworld: What’s the point of these increasing speeds, when today’s networking gear already feels reasonably fast? Video, primarily. The name of the game is streaming or downloading high-definition video—across a room or from one end of the house to the other—while still leaving enough room on the network for other activities such as file downloads, Facebook, and email.

Apple's new iMacs now available online and in-store

Apple's new iMacs now available online and in-store: The 21.5-inch model is slated to ship in one to three business days, according to Apple's Web site, while the 27-inch model won't be sent out for two to three weeks. [Read more]

"Amazon" Begins Search For Iris, The CW's New Wonder Woman

"Amazon" Begins Search For Iris, The CW's New Wonder Woman: The CW's planned Wonder Woman series is moving forward with the launch of a search for an actress in her early to mid-20s to play the iconic DC Comics superheroine in "Amazon," here named Iris rather than Diana.

Redbox Instant video streaming said to launch in December

Redbox Instant video streaming said to launch in December: Leaked details reveal that Verizon's service, which aims to compete with Netflix, could get introduced in a couple weeks and cost as little as $6 per month. [Read more]

Can a Jellyfish Unlock the Secret of Immortality? - NYTimes.com

Can a Jellyfish Unlock the Secret of Immortality? - NYTimes.com: Sommer was baffled by this development but didn’t immediately grasp its significance. (It was nearly a decade before the word “immortal” was first used to describe the species.) But several biologists in Genoa, fascinated by Sommer’s finding, continued to study the species, and in 1996 they published a paper called “Reversing the Life Cycle.” The scientists described how the species — at any stage of its development — could transform itself back to a polyp, the organism’s earliest stage of life, “thus escaping death and achieving potential immortality.” This finding appeared to debunk the most fundamental law of the natural world — you are born, and then you die.

iTunes 11 surprise: Apple sneaks in a gift card scanner

iTunes 11 surprise: Apple sneaks in a gift card scanner: The new feature lets users scan gift cards and other promotional codes into iTunes using a built-in camera instead of typing them in. [Read more]

Laptop Buyers Should Pay Some Attention to the Chromebook

Laptop Buyers Should Pay Some Attention to the Chromebook: David Pogue says it's been a long, patient slot for Google to get here, but with year after year of careful tweaks and improvements - and a jaw-dropping $250 price - the Chromebook is finally ready for prime time.

Staples Announces In-Store 3-D Printing Service

Staples Announces In-Store 3-D Printing Service: Pretty soon you'll be able to print your 3-D projects at the local Staples. A new service called "Staples Easy 3D" will allow customers to upload their designs to Staples' website, then pick up the printed objects at their local office supply megastore, or have them shipped to their home or business ? not unlike the photo and document-printing service the company already offers.

Apple Releases iTunes 11 with Simplified Player, Redesigned Store, and More

Apple Releases iTunes 11 with Simplified Player, Redesigned Store, and More: In line with yesterday's report, Apple has just released iTunes 11 to the public. The new software brings a number of enhancements including a redesigned store, simplified player, and new iCloud features.

Human Evolution Enters an Exciting New Phase | Wired Science | Wired.com

Human Evolution Enters an Exciting New Phase | Wired Science | Wired.com: The evolutionary dynamics of these features resulted in a flood of new genetic variation, accumulating so fast that natural selection hasn’t caught up yet. As a species, we are freshly bursting with the raw material of evolution.

To Understand 3-D Printing We Need to Remember 2-D Printing

To Understand 3-D Printing We Need to Remember 2-D Printing: Three-dimensional printing has become very sexy. It's all over a recent issue of Wired and Chris Anderson just published a new book where 3-D printing is featured prominently. (Note: These two events are not uncorrelated.) The Economist has discussed this recently as well as have many other outlets.

Geeking Out on Materials: 3D-Print Circuits With Innovative Conductive Plastic

Geeking Out on Materials: 3D-Print Circuits With Innovative Conductive Plastic: As we keep saying, for 3D printing to make its way into the mainstream, science needs to give us materials that can do more than just be hardened plastic. Researchers at the University of Warwick have just taken a huge step in the right direction with the introduction of a 3D-printable electrically conductive plastic. They're calling it "carbomorph."

Portable and Affordable: New 3-D Printers That Cost Less Than $500

Portable and Affordable: New 3-D Printers That Cost Less Than $500: It's been easy to overlook some of the innovations coming out of the RepRap community as of late. Between regular MakerBot releases and announcements for new types of printers like the B9 Creator and Form 1, as well as a steady stream of big company announcements, the system that helped launch the home 3-D printer market has been a bit overshadowed. A couple new machines deserve attention though, offering unique features that the more mainstream devices don't have.

Google Pairs Gmail, Drive for an Easy Way to E-Mail Huge Files

Google Pairs Gmail, Drive for an Easy Way to E-Mail Huge Files: If you've ever had trouble sending large files over e-mail, Google has a new solution for you: Google Drive is coming to Gmail. Now Gmail can send files up to 10GB, provided they're already stored in Google's cloud storage service.

Google integrates Drive with Gmail, enabling 10GB file transfers

Google integrates Drive with Gmail, enabling 10GB file transfers: Users can now send files from Google Drive 400 times larger than is possible in a traditional attachment. [Read more]

Printing ourselves

Printing ourselves: Tim O’Reilly recently asked me and some other colleagues which technology seems most like magic to us. There was a thoughtful pause as we each considered the amazing innovations we read about and interact with every day.

I didn’t have to think for long. To me, the thing that seems most like magic isn’t Siri or self-driving cars or augmented reality displays. It’s 3D printing.

Prowling the streets of San Francisco with Square Wallet

Prowling the streets of San Francisco with Square Wallet: CNET spent an afternoon testing how Square's mobile payment app performs in a neighborhood full of merchants that accept it. A hint: It's a snap to use. [Read more]

Book Review: Monsieur Proust's Library - WSJ.com

Book Review: Monsieur Proust's Library - WSJ.com: A book, he felt, is "a friendship . . . and the fact that it is directed to one who is dead, who is absent, gives it something disinterested, almost moving." Books are actually better than friends, Proust thought, because you turn to them only when you truly desire their company and can ignore them when you wish, neither of which is true of a friend. One also frequently loves people in books, "to whom one had given more of one's attention and tenderness [than] to people in real life." In his own novel, Proust wrote: "Real life, life at last laid bare and illuminated—the only life in consequence which can be said to be really lived—is literature."

Design guru Nielsen: Windows 8 UI 'smothers usability'

Design guru Nielsen: Windows 8 UI 'smothers usability': Jakob Nielsen says that Microsoft's new operating system is plagued by "hidden features [and] reduced discoverability," among other issues. [Read more]

'The entire field of wearable body monitors is pretty exciting'

'The entire field of wearable body monitors is pretty exciting':

Electrical engineers at Oregon State University have developed new technology to monitor medical vital signs, with sophisticated sensors so small and cheap they could fit onto a bandage, be manufactured in high volumes and cost less than a quarter.

Flipboard App Now Integrates With Apple's iBookstore

Flipboard App Now Integrates With Apple's iBookstore: Flipboard, the celebrated "social magazine" app, adds a new layer of content for users of the iOS versions: access to Apple?s iBookstore.

Flipboard is introducing a new Books category filled with 25 sections, including Biographies & Memoirs, Comics & Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, and Humor. Users can browse through these sections to see large graphics of the ...

Jack Dorsey: Twitter was built in two weeks

Jack Dorsey: Twitter was built in two weeks: At a Twitter off-site meeting, Dorsey, who co-founded the company and went on to found Square, recalled the microblogging service's origins. [Read more]

Blogger updates apps for Android and iOS, adds iPad support

Blogger updates apps for Android and iOS, adds iPad support: Updated apps let users compose posts in landscape mode, share to Google+, and more. [Read more]

Evernote overhauls its Mac app with shortcuts, modified search

Evernote overhauls its Mac app with shortcuts, modified search: Evernote 5 for the Mac features a shortcut bar, modified search functions, and a map that shows the locations attached to your notes. [Read more]

Facebook Launches Job-Listing App

Facebook Launches Job-Listing App: Facebook has launched a job hunting app in hopes that its giant network of more than 1 billion users will help people find their next career opportunity.

Top-ranked Djokovic tops Federer to win ATP finals (Yahoo! Sports)

Top-ranked Djokovic tops Federer to win ATP finals (Yahoo! Sports):

LONDON (AP) -- Even when Roger Federer had the lead, Novak Djokovic had the answers.

Washington is first state in nation to legalize pot

Washington is first state in nation to legalize pot: Washington voters legalized recreational pot use on Tuesday, setting up a showdown with a federal government that backs the drug's prohibition.

CBS library programming heads to Hulu Plus

CBS library programming heads to Hulu Plus: The programming will start rolling out to Hulu Plus in January, and will include a host of library series, including "Medium" and "Numb3ers," among others. [Read more]

This is very good news. Finally, CBS gets its online act together and joins with the other networks in one central location. More convenience for the video consumer will benefit both them and the network.

Still, it is just "Library" shows, not current programming like "The Good Wife" or "The Mentalist." So until they are also offering current programming I am not completely happy.

How Square can help you sell more cupcakes

How Square can help you sell more cupcakes: With its analytics tools, Square is making it possible for even the smallest merchants to understand patterns in their sales -- and to make decisions based on what they learn. For free. [Read more]