Technology, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 27, 2014

Top Secret: Boeing Unveils Secure Smartphone That Can 'Self-Destruct'

Taking cues from Mission Impossible, aerospace giant Boeing is developing a highly secure, self-destructing smartphone that can encrypt calls, protect stored information, or, if someone tries to tamper with or open the phone's casing, delete all of the device's data. The so-called Boeing Black is the Chicago-based company's first push...

Feb 27, 2014

Walking Can Recharge the Spirit, But What About Our Phones?

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to Live Science in partnership with the National Science Foundation. By the end of 2014, Earth will be home to more mobile electronic devices than people. Smartphones, tablets, e-readers, not to mention wearable health and fitness trackers, smart glasses and navigation devices —...

Mar 3, 2014

A Self-Destructing Phone Isn't the Last Word in Security (Op-Ed)

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Businesses battling to keep their information safe pricked up their ears last week as it was announce that Boeing has produced a mobile phone that self-destructs should the wrong...

Mar 4, 2014

New Device Could Charge Your Smartphone As You Walk

Power cords and batteries are the bane of every gadget: You either carry around the necessary cords and cables, or you hope the battery lasts. But now, researchers want to change that, by building a charger powered by the motion of your body as you walk. The device — built...

Mar 24, 2014

Cells Are Chatty: Here's What They May Be Saying

Living things are chatty creatures. Even when they're not making actual sounds, organisms constantly communicate using chemical signals that course through their systems. In multicellular organisms like people, brain cells might call, I'm in trouble! signaling others to help mount a protective response. Single-celled organisms like bacteria may broadcast, We...

Apr 30, 2014

5 Surprising Ways Drones Could Be Used in the Future

Future Fliers The AR.Drone 2.0 Elite Edition quadricopter comes with a sleek hull (one of two) that is meant for outdoor flying. The hull is 14 inches (35 centimeters) long, and the drone's total diameter is 22 in. (55 cm), including the rotors, in this configuration. The front-facing camera is...

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...