Gearfuse Technology, Science, Culture & More

An animated reverse-history of communications media that goes from apps to web to video to clay to slate and chalk. In six seconds.

By studying the search algorithms of ants, researchers are discovering ways of making computer networks faster and smarter.

An ancient device for predicting the occurrence of solar eclipses gets a fun, lucid reboot�in interlocking plastic blocks.

There seems no end to reporting and commentary on Wikileaks, from the ravings of Regnery-Press author Marc Thiessen to the thorough round-up Alexis Madrigal is hosting at the Atlantic. But perhaps the best perspective comes from the sober analysts at NMA.tv, who have furnished their customarily-comprehensive coverage of l'affaire Assange. Or whatever it's called in Cantonese.

Like a lighter-than-air craft, we're on the rise. Friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and catch the ascent.

With the successful recovery of the SpaceX Dragon capsule, private space exploration takes a great leap forward. But it's also a reminder of the history of private business in manned spaceflight, both real and imagined.

A project to use barcodes to track consumer waste reminds me of what Slavoj �i�ek says while standing amidst piles of garbage: "part of our daily perception of reality is that this [trash] disappears from our world."

At Boston's Berklee College of Music, an a cappella choir treats video game music with a full measure of seriousness�and affection.

This third installment of a serial review of Kevin Kelly's What Technology Wants encounters technology as a force with a sense of purpose and a plan. What that plan consists in we don't know�and it seems that technology isn't telling.

Design fiction as poetry, "Tableau" is a nightstand that quietly prints out photos from Twitter and places them in its drawer. Emily Dickinson might have approved.