Gearfuse Technology, Science, Culture & More

So, this video's got it all: off-the-grid filesharing, subcontinental slum-techno-chic, secret police in steampunk plague helmets, and a plot that remixes District 9 and Children of Men.

Artist and technologist Aram Bartholl is mortaring USB drives into brick walls and curbstones throughout New York City and inviting people to use them to share files. His "Dead Drops" project offers a glimpse of a utopian, DIY darknet in RL.

It's sumptuous and elegant. But what is it�a puzzle or game? A clockwork cribbage player? A static electricity generator? Answer after the jump.

Pluto's loss of planetary status seemed to have been sealed by the 2006 discovery of a batch of similarly-sized planet-like objects in the same orbital neighborhood�one of which, later named Eris, was thought to be larger than erstwhile ninth planet. According to new findings, however, Pluto's diameter is larger than that of its more massive neigbhor. For now, Pluto gains in status as the largest of these so-called dwarf planets. Whether this will be enough to secure a record contract remains to be seen.

Some "products dive even deeper," says Joshua Glenn, "down to the cellular level�where a shampoo's ionic, nanorobotic, or I-don't-know-whatic technology causes the cells within a single strand of hair to oscillate through rejuvenating vibrational motions."

Hotshoe, or hot shoes? Brandon Bloch stretches the product comparison to the breaking point, with predictably funny results. Video after the jump.

E Ink, the company whose displays power the Kindle and the Nook, is bringing the first low-power, ambient-light color display to market. Like its black-and-white reflective-displays forerunners, Triton promises weeks, not hours, of battery power. But the resolution of the new technology, at least for now, lacks the richness and resolution of its backlit LED competitors.

In 'What Technology Wants', author and Wired founder Kevin Kelly elaborates a theory of technology that emancipates tools from the bondage of human hands. In the weeks to come, I'll be blogging my reading of Kelly's challenging and provocative work.

An explanation for the spectacular missile contrail that appeared in the Los Angeles sky last night continues to prove elusive. Amidst the speculation, a benign possibility suggests itself: could it be that someone got carried away while trying to earn Scouting's space exploration merit badge?

An ancient precursor to the Swiss Army Knife, this Roman folding implement dates from the third century of the common era. Victorinox should rush a model into production today.