Technology

A prototype car offers self-driving technology with a twist: valet-style parking. The Nissan vehicle, which is codenamed NSC-2015, can also foil thieves by streaming live footage of a potential break-in. This new model was recently shown off by ... Nissan at a tech conference in Tokyo. Several companies are already working on driverless cars. However, in the few locations where their use is or will be allowed, laws say a driver must be inside the vehicle to take over in case of a malfunction. Nissan could circumvent these laws if the feature is used only on private land, such as driveways and ... (view more)

A recent study by Swedish researchers has led to claims that it is possible to erase emotional memories from the human brain. It's an idea that appears to come straight from the 2004 movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." The startling ... assertion is related to a new theory that suggests memories (predominantly those associated with fear) can be turned into benign memories and remain that way for a lifetime. Emotions Altered Before Becoming Long-Term Memory Scientists agree that a long-term memory is formed when individuals learn new information through the process of ... (view more)

Microsoft is in the process of pursuing a new patent that would stop mobile phone rings with a simple "whack". The new technology could save users from embarrassing searches through pockets and purses in order to find and press the 'decline' or 'end ... call' button. The Microsoft patent application is filed under the name "Controlling Audio of a Device." According to the patent description, it covers "a method comprising, in a mobile communications device, receiving information indicative of acceleration of the mobile communications device, determining correlation between the information ... (view more)

Last week, Apple created a huge stir by unveiling its iPhone 5 smartphone. Already analysts are predicting the company will sell 48 million of the handhelds by the end of 2012. But Motorola is hoping to steer some consumers away from Apple with its ... RAZRi, which the company showed off in a public demonstration on Tuesday, September 18. With the new device boasting the fastest processor ever in a smartphone, Motorola called the RAZRi release the "biggest launch since the original RAZR." Super-Fast Processor Could Give RAZRi the Edge At the demo, the company proudly highlighted the RAZRi's ... (view more)

A team of researchers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have created the world's first batch of stretchable electronics. The researchers say they're hoping to use the new stretch polymer skin patches to help doctors and nurses monitor a patient's vital ... signs. MC10, the startup firm behind the stretchable electronics, is the same company now in the process of commercializing electronic sutures , which are said to be capable of healing deep wounds much faster than present technology. Stretchable Polymer: A Worldwide Pursuit To be considered "stretchable," technology must contain electronic ... (view more)

A group of researchers at China's Zhejiang University have used fast-emerging 'thought-control' technology to successfully launch a helicopter into the air and have it perform a controlled series of maneuvers. To make the mind-controlled device ... (called FlyingBuddy2) soar, the scientists first adapted a Parrot AR Drone 2.0 so that it could be operated by an Emotiv EPOC electroencephalogram (EEG) headset hooked up to a PC running special software. Basically, the operator wears the headset, connected via Bluetooth to a laptop, which then transmits flight instructions to the helicopter. At that ... (view more)

The surgical process of stitching up a patient will soon receive a hi-tech makeover. The change could reduce the chance of infection and decrease healing times. A team of researchers at the University of Illinois have created the first ever ... 'electronic suture' (a stitch used by doctors and surgeons to hold tissue together). The special suture contains ultrathin silicon sensors integrated on polymer or silk strips that penetrate the skin and knot, just like standard medical stitches. To create the 'electronic sutures,' the researchers first use chemicals to cut an ultrathin film of silicon ... (view more)

A U.S. federal appeals court has ruled that police and other law enforcement officials have the right to use Global Positioning System (GPS) data from a suspect's cellphone without a warrant. The judges decided a technicality in existing law means ... such actions do not violate the Fourth Amendment, which forbids unreasonable search and seizure by the federal government. The Appeals Court ruling came in the case of convicted drug dealer Melvin Skinner, who was tracked down by GPS after an investigation. The investigation involved acquiring a cellphone number used by Skinner. Drug enforcement ... (view more)

Disney researchers at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University have successfully given common houseplants electronic sensors that make them responsive to human touch. Called Botanicus Interacticus, the project leverages an innovative technology that ... allows humans to interact with everyday inanimate objects in ways never before thought possible. At the heart of the project is a custom-built 'capacitive sensor module' which transmits a low current through an otherwise ordinary plant. This allows the plant to 'sense' when and where an individual touches it. Because the human body is naturally ... (view more)