Tech Watch

Faye Wu, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, demonstrates the "supernumerary robotic fingers."

Multitask Like Never Before With These Robotic Fingers

Many hands make light work, right? Well, MIT researchers have created a wrist-worn robot with a couple extra digits

New devices like FreeWavz are taking headphones to another level.

These Ear Buds Will Play Music and Track Your Heart Rate

Wristbands get all the attention, but souped-up earpieces can do a better job of tracking your body metrics when you work out

This fall, blind passengers will be able to navigate these halls completely independently thanks to a new iPhone app.

Indoor Mapping Lets the Blind Navigate Airports

A prototype system of an iPhone app and location beacons launched at San Francisco International Airport

A trim cellphone accessory keeps you in touch when there's no cell service in sight.

No Network? This Device Will Get Texts Through No Matter What

The GoTenna smartphone accessory uses short-wave radio signals to send messages, no cell tower necessary

An artistic depiction of the duck.

Copenhagen Might Install a Giant, Energy-Gathering Duck in Its Harbor

The duck would be both a tourist attraction and a means of helping the city become carbon-neutral by 2025

Handlebars on the Blackline model let you know when to turn.

What a City Bike Needs: Handlebars That Let You Know When to Turn

Designers are transforming bikes with new tech to make it safer and easier to navigate city streets

This hardware innovation will make it easier for conservationists to identify where illegal deforestation efforts are happening and stop them before the trees have been taken down.

How Solar-Powered Recycled Smartphones Could Save the Rainforest

A Silicon Valley non-profit is ready to give the forests of Africa and the Amazon ears to listen for loggers—and the ability to phone the authorities

A mock-up of what GE's calorie-counting device might look like.

A Device That Counts Calories for You

GE researchers are developing a system that calculates the exact calories in food using microwaves

A wearable wireless radio replaces your PIN code.

This Temporary Tattoo Can Unlock A Phone

Motorola and VivaLnk release an electronic sticker that replaces your passcode

This Monet reproduction is composed of tiny bits of metal assembled on the micron scale.

This Monet Isn't the Real Thing—But It's Awfully Close

Nanoprinters can duplicate great artwork with remarkable precision

The E-Fan 2.0 completes a demonstration flight at the Farnborough International Airshow.

Airbus Demos A Near-Silent, Zero-Emission Plane

The E-Fan 2.0 is the first step on the road to all-electric and hybrid flight

Pedestrians cross London's Millennium Bridge at dusk toward the lit dome of St. Paul's Cathedral.

How to Plan the Most Beautiful Stroll Through a City

A team of researchers has used crowdsourcing to develop an algorithm that can map out the most eye-pleasing walks

Materials scientist Huolin Xin, shown here at Brookhaven Lab's Center for Functional Nanomaterials, is optimistic that his team will find ways to improve batteries for future electric vehicles and portable electronics.

Next-Generation Electric Cars May Never Need A Battery Swap

U.S. Department of Energy researchers pinpoint the reasons why rechargeable batteries lose their ability to hold a charge over time

New traffic-light timing software could put an end to gridlock.

Better Traffic-Light Timing Will Get You There Faster

New algorithms from MIT researchers keep gridlock at bay by predicting traffic before it starts

The 3D-print surface on Orange Maker's prototype heliolithography printer.

Coming in 2015: A Faster, Sharper Way to 3D Print

Orange Maker's Helios One prints in a spiral, as opposed to layer by layer, making the entire process more efficient

This Smart Cat Feeder Uses Facial Recognition to Exclude Greedy Kitties

The feeder tracks each cat's food intake to make sure no one is taking the lion's share

Actor Andy Serkis's motion-capture performance rendered into a photo-perfect computer-generated ape.

How New Motion Capture Tech Transformed Actors Into Creatures for "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes"

The special effects team behind Gollum and King Kong took on its most-challenging feat yet: animating 2,000 apes in a real forest

Scientists are looking to restore memory by stimulating neurons deep in the brain.

Could Implants in the Brain Revive Memory?

The Defense Department is funding research to see if "neuroprosthetics" implanted in the brain can heal damaged memory.

A doctor administers a common glaucoma test.

A Smart Sensor Could Detect Glaucoma Before Your Doctor Does

A pair of Washington researchers could be first to implant an electronic sensor—designed to give real-time analysis of the disease—directly into the eye

The clip-on Bluetooth device guides you through less-stressful days by keeping tabs on how you're breathing.

Stressed? The Latest In Wearables Could Help Keep You Calm

Spire, a clip-on Bluetooth device available this fall, keeps tabs on stress by monitoring how you breathe

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