international

Experimenting with fireballs in space

Here on planet Earth we're used to flames -- whether from a candle or campfire -- reaching upward to the sky with slender limbs hungry for oxygen and driven by rising hot air. But in space, sans our planet's strong gravitational pull, flames are more likely to take the shape of eerie fireballs.

Within the flame of a regular candle wick, there's quite a bit going on. As the video below released this week by NASA explains, molecules from the wick are being cracked apart and vaporized by the flame, then combined with oxygen to produce light, heat, carbon dioxide, and water, as well as soot.

In recent years we've become quite familiar with how flames can extend and expand quickly in their greedy quest for more fuel and oxygen; witness countless western wildfires of the past decade. But researchers aboard the International Space Station have observed that flames in microgravity behave much differently, staying in a small spherical shape and letting oxygen molecules come to them.… Read more

Scientists unveil plans for 19-mile-long particle smasher

The Large Hadron Collider is a monumentally awesome machine, and has given us tentative confirmation of the existence of the Higgs boson, the so-called "God particle." Now scientists hope to follow that with a new accelerator that could explain what makes up 95 percent of the universe.

At three ceremonies around the world Wednesday, researchers hailed blueprints for the International Linear Collider (ILC), a 19-mile-long smasher that might help solve the riddle of dark matter and dark energy, unseen forces with major gravitational effects. … Read more

Stan Lee cologne smells spicy, musky, superheroic

When you think about Stan Lee, you likely think about all the famous superhero comic book characters he co-created, like the Avengers and Spider-Man. Probably one of the last things to cross your mind is how he smells. So let's go there. What do you think Stan Lee smells like? Consider it for a moment, because pretty soon we will have an answer.

Following in the illustrious footsteps of luminaries such as Justin Bieber and Snooki, Lee has offered his name, likeness, and approval to Stan Lee's Signature Cologne from Jads International. "It has Stan's personal touch as it possesses crisp blends of bergamot, ginger, white pepper, basil, and violet layered in with accords of cedar, vetiver, and musk," reads the product description.… Read more

Apple faces ban on older iPhones, iPads after legal defeat

Several older Apple iPhone and iPad models infringe on a patent held by Samsung, a judge at the U.S. International Trade Commission said on Tuesday.

In a final ruling (PDF), the ITC said Apple infringes on a Samsung patent related to cellular technology with AT&T models of the iPhone 3GS and 4, along with 3G models of the iPad 1 and 2.

As part of the ruling, the ITC has issued a limited order to bar those devices from sale in the U.S.

The decision is final, however Apple can appeal it to the Federal Circuit, … Read more

Siri-like calendar app Tempo eyes other platforms

Tempo, the calendar app that uses Siri-like artificial intelligence to schedule meetings and dial in on conference calls, is racking up user data to decide where it will land next.

The app, created by Tempo AI, highlighted its popular conference call features on Wednesday. While the company -- which comes from SRI International, the same place that created Apple's Siri -- won't share its user numbers, it revealed that people have made 1 million one-tap conference calls with the app since its launch in February.

This feature lets users dial in on a conference call with a tap … Read more

Crave Ep. 122: When the moon hits your 3D-printed pizza pie

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This week on Crave, NASA awards a $125,000 grant to 3D-print a pizza; UCLA Health live-tweets and Vines a man as he has brain surgery; and we wish the Ethernet a happy 40th birthday. … Read more

Apple dodged paying billions in taxes, subcommittee says

On the eve of Apple CEO Tim Cook's hearing in front of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, the subcommittee released a report Monday detailing how it believes the tech giant has avoided paying its fair share of U.S. taxes.

"Apple is an American success story," the report reads. "Today, Apple Inc. maintains more than $102 billion in offshore cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities (cash). Apple executives told the Subcommittee that the company has no intention of returning those funds to the United States unless and until there is a more favorable environment, … Read more

Teen's science project could charge phones in 20 seconds

My high school science project looked at how row covers could help plants grow in cold weather. Not a bad idea, but not nearly as cool as high school student Eesha Khare's science project, the creation of a supercapacitor that could potentially be used to fully charge a cell phone within 20 to 30 seconds.

Khare, an 18-year-old from California, won the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award and $50,000 for her participation in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair run by the Society for Science & the Public. Think of it as the world's largest science fair. Khare took home one of the top prizes for "a tiny device that fits inside cell phone batteries, allowing them to fully charge within 20-30 seconds."… Read more

Crave Ep. 121: Wake up to a dancing iPhone

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This week on Crave, we take a look at Tim-e, an iPhone dock that wakes you up in the most annoying ways possible. We salute Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield on making space travel cool again, and demonstrate Petswitch, which lets you put your face on your cat's visage. … Read more

Chris Hadfield sings Bowie's 'Space Oddity' in ISS farewell

How do you top months of amazing photos, demos, and tunes done aboard the International Space Station? If you're Chris Hadfield, you cover David Bowie's "Space Oddity" in a showstopping finale.

On the eve of his return to Earth, the Canadian astronaut released a beautifully done video of himself singing the 1969 classic.

Mixed with the help of staff at the Canadian Space Agency, musician Emm Gryner, and others, the cover features a somber piano intro and modified lyrics that reference the Soyuz capsule that will return Hadfield to Kazakhstan. … Read more