Technology & Innovation

In a clinical trial of 62 patients diagnosed with moderate depression, individuals who received online psychotherapy were relieved of more symptoms than those who saw psychotherapists face-to-face.

Researchers at Spain’s Universitat Jaume I are working on a technique that collects several different images of a person’s silhouette in motion and builds a unique “gait signature.”

For the first time, astronauts were able to operate a space vehicle in California from their seats aboard the International Space Station. The feat opens up new possibilities for remote planetary exploration.

At this week’s Black Hat conference, security expert Fran Brown plans to demonstrate technology that can clone any passive RFID badge within a three-foot radius.

Veebot’s automated system can correctly locate a suitable vein about 83 percent of the time, which makes it about as good as a human technician. The company is shooting for 90 percent accuracy before beginning clinical trials.

A new trade pact between the United States and European Union aims to create a new united western front to hedge against a world whose power is shifting to the east.

Ford engineer Zach Nelson’s 21st-century creation combines hardware and software to let the newbie driver know when it’s time to shift gears.

Starting this fall, the PreCheck program — which basically expedites participating members through airport security — will be open to any US citizen who’s willing to pay $85 and endure a detailed application process.

Since a Tokyo-based PR firm announced the campaign earlier this year, more than 3,000 Japanese women have signed up. There are some conditions, though: Participants must be over 18, relatively active online, and dedicated miniskirt wearers.

Stills from the video of the tragic derailment.

According to a news report, local officials are promoting them throughout the region because they say they are better at protecting homes and property than dogs.

Adult app store MiKandi has produced what may the world’s first professionally-shot porn film in which the actors are wearing Google Glass. The film represents the latest in an ongoing lovefest between porn and tech.

Some states are in particularly bad shape, but it would be dangerous to assume that all is well with public-employee pensions anywhere in America.

Detroit, once America’s fifth-largest city, has filed for bankruptcy. At its hight in 1950, the city was home to more than 1.5 million. Today, it has shrunk to 700,000 residents.

Fast food giant McDonald’s is on track to sell its 300 billionth hamburger soon, but the company’s global dominance has contrasted sharply with its recent attempt to justify paying low wages.

A new artificial intelligence has proven more effective than human engineers at regulating Internet traffic, say researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. 

Each time it’s used, the device communicates with an iPhone app that keeps track and posts the user’s progress to a Twitter account named TweetingCiggy.

The Vatican recently announced that following World Youth Day events on broadcast or social media can count towards a length reduction…but only if it’s accompanied by “requisite devotion.”

A Belgian business participated in a 10-day experiment in which researchers dispersed the scent of chocolate throughout the store at different times. Not surprisingly, customers lingered longer, and certain genres saw increased sales.

Dubbed the “iKnife,” it’s connected to a mass spectrometer, which identifies certain chemical signatures that are then compared against an online database.

By combining an optical fiber screen with a projector and an infrared camera, a team of researchers created a display that could be used for secure e-document handling, among other tasks.

Bacteria stored in a fuel cell broke down chemicals in urine, generating enough electricity in the process to enable text messaging, Internet browsing, and “a brief phone call.”

Just as religion informed the dawn of civilized man, so too do these 21st century stories act as a shield – protecting our sanity from an overwhelming sensation of entropic change. We are trying to find the signal in the noise. But increasingly, the noise is becoming louder and louder. It’s like this treadmill we’re running on has reached a speed we can’t keep up with. Today’s prowess Kairos is being pushed into yesterday’s fleeting Chronos. It’s a collision of dizzying proportions… everything happens now.

A team of students from Exeter University won first prize in innovation at the Imagine Cup competition with an app that turns a room full of smartphones into a stereo system.

The dollar is gaining in value relative to other world currencies, which economists say is due to several very recent changes in the economy as well as long-term growth in the national economy.

League of Legends developer Riot Games has successfully convinced the government to offer players the same kind of visa normally given to athletes to allow them to compete in American tournaments.

Maybe it’s time for a DIY rethink: Nathan Broadbent’s “Raspberry Picrowave” accepts voice commands, emits custom sounds, can cook food via a product barcode scan, and can be controlled via a browser or mobile app.

In order to combat traffic jams and choking pollution, China will attempt to decrease the amount of cars in its major cities by imposing stricter limits on automobile purchases.

Obstacles are beginning to emerge in China’s massive urbanization plan, which will see 250 million farmers migrate from rural settings to urban population centers over the next decade. 

Making the leap from renting to buying isn’t always what it seems. Homeowners spend less time on leisure activities with friends and report that they derived some pain from homeownership.