by Terrence O'Brien on March 31, 2011 at 12:30 PM

Scientists at the University of Utah led by researcher Richard Rabbitt, have found a way to stimulate inner ear cells with infrared laser light. Using low-powered optical signals, the researchers triggered the inner ear hair cells of an oyster toadfish to send signals to its brain, raising the possibility of using the technology to restore hearing to the deaf. Rabbitt believes the cells ...
by Amar Toor on March 24, 2011 at 04:30 PM

Moritz Waldemeyer, the designer who created a 'Home Disco' out of lasers and a smoke machine, has unveiled his latest installation: a laser harp. Consisting of a black obelisk surrounded by a cage of laser beams, Waldemeyer's harp uses light sensors and an Open Frameworks app to create sounds whenever a person interacts with the laser field. Waldemeyer's "weird and wonderful" soundscape is ...
by Lee Bains on January 16, 2011 at 05:01 PM

Surely, we've all heard the old saying: "He's smart enough to make it rain, but doesn't have the sense to come in from out of it." Well, the man behind the YouTube handle 'WorldScott' has successfully popped a single kernel of corn with the help of two lasers. And that one kernel took only one minute of being bombarded with lasers. Somebody get this boy an umbrella. ...
by Warren Riddle on November 17, 2010 at 09:17 AM

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In a true "What took so long?" development, digital artist Wei-Chieh Shih has helped to design a stunning piece of technological apparel. Shih adorned a nylon suit with 200 laser diodes to create a spectacularly luminescent shirt. The gleaming garment, which almost looks like a marriage between shoulder pads and a falconry sleeve, emits a brilliant dance of laser beams.
The video nicely ...
by Matthew Zuras on October 26, 2010 at 02:50 PM

A 19-year-old California resident was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison yesterday for aiming a laser pointer at a CHP helicopter, according to the Los Angeles Times. Nathan Ramon Wells was arrested last year for diverting the police aircraft as it was in the course of investigating a residential burglary. He pleaded guilty to the incident in September.
Flying at 700 feet, the pilots ...
by Caleb Johnson on August 27, 2010 at 07:25 AM

While FIFA will probably never embrace technology in the World Cup, some sporting events are warming up to its potential benefits. According to the BBC News, athletes competing in the pentathlon at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London will shoot laser guns rather than the traditional air pistols used in past games. The switch reduces cost, for one, since laser guns won't use ammunition or air ...
by Matthew Zuras on August 24, 2010 at 04:25 PM

Burning-laser tag, anyone? At the Pitchess Detention Center on Friday, guards from the Castaic complex of the Los Angeles County Jail demonstrated their very own Assault Intervention Device, a 7.5-foot-tall laser weapon that produces burning pain at whomever it's directed. The beam emitted by the device can reach up to 100 feet, and is about as big around as a CD. Prison officials hope that the ...
by Caleb Johnson on August 12, 2010 at 07:25 AM

Thanks to technology like Google Earth, you can visit places with a few clicks and keystrokes. But Google Earth uses GPS to create 3-D maps of locations, which means you can't venture "inside" the structures to really get a feel for the space.
That could soon change. According to a report by San Francisco's ABC News 7 (catch it after the break), professors and graduate students at the ...
by Caleb Johnson on August 3, 2010 at 09:40 AM

Forget swallowing pills or being poked by a needle. According to ABC News, scientists at Georgia Tech University have developed a way to inject vaccines directly into cells by using a laser beam to blow holes into that most basic unit of life.
In this technique, scientists place blackened carbon nanoparticles (called "soot") next to the cells in question, which are then blasted with infrared ...
by Matthew Zuras on June 11, 2010 at 03:45 PM

How in the hell is this thing legal? We're a bit confused, because the Spyder III Pro Arctic Series laser pointer is marketed as a "home theater projector" and yet the lightsaber-shaped implement will also set your skin on fire. The manufacturer Wicked Lasers proudly boasts that the Spyder III is "the most dangerous laser ever created," and requires customers to sign a Class IV Laser Hazard ...
by Terrence O'Brien on June 2, 2010 at 06:20 PM

The Navy has successfully tested an automated laser cannon that could one day zap anti-ship missiles out of the air. The Laser Weapon System, or LaWS, is being proposed as a replacement for the Close In Weapon System (CIWS), or Phalanx gun, which currently serves as the last line of defense against anti-ship weapons. The Phalanx gun consists of a radar tracking system and a Gatling gun, which has ...
by Matthew Zuras on May 27, 2010 at 02:18 PM

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We don't really need to reminisce about how direly and viscerally we pined for the day when we would get to rock our very own Hoverboards, á la 'Back to The Future Part II,' because we know that you all wanted one, too. Now, in an expression of '80s nostalgia, tech experimentation, and nerdy fandom of the most extreme order, French artist Nils Guadagnin has created an actual ...
by Warren Riddle on May 21, 2010 at 11:30 AM

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines....
Yahoo! has struggled to deter Google's increasing dominance, but the company is apparently forging ahead with a plan to considerably diversify its brand. Yahoo! has scheduled a Monday media gathering concerning the confusingly titled "Project Nike," which will reportedly involve a deal with Nokia to manufacture a Yahoo! phone. ...
by Warren Riddle on May 14, 2010 at 05:40 PM

Albert Einstein first postulated the possibility of amplifying protons to create "masers" in 1917, but the theory wouldn't produce effective technology until the post-World War II period. The science of masers continued to evolve over the following decade, and, in 1958, Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow of Bell Labs published a seminal report that would spark a scientific revolution. The paper ...
by Caleb Johnson on May 12, 2010 at 07:20 AM

For archaeologists, the days of trudging through dense jungle to map out ancient sites by hand could soon be over. The New York Times reports that husband and wife team Dr. Arlen F. Chase and Dr. Diane Z. Chase recently used an Airborne Laser Terrain Mapper to provide 3-D images of ancient Mayan ruins in Caracol, Belize. "This will revolutionize the way we do settlement studies of the Maya," Dr. ...