Technology, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 30, 2014

The Future of Drones: Sky-High Hopes vs. Regulatory Realities

When Raphael Pirker needed overhead shots for a commercial he was filming at the University of Virginia, instead of spending thousands of dollars to rent a helicopter, he attached a camera to a 5-lb. (2.3 kilograms) model airplane, creating a custom drone to capture high-flying aerial views of the campus....

Jun 3, 2014

New Algorithm Can Make Your Selfie Look Like a Professional Photo

Selfies may suddenly start looking much more sophisticated. Pictures snapped with a cellphone camera do not have the expert lighting or composition of museum-quality portraits by famous photographers such as Diane Arbus or Richard Avedon. But it might soon be possible to make selfies look like a professional photographer took...

Jun 6, 2014

Amazon Rumored to Unveil 3D Smartphone This Month

Amazon is releasing a new product later this month, and rumors are circulating that the new device is a smartphone with a 3D display. A YouTube video released by the online retail giant shows people ooh-ing and ah-ing over a device out of view, making impressed remarks such as That...

Jun 16, 2014

1st 'Scent Message' to Be Beamed from NYC to Paris Tomorrow

NEW YORK — Tomorrow morning (June 17), the first-ever transatlantic scent message will be transmitted from New York City to Paris. At the American Museum of Natural History here in Manhattan, Harvard professor David Edwards and his co-inventor Rachel Field will electronically send an image tagged with a scent to...

Jun 17, 2014

You've Got Smell: 1st 'Scent Message' Sent from NYC to Paris

NEW YORK — The first transatlantic scent messages were exchanged today (June 17) between New York City and Paris, and they smelled like champagne and macaroons. At the American Museum of Natural History here in Manhattan, co-inventors David Edwards, a Harvard professor, and Rachel Field showcased their novel scent-messaging platform,...

Jun 23, 2014

'Smart Glass' Could Transform Smartphone Cameras

Newly developed smart glass technology that mimics the shutter capabilities of a traditional camera could improve the pictures you snap on your smartphone. Researchers in Germany have developed a camera component for smartphones that helps adjust light, exposure and focus. Traditional cameras have what photographers refer to as an aperture...

Jun 30, 2014

Facebook Emotions Are Contagious, Study Finds

Could reading a cheerful or depressing post on Facebook influence your own mood? Apparently so, according to a new study conducted by the social networking company. When Facebook removed positive posts from the news feeds of more than 680,000 users, those users made fewer positive posts and more negative ones....

Jul 3, 2014

'Smart' Garden Morphs to Reflect Moods of Visitors

A high-tech garden that can change the way it looks and alter other parts of its environment depending on the reactions of people on Twitter, has been created in the United Kingdom. This futuristic, social media garden could one day inspire the development of smart buildings that adapt to people's...

Jul 12, 2014

Nanolasers on Silicon to Provide Faster Data Transmission

This Research in Action article was provided to Live Science in partnership with the National Science Foundation. Fiber optic networks play a key role in transmitting feature films to laptops, cool apps to smartphones and lifelike video games to game consoles. To ensure networks keep up with consumer demand for...

Aug 18, 2014

Goodbye, Glasses: Future Smartphone Screens Could Correct Vision

Say goodbye to glasses. A new high-tech smartphone accessory can bring images on your device's screen into focus without a trip to the eye doctor. This vision-correcting display is a thin, transparent material that fits on top of the screen of a smartphone or other device. It works in conjunction...

Sep 19, 2014

5 Technologies for the Selfie-Obsessed

Taking a great selfie requires two necessary elements: a flattering facial pose and state-of-the-art technology. That first part is something you'll have to work out on your own, but when it comes to the tech side of the selfie equation, device manufacturers have you covered. From smartphones designed with self-portraits...

Jun 29, 2015

How Millennials and Older Adults are Using Their Smartphones (Infographic)

A telephone survey of 1,000 U.S. respondents made by Braun Research Inc. on behalf of Bank of America between April 13-26, 2015. Respondents were adults 18 and older with a current banking relationship and who own a smartphone. • 55 percent reported that their smartphone was on the nightstand at...

Jul 1, 2015

Mark Zuckerberg, Stephen Hawking & the 'Terminator' Talk Science

What scientific questions does Mark Zuckerberg want answered? Stephen Hawking wants to know. In a town hall-style Q&A session held Tuesday (June 30) on Zuckerberg's Facebook profile, the acclaimed British physicist asked the site's co-founder and CEO to share some of the big questions in science that he'd like to...

Jul 3, 2015

Mark Zuckerberg's Vision of 'Facebook Telepathy': What Experts Say

Could Facebook one day be Brainbook? Mark Zuckerberg said in a recent Q&A that he predicts people will send thoughts and experiences to each other as easily as people text and email today. However, this fanciful idea of brain-to-brain communication is still a long ways off, neuroscientists say. On Tuesday...

Dec 24, 2015

Pocket-Size Device Turns Smartphone into a High-Powered Microscope

Ever wonder what weird microorganisms are crawling around on your kitchen counter? Or, perhaps you'd like a close-up view of those dust bunnies in the corner of your room. Well, there's a new pocket-size tool that could help you take a much closer look at these and other household specimens....