Question of the Week

ESPN, which in 2010 announced that it would offer sporting events like World Cup soccer and the NCAA national championship football game in 3-D, now says it will stop doing so this year. Now that the sports giant, one of 3-D TV's initial champions, is abandoning the format, many are wondering if the 3D experiment is over,...

Recently, Russian scientists discovered perfectly preserved blood and muscle tissue of a woolly mammoth buried in the permafrost of the Lyakhovsky Islands in Siberia. The blood had dripped out of the giant animal into a natural ice capsule. The news comes amid a debate on whether scientists should try...

In 2013, Littelfuse is taking engineers behind the scenes at NASA for a truly unique Exploration & Discovery experience. Speed2Design TechTalk events will be hosted at two premiere NASA facilities. Winners will meet face-to-face with NASA...

According to a recent Microsoft survey conducted by research firm Ipsos, nearly 50% of employees believe social tools make them more productive while more than 30% of companies restrict the use or undervalue them. Typical professional uses for social networks include communicating with colleagues,...

Systems & Materials Research Corporation recently received a six-month $125,000 grant from NASA to create a prototype of a universal 3D food printer. The company's creator imagines a day when every kitchen has a 3D printer, and the Earth's 12 billion people feed themselves customized, nutritious...

NASA scientists are currently working on the first practical field test toward proving the possibility of warp drives and faster-than-light travel. Thanks to a loophole in the theory of relativity, a ship could theoretically travel in such a way that the universe moves around it, allowing it to reach faraway planets very...

As consumers increasingly use cheaper, smaller tablets and smartphones, a recent IDC report showed that PC sales are down 14% year over year, and Apple's desktop sales are flat. PCs are still more powerful than competing computing devices, and still have a prominent role in the enterprise, but...

A new summer camp, called "Camp Grounded," invites over 200 adults to take a break from technology for a weekend. The retreat, which takes place near Anderson Valley, Calif., brings people together in a "summer camp" atmosphere. The rules are: No technology use, no cell phones allowed, and no...

A "Smartphone Physical" debuted at the TEDMED conference in Washington D.C. this month. Using devices and attachments paired with an iPhone, patients were able to measure and record their blood pressure, lung function, weight, oxygen saturation, and eyesight. The technology, developed by...

An increasing number of medical professionals are embracing social media for sharing helpful information and providing personalized patient care. HealthTap, one of the newest networks, for example, is an online hub of 1.2 million doctors who field questions from patients around the world. Some say...

MIT engineer Skylar Tibbits recently spoke at a TED conference about the promise of 4D printing. The act of 4D printing creates objects in one state that could then change to a different state over time. Without human intervention, the object alters its shape based on moisture or heat from a...

A recent New York Times article highlighted software from EdX, a nonprofit enterprise founded by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. EdX software uses artificial intelligence to grade student essays and short written answers. The tool requires human teachers to first grade...

British scientists have created what they say is the world's most realistic human avatar. Combining facial modeling and mathematical algorithms, 'Zoe' has advanced language function and displays a range of emotions. The technology could act as an assistant to business executives or a teacher's...

Congress has ordered the Federal Aviation Administration to open up airspace to unmanned aircraft by October 2015, a decision that will likely see thousands of domestic drones soaring the sky. Many are excited about the many innovative possibilities of the autonomous technology,...

Reactions ranged from outrage to apathy when Google announced that it would be shutting down its Google Reader RSS client. The search giant said that the move was due to a decline in usage. Some fans of the 'Reader' and RSS cite its centralized features and its way of organizing a user's content. Others say that...

As many users anticipate the arrival of Google Glass, augmented reality technology shaped like a pair of glasses, some technologists are questioning the privacy issues associated with the use of these wearable computers. Many express concern about users' ability to secretly capture audio and...

A Yahoo Inc. internal memo, which introduced a ban on working from home, has set off a debate on whether "telecommuting" and working remotely leads to greater productivity and job satisfaction, or kills creativity and is just a chance to take it easy. Supporters of this kind of ban say that...

Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared iRobot's RP-VITA telepresence robot for operation in hospitals. Controlled by an iPad interface, the RP-VITA allows doctors to virtually "visit" patients and staff remotely. Similarly, it was reported this month that a boy...

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced that this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas had 25 percent more booths related to digital health and fitness technology compared to the previous year's event. Showcased products...

The New York Times reported last week that Apple is experimenting with wristwatch-like devices made of curved glass. Although these kinds of "smartwatches" do not yet have the market that tablets and smartphones do, consumers have shown some interest in buying them.

Industrial partners have joined with the European Space Agency (ESA) to test the feasibility of 3D printing using lunar soil. The ESA is assessing whether it is possible to build a lunar base from materials found on the moon.

The Automate 2013 trade show kicked off last week in Chicago, and some have used the occasion to debate the benefits of automation, as robotic technology is increasingly being used in new industries like food processing and consumer electronics. Many express concern that a growing reliance on...

At this year's Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, Vuzix Smart Glasses won top honors in the Wireless Handset Accessories category. The technology, worn like ordinary glasses, features a built-in electronic display, allowing users to check email, watch movies, record video in real time, and load apps...

This week's Question comes from INSIDER reader Ed Xavier Gonzalez: Should NASA Consider Capturing a Small Asteroid or Comet for Mining Purposes?

NASA's Kepler Space Telescope has found more than 2,300 potential planets since its March 2009 launch. Although astronomers have found a number of exoplanets that share one or two key traits with our planet, including size or inferred surface temperature, a true "alien Earth" has yet to be...

This week's Question: Using existing hardware as well as specifically designed spacesuits and landers, a new space company called Golden Spike hopes to offer private trips to the Moon before 2020.

When John Grotzinger, project scientist for the Mars Curiosity rover, stated that a recent discovery could be "earthshaking ... one for the history books," many speculated that the rover had discovered organic material, which could indicate life on Mars. NASA has since said that these kinds...

NASA's Chief Technologist Mason Peck delivered the keynote address, "Technology and the Future," at the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Fall Symposium in Hampton, Virginia. The speech showed that Peck envisions a "spacefaring nation" where our relationship with spacecraft, space hardware, or data from...

If a future hurricane causes power outages, regulators say they could float wireless antennas from balloons or drones to solve problems with telecommunications networks. The Federal Communications Commission is exploring the use of such airborne technology to restore communications after disasters....