New Scientist - Tech

Invention: Exoskeleton power steering

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:18:00 GMT

Borrowing a trick used to steer cars without effort could make robotic exoskeletons more reliable and easier to use, a patent application claims

Desktop atom smashers could replace LHC

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:50:00 GMT

The next generation of particle smashers might be considerably smaller than the Large Hadron Collider – and made almost literally out of thin air

Implants for babies could help deaf learn to speak

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:00:00 GMT

Brain activity that is "scrambled" in deaf cats develops normally if they are fitted with a cochlear implant shortly after birth, say researchers

Psychologist finds Wikipedians grumpy and closed-minded

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Contributors to the free online encyclopaedia are motivated by egotism, not altruism, a psychological survey concludes

Invention: Software research assistant

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Need to appear knowledgeable on something you know nothing about? Software that does the hard work for you is the answer, a new patent application claims

Springy robot has a gentle touch

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:00:00 GMT

Industrial robots are mostly power-hungry workhorses, but a new mechanical arm and hand uses no more energy than a couple of electric toothbrushes

Gallery: Virtual autopsies dissect humans and animals

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:00:00 GMT

Stunning 3D scans of subjects from chimps to murder victims from a team who's work has appeared in the CSI television shows

Invention: Artistic style capture

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:30:00 GMT

A new way to scan the 3D traces of brushstrokes in oils could make it possible to "replay" the work of old masters

Cyborg cockroaches could power own electric 'brains'

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Pity future cyborg insects – as if being remotely controlled by a human isn't bad enough, their every movement may be harnessed to power the electronics that hijack their bodies

Weapons technology: Top 10 articles from 2008

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:30:00 GMT

It's the stuff of science fiction: killer robots, deadly laser weapons and ray guns that can be set to stun – but this year saw these technologies being put forward in deadly earnest

Video: the year in robots

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:35:00 GMT

See robots in action from one controlled by a rat's brain to a realistic head that copies human expressions, in our look back at 2008's innovations

Green fuel technologies pick up speed in 2008

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:00:00 GMT

As Obama prepares to green the US, we take a look at the new technologies that may help – from super batteries to oil-cleaning fungi

Most extreme news stories of 2008

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:07:00 GMT

Explore the limits of science and technology from the past year, from the deepest living fish to the roundest spheres

2008: The year in spaceflight

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 01:00:00 GMT

China performed its first spacewalk and India sent a probe to the Moon, while NASA faced the space shuttle's looming retirement

Nanotechnology's biggest stories of 2008

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 10:29:00 GMT

The year has seen some astonishing developments in tiny tech – check out the best stories, including gecko-feet inspired fibres and unwettable cloth

Bye-bye boojums: Scientific names lose their sparkle

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Will we ever see the like of MACHOs and WIMPs, cheap date and Sonic hedgehog again? investigates

A year in the quantum world

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 11:46:00 GMT

The quantum world is now one of the most closely scrutinised areas of science, and throughout 2008 new discoveries have poured in

Top blogs from 2008

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 08:00:00 GMT

From a nano-sized Barack Obama, to calls for a 'Gaian dictator' to save the world, the blogs have been buzzing this year – here we round up a few of our favourites

The return of Elektro, the first celebrity robot

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 12:40:00 GMT

Sixty-six years ago he played with a giant robot in his basement – now 's mission is to rebuild his old friend

NASA gives space cargo contracts to start-up firms

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:09:00 GMT

The agency has awarded $3.5 billion in contracts to SpaceX and Orbital Sciences to ship cargo to and from the space station beginning in 2010

Gallery: The inner workings of cells

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:12:00 GMT

One of the key goals of biologists around the world is to understand the internal workings of cells and how they go wrong in diseases like cancer – a new competition celebrates this work by highlighting the best images of cells

News review 2008: The year in science

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:00:00 GMT

It was a year when everything seemed to fall apart. Fuel, food, finance all had their crises &ndash but it wasn't all doom and gloom...

US police could get 'pain beam' weapons

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:11:00 GMT

Two portable weapons that inflict pain from a distance are being developed by the Department of Justice's research arm, and may end up in the hands of police

Chameleon-like 'opal' can take on any colour

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:07:00 GMT

A new synthetic material that flits to any colour in the spectrum at the flick of a switch could revolutionise electronic paper

Space station upgraded to spot threatening electric fields

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:52:00 GMT

A new device will monitor electrical charges that may have caused Soyuz space capsules returning from the station to land off course