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Mobile Phones

Personal environmental monitors, such as TZOA (shown here), measure air quality and stream that information to users who may otherwise have no idea what they are breathing.

With Wearable Devices That Monitor Air Quality, Scientists Can Crowdsource Pollution Maps

Emerging technology means anyone with a smartphone can become a mobile environmental monitoring station

Trending Today

How Dick Tracy Invented the Smartwatch

The detective’s two-way wrist radio paved the way for the Apple Watch and other wearables

Solar Panels in the Screens of Smartphones Could Power the Devices

Kyocera unveils a prototype for a phone with a layer of transparent crystals in its screen that helps to charge it both indoors and outside

This "smart" mattress cover can track sleep patterns along with respiration and heart rates.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A “Smart” Mattress Cover and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

Don’t have a green thumb? A sensor for your potted plants alerts you when they need watering

The lab-on-a-chip gets the power it needs for testing though the headphone jack on a smartphone, and sends the results through the port to the phone for computation, display and storage.

This $34 Smartphone-Assisted Device Could Revolutionize Disease Testing

A new low-cost device that plugs into a smartphone could cut down on expensive lab tests

As a kid, you may remember getting your first glimpse of paramecium in pond water or the cell structure of an onion by peering through a microscope.

Ultra-Cheap Microscopes Could Save Millions of Lives

Researchers are designing portable microscopes that cost just a few dollars to make

Trained in CPR? This Life-Saving App Could Make You a Superhero

When someone is experiencing cardiac arrest, PulsePoint sends alerts to CPR-certified invidividuals nearby

New Research

Has Facebook Become the Internet?

The social network’s worldwide reach is leading to some serious confusion

This personal robot can listen, talk, take photos and even feel temperature.

This Week in Crowdfunding

Five Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded: From an Automated Home Brewery to a Personal (Robot) Assistant

Two other quirky inventions teach music in novel ways

Social media may be more relaxing than anticipated.

Social Media Is Not Making You a Ball of Stress

But perhaps unsurprisingly, Facebook and Twitter can cause stress to spread when bad things happen to friends and family

A startup called Roost is developing a WiFi-enabled battery that listens for an alarm and sends a message to your phone when your smoke detector blares.

Tech Watch

This Smart Battery Sends a Message to Your Phone When Your Smoke Detector Sounds

It also alerts you weeks in advance of dying—sparing you from that annoying chirp

Researchers from the University of Missouri have linked "cell phone separation" with anxiety and poor cognitive performance.

New Research

Separate People From Their Phones, And They Perform Less Well

Here’s what happens when you’re parted from your smartphone

Cool Finds

These Two Guys Recreate Famous Paintings Using Only Office Supplies and a Phone

FoolsDoArt cranks out slapstick renditions of works ranging from “American Gothic” to “Girl with the Pearl Earring”

One hour of walk time with a pair of EnSoles, designed by Hahna Alexander (inset), provides 2.5 hours of talk time on a smartphone.

Smart Startup

Generating Power One Step At a Time

The Pittsburgh-based startup SolePower is developing an insole that collects kinetic energy as you walk to power your mobile phone

Using the Automatic Link and License+ app, parents can coach their teens to have safer driving habits.

Parents, Give Your Teens Driving Lessons Without Even Being in the Car

A six-month training program gives parents of new drivers a training tool—and a little extra peace of mind

Rub the label to see if the food inside is still good to eat.

A Label You Rub To See If Food Has Expired and Other Finalists for the Dyson Award

There’s also a pen that lets you know when you should reapply your sunscreen and a device called Luke Stairwalker

In London, Sherlock Holmes is happy to stop for a quick chat.

Cool Finds

You’ll Soon Be Able to Talk to London And Manchester’s Statues

Just scan a tag near the statues with your cell, and they’ll call you with a quick first-person history lesson

Cool Finds

All the Things a Hacker Can Find Out About You on Public Wifi

Your vacation, your job, your passwords

Trending Today

In the U.K., Posting Nude Pictures of Another Person Is About to Become a Jailable Offense

This year, 28 states introduced or proposed legislation pertaining to revenge porn, though many are still pending

More and more people are dealing with routine health ailments through video calls.

Need a Quick Diagnosis? A Prescription for What Ails You? The Doctor Will Video Chat With You Now

One of the hottest trends in health care is telemedicine networks of doctors who diagnose ailments over the phone

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