The 2D revolution began more than a decade ago with the discovery of graphene, a mesh of carbon atoms linked together like the wires in a chain-link fence. It’s transparent but more than 200 times stronger than steel, nearly impermeable, and an excellent conductor. Turning graphene into practical devices has been a challenge, but teams are now closing in on a few: ultra-high-density computer flash memory, a broadband radiation detector, and a tool for precision medical imaging....

On November 21, the first touchscreen Blackberry will launch stateside. Whether the non-haptic, app-focused, accelerometer-based smartphone will prove an iPhone-killer has yet to be determined. But with their $200 base price (minus, of course, the $50 rebate coupon issued with a two-year contract), we can picture Verizon successfully pushing the Storm not just to business-mandated Crackberry addicts, but well into the mainstream consumer market. We’ll have an in-depth review of the Storm next week....

This week, Blackmagic Design introduced a new model in its Pocket Cinema Camera, the 6K Pro. Like the rest of its siblings, the 6K Pro utilizes Black Magic’s slightly odd-looking body design with a Super 35mm sensor inside and a Canon EF mount (its autofocus DSLR lenses) on the front. The back of the camera, however, is where you’ll find the biggest upgrade, at least from a usability standpoint. The new 6K Pro now has a five-inch tilting HDR touchscreen display with a 1920 x 1080 resolution....

According to a press release this week by the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, the crew of robots—including Boaty McBoatface, the University of Gothenburg’s Ran, and six ocean gliders—are headed out to Antarctica from Punta Arenas, Chile. Once they reach Thwaites, they will wander in and under the ice shelf—illuminating its various cavities, scoping out its geometry—to quantify how it’s melting. They will also assess the environment around the glacier, such as the seafloor below, the thick ice above, and the properties of the seawater flowing in between the different structures....

In the first project, the rats had electrodes attached to their sensory cortices, and fed information from a head-mounted infrared sensor, which stimulated part of the brain whenever the rats got closer to a source of infrared light. With this sensor, rats could work their way to a water spout placed below an infrared emitter, but it usually took the rats almost a month to figure out what, exactly, their new sense was telling them....

This Labor Day, bundle these special travel and entertainment apps with two or more items in our Your Bundle, Your Way collection to save an additional 30 percent with code YOURWAY30 when you bundle 3 or more apps. It’s only for a very limited time, though! The 12min Micro Book Library: Lifetime Premium Subscription This incredible subscription enables you to expand your mind on hundreds of topics, each of which is only 12 minutes long....

I’m standing amongst the shelves of one of the largest materials libraries in the world, and Andrew Dent, the library’s curator, is introducing me to some of the colorful samples hanging on the wall in front of us. On the 17th floor of an office building near Rockefeller Center in New York City, Material Connexion has around 2,500 materials on display for clients to poke, prod, and bend. The library’s original creator called it a petting zoo for new materials....

Researchers say it is similar to the behavior known as “sympathetic concern” seen in human children who embrace family members during times of distress. What’s especially compelling about the study is that it has shown a marked benefit to the chimps in stress reduction. The researchers observed a lessening of the usual post-traumatic behaviors when victim chimps were consoled by others with whom they had strong relationships. [Via PhysOrg.com]

Cryptography operates through the use of an encryption key (such as a numbers pad), which, when applied to an encryption algorithm, can be used to decrypt or encrypt a message. Quantum entanglement is the act of fusing two or more particles into complementary “quantum states.” In such states, no particle can be independently described, instead the particles exist in a hazy shared quantum state that “collapses” when observed. Quantum encryption thus takes advantage of this feature, using it to detect would-be eavesdroppers, whose presence causes quantum states to collapse and reveal their spying to legitimate parties....

Disasters like this one may become even more damaging in the future due to climate change, a new analysis suggests. Scientists simulated how landslide risk in the Austrian Alps might change if a weather pattern similar to the 2009 event played out under several global warming scenarios. They calculated that the area struck by landslides could increase by up to 45 percent in the most dire situation. However, possible changes in soil moisture and planting climate-resilient forests across the region could combat these effects, the group reported on April 7 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment....

Columbus famously reached the Americas in 1492. Other Europeans had made the journey before, but the century from then until 1609 marks the creation of the modern globalized world. The European settlement dates and personalities are known from texts and sometimes illustrations, to use the failed colony on what was then Virginia’s Roanoke Island as an example. But one thing is missing. What about Indigenous history throughout this traumatic era?...

Metallurgy The oldest metal object unearthed to date is a tiny 6th millennium BCE copper awl found in the Middle East. Because it’s commonly found as a pure metal instead of mixed in ores, copper was ideal for human’s invention of metallurgy, the process of smelting and casting metals. This enabled early civilizations to wield hardier axes and arrows. Bronze Copper is a fairly soft metal, but you can mix it with others to create tough alloys....

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Zika used to be found mainly in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands, but since last spring it was detected in Brazil. Now it has spread throughout South America and Central America. Cases have also popped up in the United States, although they were contracted elsewhere. A recent study at The Lancet predicts that the virus will continue to spread....

iRobot is offering Cyber Monday deals on multiple Roomba models. These are some of the best discounts you can get today. iRobot Roomba 692 Robot Vacuum $175 (Was $300) This model uses a three stage cleaning system to reach every crevice. It uses sensors to navigate around furniture and avoid crashing down the stairs. It runs for 90 minutes before taking itself to the dock to recharge, and you can program it to clean on your own schedule....

Anycubic Kobra Max 3D Printer, $549.99 (was $749.99) With a build volume of 17.7 x 15.7 x 15.7 inches, you can create larger projects without worrying about space. Auto-leveling and precise calibration mean your creation will look how you want, detail and all. The printer also comes with a runout sensor: If the filament runs out, the printer will stop automatically. Creality Ender 1.75mm Gray PLA (Pro) 3D Printer Filament, $17....

And yes, the name is pronounced “Space-bacon.” Like an outlet adapter for international travelers, Space-BACN is a sort of infrastructural add-on that can allow familiar devices to work with unfamiliar systems. It’s a way to take the existing standards of communication already in space and then smooth them over. “The goal of the Space-BACN program is to create a low-cost reconfigurable intersatellite optical communications terminal that can communicate using multiple protocols and connect constellations that otherwise would not be able to communicate,” is how a DARPA document on Space-BACN describes it in a contract posted November 2, 2021....

DARPA, the U.S. military’s research arm, has been working on a way to visualize the Internet and other computer networks. The idea is to make it easier for everyone, even non-coders, to know immediately when a network is under cyber attack. Right now, to look for signs of attacks, trained programmers need to look for sometimes small inconsistencies in hundreds of lines of text. With a visual system, a breach in data security could look like an on-screen explosion, for example, while pieces of defensive code could be illustrated as blocks people can click and drag....

Built environments are one example of the power of accessible thinking. Small choices like curb cuts in a sidewalk or elevators in subway stations can make the difference between an individual in a wheelchair (or, for that matter, with a child in a stroller) making it to their destination safely—or at all. But the design of more personal belongings—things we might even term “fashion”—matter, too. Access to affordable hearing aids is important, but wouldn’t it better if they were also beautiful?...

Clearly, gamers enjoy the phone’s instant-gratification features. There’s the responsive touch-screen, promising intuitive and beginner-friendly controls. Tilt functionality instantly adds a new dimension to racing and action titles, letting you swerve Cro-Mag Rally’s prehistoric jalopies or Super Monkey Ball’s sphere-encased simians with a flick of the wrist. A CPU powerful enough to run even Quake, and a dedicated graphics processor capable of generating 3D visuals, shame the average cellie, if not the PlayStation Portable (PSP)....

Do I need a booster? Yes and no. All of the current shots, including the Johnson & Johnson option, provide strong protection against severe disease and death from COVID, even many months after initial injection (or injections). Even this fall, experts expect that anyone who is fully immunized (that’s two shots of either mRNA vaccine or one of the J&J) will still be protected against these outcomes. But the recommendation to get a booster isn’t because the current vaccination protocol isn’t effective....