Gearfuse Technology, Science, Culture & More

Is it play? Turf-defending aggression? Or the dysfunctional behavior of captive animals?

IN 2005, the Japanese probe Hayabusa made its rendezvous with Itowaka, a five-hundred-meter long, sausage-shaped asteroid whose circular orbit intersects that of Earth. Yesterday, Japan's space agency announced that the probe had collected the first material ever gathered from an asteroid and delivered successfully to Earth.

Coffee isn't only a stimulant, but also a social glue and fuel for creative lives. A proposed mobile app would allow caffeinated bloggers, writers, artists, and designers to share their coffeehouse-generated work in real-time.

Kinect hacks are emerging at a rapid pace; it�s hard to recall a mass-market gadget so quickly adapted to new uses. As Bruce Sterling points out, �Microsoft accidentally invented a primo piece of art-installation hardware.� It's this kind of DIY innovation that keeps tech feral.

Don't even think of challenging this poisoned pooch to a staring contest�or the postmen of the Great Northern Railway, who were the early 20th century's answer to the Internet.

The animated GIF may be little appreciated in the world of Web 2.0�but in the right hands, it plays with the unsettling riddle of our mechanical nature.

At the Web 2.0 Summit, a look at the emergence of mobile technology and unforeseen twists in the story of the digital divide and the ongoing evolution of the public sphere.

"Just as the shadows in the hollows of the Earth diminish in size as the Sun rises higher, so also these spots on the Moon lose their blackness as the illuminated part grows larger and larger."

Scientists at Tokyo Tech have tapped into the neurons of a male silk moth, connecting its tiny brain to a little wheeled robot. When the moth�s sense organs are exposed to female pheremones, the robot performs the silk moth�s mating dance.

Perhaps the most useful�and certainly the most whimsical�pick on Time�s list of the 50 Best Inventions of 2010, Sugru is a moldable, self-adhesive, self-curing silicone elastomer. That doesn�t sound whimsical? Then you haven�t watched the video yet.