The idea of an amputee tinkling on piano keys with all the flair and grace of an able-handed person may seem like a futuristic fantasy.
Forecasting future technology has never been easy. In the 1950s, scientists and technologists envisaged that by now the world would be free from disease, traversed by flying cars, and fueled by minerals from distant planets.
It's a mesmerizing, surreal scene. Eight tiny, unmanned aerial vehicles -- called quadrotors -- begin to rise from the ground in unison.
The next generation of digital cameras could show us how bugs see the world.
If you've been to the RoboGames, you've seen everything from flame-throwing battlebots to androids that play soccer. But robo-athletes are more than just performers. They're a path to the future.
Even after the identification of the Boston bombing suspects through grainy security-camera images, officials say that blanketing a city in surveillance cameras can create as many problems as it solves.
Producer's note: CNN Ideas has covered everything from mapping the human brain to 4-D printing. We've even looked at cool robots because, well, they're cool robots.
With computer technology advancing at an ever bewildering pace, it's comforting to know that one little feature remains steadfastly future-proof and, more importantly, foolproof.
Gadget fans eagerly awaiting the next wave of Apple products just got some good news, and some bad news.
Living in Texas is unimaginable without air conditioning, especially on steamy summer afternoons. Unfortunately, there simply isn't enough power to go around -- and when the energy companies suggest that residents not cool it during those hours, people ignore the pleas.
Those of us who have yet to lay hands or eyes on anything but images of Google Glass are prone to daydreaming about how we'll actually interact with the device.
Video producer's note: To some, it may seem like Caltech professor Frances Arnold is playing God. But to hear her say it, she is improving upon what nature started and solving some real-world issues in the process.
The Raspberry Pi is all the rage for hobbyists in search of cheap, credit card-sized computers that can run a full PC operating system. Arduino boards have been around nearly a decade, meanwhile, powering robots and all sorts of other creative electronics projects.
Anyone who has struggled to be healthy is intimately familiar with the counting game. They've counted calories, carbs, Weight Watchers points, their heart rate, steps and miles.
Google is barring anyone deemed worthy of a pair of its $1,500 Google Glass computer eyewear from selling or even loaning out the highly coveted gadget.
Standing by a poster depicting in full detail the complex union of muscles that make up the human body, David Sengeh works on a custom-made prosthetic leg inside MIT's Media Lab.
At the Exploratorium, one does not stand stiffly in front of musty exhibits and read tiny placards. There is no room for boredom or passively observing. The installations at this interactive science museum are hands on -- they require touching, building, playing, experimenting and thinking.
Twenty-five year-old student Greg Dash was frustrated. He wanted to take "fisheye"-style camera pictures without having to pay for an expensive lens, or fiddle around with a smartphone app. He wanted something light and small that he could pull from his pocket at a moment's notice. Unfortunately such a device did not exist.
Video producer's note: Lasers are now being used to help people with disabilities communicate. CNN got a firsthand look at how this assistive technology works when Sandy Hanebrink, executive director of Touch the Future, gave us a demonstration of the Lucy 4 keyboard at the Abilities Expo in Atlanta.
This week, tech giant Google made it official: Google Fiber is coming to Austin. Residents of the hip Texas city will be the beneficiaries of Internet speeds of 1-gigabit, roughly 100 times faster than current speeds.
Video producer's note: You've heard of 3-D printing, the process of using a specialized printer to create real-world objects from computer models. Now there's something new on the horizon that could revolutionize this burgeoning technology: 4-D printing.
To understand Jay Silver, it helps to go back 10 years, to a night he spent flying kites on a beach in his native Florida with the woman who would become his wife.
There is no shortage of amazing industrial commercial applications for 3-D printing -- internal organs, stem cells, artificial limbs, art, cars, customizable furniture.
Raspberry Pi, the tiny, ultra-cheap, Linux-based PC, went on sale Monday in the U.S. through retailer Allied Electronics, but it's already out of stock.
A cyborg beetle or a pet fish engineered to glow under ultraviolet light might sound like something you'd see in a movie about the future.
Some scientists seem to take their cues from science fiction or fantasy novels.
Google Glass, the tech giant's Internet-connected headset, isn't on the market yet. But that hasn't stopped one lawmaker from trying to keep the eyewear off the highways in his state.
Fingers tickle keyboards fastidiously, bright-colored walls boast signs reading "We Code Hard," and an idle foosball table waits for its next contenders. These are all signs you've entered a place for passionate tech enthusiasts. But if 'Bosun Tijani has his way, this is where Nigeria's next great idea will be born.
How cute was our universe as a baby? We now know better than ever: The picture of our early universe just got sharper and tells scientists with greater precision many important facts about how the universe evolved.
Despite most humans' land-centric view, Earth is an ocean planet. The global ocean covers more than two-thirds of our planet's surface and makes life as we know it possible: it produces half of the oxygen we breathe, helps regulate our climate and provides the single largest habitat for life on Earth.
The young man tucks his violin under his chin and begins to play. A hush falls over the few spectators in the largely empty opera house, who turn toward the bare stage. As his lilting notes float through the room, other people trickle in from the lobby to listen.
Just in time for Albert Einstein's birthday Thursday, scientists delivered exciting news about how the universe works.
The harrowing Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown, the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Chilean Copiapó mine collapse: extraordinarily dangerous circumstances that called for not just human but superhuman solutions.
The idea of "wearable robots" may seem like something out of a movie, but this technology is already being used in real life.
Hoopla surrounding South by Southwest Interactive, the techie festival that wrapped up here Tuesday, has exploded in recent years.
Shaquille O'Neal may be 7 feet tall and one of the most dominant players in NBA history, but here at the South by Southwest Interactive festival, he's just a big nerd.
The future of space travel will depend on our ability to make rockets that can be used more than once, says SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. And on Saturday, he gave a crowd at the South by Southwest Interactive festival the world's first look at a step in that direction.
Four years ago an unknown startup called MakerBot showed up at the South by Southwest Interactive conference here with a prototype of its first desktop 3-D printer, which spit out plastic replicas of small objects.
It's a spring break with a purpose: Ten days in Texas when the entertainment and tech worlds collide on the neo-bohemian streets of this Texas party town.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates talks about computer coding, working from home and the future of technology.
In South by Southwest Interactive, the tech-geek festival that begins here Friday, some see a five-day spring break of sorts: a chance to discover some buzzy new apps, catch a few panels and party alongside Web celebrities, futurists and many, many bloggers.
San Francisco's lesser-known bridge unveiled a new look Tuesday night. As part of a unique art project celebrating its 75th anniversary, the West span of the Bay Bridge has been outfitted with 25,000 LED lights that will display a variety of undulating designs nightly for the next two years.
Professor Raffaello D'Andrea isn't short of admirers for his autonomous flying robots and the amazing tricks they perform.
Google Glass will help fight the antisocial and "emasculating" habit of compulsive smartphone checking, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said in a surprise appearance at the TED Conference Wednesday.
In the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada mountains, artists are partnering with doctors and scientists to create life-changing products.
Hey kids! Forget trying to become a doctor or rapper or a football star, not to mention all the teasing you may get in school for being a nerd -- computers are where it's at.
A driver of a white Prius with a giant, red plastic flag affixed to its side is rolling through the hilly streets of San Francisco, undelivering mail from mailboxes.
It's hard to engineer this kind of creepy serendipity. Earlier this week, European Union data watchdogs, fighting to protect our privacy in an age of big data, put pressure on Google over the privacy of user information.
Google unveiled a groundbreaking new Chromebook laptop Thursday ? one with touchscreen capability, powerful chipset and an extremely high-resolution display.
Eleven health researchers received $3 million each Wednesday from a new foundation set up by some of the tech world's heaviest hittters. That's twice as much money as a Nobel Prize pays.
What would it be like to wear Google Glass? Google answered that very question Wednesday morning, posting a lot more information about Project Glass, including the user interface, through a series of photos and videos.
A $10 billion machine that smashes particles together is shutting down this weekend, taking a staycation in its 17-mile tunnel near the French-Swiss border while receiving maintenance and upgrades. The Large Hadron Collider, one of the world's largest science experiments, will resume operations in 2014 or 2015 at unprecedented energies.
For a week each spring, the heart of Internet culture relocates to Austin, Texas. And this year, one lucky Web startup will get some help making the move to the tech hotbed a permanent one.
In the last week, the Apple iWatch has made the jump from unlikely rumor to a real product that's probably in development, thanks to well-placed leaks that have been showing up in various publications.
The burgeoning field of 3-D printing got a big boost Tuesday night when President Obama highlighted it as something that could fuel new high-tech jobs in the United States.
One of the drawbacks of Roombas, the robotic floor cleaning devices that automatically scoot around and suck up dirt, is that they are too big to clean what really matters. They fall off of pets, are miserable at dishes and they do very little for tablet and smartphone maintenance.
It's a sad day for local news fans. NBC News has shuttered EveryBlock, a hyperlocal news site that pulled in and mapped useful information from a variety of rich sources, including Craigslist posts, police reports, restaurant inspections and Yelp reviews.
La experta en redes sociales, Silvina Moschini, habla del uso de Internet por parte de los niños y opina sobre la censura.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak hasn't seen "jOBS," the biopic of his founding partner that premiered Friday at the Sundance Film Festival.
A movie about the early life of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs premiered Friday night at the Sundance Film Festival to mixed reviews, with some critics saying it presents a fawning, one-sided portrait of the late tech icon.
"It's about as difficult as assembling a cupboard from IKEA," says Gael Langevin, but he's not talking about an affordable piece of Scandinavian furniture. The 41-year-old French sculptor and model-maker is referring to his open-source, life-size, 3D-printed robot.
Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs threatened to hit Palm with patent litigation if the company did not stop poaching valuable employees, according to a newly unsealed court filing (hat tip to Reuters). The document surfaced as part of a lawsuit between former employees of companies like Apple, Google, and Intel over the companies' no-poaching agreements; US District Judge Lucy Koh denied parts of a request to keep some documents sealed, revealing Jobs' comments to Palm CEO Edward Colligan.
A Dutch architect is thinking a little bigger about 3-D printing than the tiny-to-midsize trinkets we've seen so far.
Resting on the icy cool surface of the Baltic Sea, a rickety old boat of hardy sailors works long into the night.
Imagine a quick, inexpensive trip to the doctor at all hours of the night. WJW reports.
The world of automated home gadgets is young and exciting, filled with an abundance of promising new products. It's also a bit of a mess.
For a company that hasn't attended CES since 1992, Apple dominates the show.
Your resume might never be seen by a human. Software weeds out ones without certain words. CNN's Jim Boulden reports.
From a distance, it is its shiny exterior that first catches the eye.
Smartphones inch closer to becoming remote controls for your life at next week's 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The annual event is the largest gadget conference in the world, where major technology companies and scrappy startups can show off their latest innovations.
From faraway planets to the deepest depths of the ocean, 2012 has been an exciting year for scientific achievements and milestones.
The megayacht that Steve Jobs commissioned in the final years of his life has been impounded in Amsterdam after a payment dispute involving the designer, Philippe Starck.
In a world where computers are increasingly powerful and are concealed within ever more glossy slabs of aluminum, the Raspberry Pi (RPi) offers surprising proof for the virtue of moderation.
As a symbol of communication, refuge or romantic longing, the pay phone is an enduring cultural icon.
Apple will begin manufacturing a computer in the United States next year, says CEO Tim Cook, marking a shift in perhaps the most-criticized element of the company's beloved gadget empire.
Could the phrase "burn a disc" soon be interred in the computing graveyard, resting peacefully alongside 8-bit graphics and the chirping, buzzing hum of a dial-up modem?
When Kenneth Purcell emerged from his New Orleans home after Hurricane Isaac churned through the city in August, he couldn't believe what he saw. Nearly all of his neighbors had poured out into the streets to help each other clean up.
You may not know Tony Fadell by name. But as one of the creators of the iPod and the iPhone, he's had a huge impact on 21st-century design.
No, some guy named Daniels on Facebook didn't win the Powerball lottery. And, no, he's not really giving anyone $1 million of his winnings.
Pretty soon you'll be able to print your 3-D projects at the local Staples.
The "shutter shades" most recently popularized by fashion-conscious rapper Kanye West are in the midst of a transformation from flash-in-the-pan style accessory to a clever technological learning aid that its makers hope will encourage more people to learn the art of computer coding.
An Afghan designer and former refugee has developed a low-cost, wind-powered mine detonating device inspired by the toys he played with as a child.
At least one former Apple exec wasn't surprised or sad to hear the news that iOS chief Scott Forstall is leaving the company.
The turkey has been stuffed and so have our arteries; our now-corpulent bodies have crawled over corpses in a consumerism-driven fit of of lust and now, finally, we're back to rot at our desks, wistfully gazing toward the glimmering mirage on the horizon known as "Christmas."
Most bullets make small sonic booms when flying through the air, which to our ears sound like a loud, distinct "crack!" For the Pentagon's special forces, that makes it hard to be sneaky about what they're shooting. Now the commandos want to be sneakier with slower, quieter bullets.
Lytro cameras, which let you take a photo and refocus anywhere after it's taken, are getting two much-requested new features: Instagram-like filters and the ability to bring the entire image, not just one section, into focus.
Technology policy didn't get much air time in the 2012 presidential election, but the Obama administration will face serious issues over the next four years.
For the third year in a row, Apple was named number one in management consulting firm Booz & Company's annual survey of the top 10 most innovative companies.
In Florida, some early-voting lines were longer than those for the new iPhone. In New Jersey, officials are allowing those displaced by Superstorm Sandy to vote via e-mail and fax. And a bitterly partisan presidential election is expected to be close.
In an era when shadowy hackers can snatch secret government files and humble big businesses with seeming ease, it's an unavoidable question as Election Day approaches: When we go to the polls, could our very votes be at risk?
Computers are evolving. We have voice-controlled assistants on our phones, telepresence robots for when we can't make it to a meeting in person, and self-driving cars that are headed to a road near you.
The new version of Windows, which is available Friday, sees Microsoft tucking the old, desktop-focused Windows skin into its back pocket, and instead donning a colorful, touch-friendly suit of tiles. It's such a grand departure from Redmond's legacy Windows software that most users won't recognize it as Windows at all. And that's a beautiful thing.
Neuroscience may not be for everyone. But Backyard Brains co-founder Greg Gage hopes to make it a little less intimidating and a lot more accessible.
Bras can do miraculous things these days (thank you underwire). But can they detect cancer?
As high-tech reality TV goes, it's hard to top Sunday's riveting leap from the stratosphere by Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner.
Stop us if you've heard this before: Tech geeks are the new rock stars. Silicon Valley is a "hotbed of innovation." And some people who work in tech aren't nerdy.
In advance of Friday, the first anniversary of the death of Apple's co-founder, we published a story pondering a question many in the tech world have been asking for a while: Who will be the next Steve Jobs?
Apple Senior VP Phil Schiller says the upgraded MacBook Air laptops are faster, has better graphics and $100 cheaper.
NASA has enhanced solar images to make the structures on the sun more visible.
Now that NASA's shuttle program is no longer running, how will the U.S. get astronauts into space? CNN explains.
NOAA used a remotely operated camera to view the remains of a 19th century sailing ship in the Gulf of Mexico.
The U.S. military is using a small robot to help troops in Afghanistan see through walls and potentially save lives.
Steve Jobs' request for tougher glass in the iPhone led Corning to produce Gorilla Glass in an old Kentucky factory.
A Kickstarter campaign for the Pebble watch has raised more than $6 million for a device that connects with smart phones.
Kaman and Lockheed Martin have teamed up to build an unmanned helicopter they hope will save lives in war zones.
Director James Cameron prepares his submarine for his record breaking dive down to the depths of the Mariana Trench.
Meet the innovators and agents of change that have been selected for CNN's The Next List.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta introduces us to a selection of change agents from a variety of fields.
The Jaguar supercomputer in Oak Ridge, TN is used for everything from scientific research to disaster management.
The future of warehouses may be one with fast shipments and few human employees if robots like Kiva Systems continue to invade the workspace.
José Carlos Garcia, estuvo en el lanzamiento del teléfono Nokia Lumia en Londres.
The Marlins' new $550 million stadium won't open until 2012, but CNNMoney got a sneak peek of how the roof will work.
Apple CEO sees the new and improved MacBook Air as the future of notebook computers.
CNN's Reynolds Wolf shows us a new Technovation that will keep a guitar in tune forever.
Now running at Seoul's main amusement park, Paula Hancocks learns the concept of "charge as you go."
A Houston couple ties the knot with a computer program acting as minister.
Japan uses computer-generated images to create chart-topping pop stars. CNN's Kyung Lah reports.
One of the best hospitals in Arizona isn't for you, it's for your pets.
Emirati nuclear officials say proposed nuclear plants for growing energy demands will have advanced safety systems.
Creators of the fuel-free plane Solar Impulse want more people to follow their example and use renewable energy.
GoPro CEO Nicholas Woodman explains how his wearable camera lets anyone record their adventures in HD.
New tech businesses can get off the ground faster thanks to the new cloud computing technology. CNN's Emily Reuben reports
Solar-powered, compact trash cans will pop up at bus stops in Dayton, Ohio as WDTN's Jordan Burgess reports.
New sunglass technology keeps the glare from blinding you. CNN's Randi Kaye talks to its inventor.
Apple's new cloud computing service could help bring the growing service to the masses.
Apple has announced its attempt to move into cloud computing, but it's not the first time.
Tech expert Katie Linendoll on Google's new Chromebook laptop and its revolutionary operating system.
The U.S. used facial recognition technology to help identify bin Laden. CNN's Michael Holmes explains how it works.
Berkeley Bionics CEO Eythor Bender talks about the vision behind eLegs, a bionic device for wheelchair users.
A new way of dispensing medicine is coming to America's hospitals. CNN's Dan Simon reports.
MIT researchers have developed a new use for the Microsoft Kinect system - a robot that flies without help from humans.
New hamster-ball-style technology uses the sun to turn dirty water into clean.
Researchers at Qatar University come up with a novel way to cool stadiums ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
CNN staffers give you the inside scoop as the technology festival wraps up.
CNN Digital General Manager KC Estenson gives South by Southwest attendees a look at what's next for CNN.com.
We explain why thousands of techies, filmmakers and musicians descend upon Austin, Texas, for South by Southwest.
CNN's Dan Simon shows us how a Silicon Valley company is fundamentally changing how we customize products.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout spoke to Raphael Pirker who shot video of New York from a remote controlled plane.
In January 1984, Apple revealed its latest input device called the "mouse."
CNN's Christine Romans examines 'skin' for a robot that can actually feel touch, sense chemicals and is solar powered.
Fast Company's editor-in-chief walks us through its Most Innovative Companies of 2011 list.
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