How Close to the Sun Can You Survive?

With July in full force, it already feels like the Sun's rays are slobbering down our necks. But what if it were closer to us? Say, 90 million miles closer? Popular Science investigates how near we could go and survive.

Scientists formalize perfect handshake; world peace on track for 2012

PH = (e² + ve²)(d²) + (cg + dr)² + π{(4< s >2)(4< p >2)}² + (vi + t + te)² + {(4< c >2)(4< du >2)}²

Coulomb gets in an Empire State of mind, switches on NYC's first public EV charging station

Big Apple residents, get ready to rock the H to the O-V lane in your EV, because downtown recharging just got a little bit easier.

Powertread turns gridlock into electricity with a series of tubes

Getting stuck in traffic sucks, but thanks to a couple of Kiwis you might soon be feeling a little better about yourself while muttering about the brake-happy commuter ahead of you.

Scientists Crack Mona Lisa's Secret By X-Raying Her

Apparently, everyone has long been baffled by how Leonardo da Vinci created such subtle shadows and light on the Mona Lisa. So much so that scientists X-rayed the painting to discover his technique.

Live@HOPE, Jeff Potter Cooks for Geeks

Jeff Potter plays with his food, and wants to get you to as well. He experiments with equipment, techniques, chemistry, even the psychology and genetics of flavor. Sometimes it's delicious, and sometimes he blows up the kitchen. Sometimes both.

Nobody Knows the Origin of the Biggest X-Ray Explosion Ever Detected

You're looking at the most powerful X-ray blast ever recorded. You can be thankful we've an atmosphere. This thing was so strong that—even 5 billion light-years away—it overwhelmed the Swift observatory's instruments. Nobody knows what it really was.

Earth's Upper Atmosphere Suffers Record Collapse

Well, this doesn't sound good: NASA just announced that the Earth's thermosphere, an upper layer of the atmosphere, collapsed. It's the biggest contraction in 43 years and scientists have no idea what's going on. I don't feel safe anymore.

Big mystery holding back practical superconductors may have been solved

Superconductors carry electric current with no energy loss. They could revolutionize our electrical grid, but they only work at impractically low temperatures. We just figured out a key reason why – and possibly got a lot closer to room-temperature superconductors.

Scientists Discover the First Planet With a Tail

Scientists have discovered the first cometary planet, one with a huge tail, a stream of gas being ripped off by solar winds at 22,000 miles per hour. This jovian world is located 153 light-years from Earth.

Collapsible Input Pen Lets You Draw 3D Images On a 2D Surface

Beyond – Collapsible Input Device for Direct 3D Manipulation beyond the Screen from Jinha Lee on Vimeo.

It's difficult to create 3D images on a 2D surface because, well, you're missing a whole dimension. Enter Beyond, a collapsible input device that virtually extends the pen into the screen to create the 3D effect.

Eat Your Cable Troubles Away

I really do hate all these cables, and I will keep on hating them until all my charging and syncing happens over the very air I breathe. Until then, I guess these ice cream sandwich cables will keep me satisfied.

NASA Offers Cash for Inflatable Space Shelters

NASA has kicked off a competition among university engineers to design an inflatable habitat that is "light-weight, safe, and reliable" to house future astronauts "in space and on other planetary bodies." On the line is $58,000.

The eXploration Habitat (or X-Hab) "lofts," as NASA is chicly terming them, must be designed to sit as an expansion atop the agency's existing hard shell prototype, which will include (cramped) spaces for activities like suit maintenance and geological research. The challenge, open to all university seniors and graduate students, is intended to spur interest and research in math, science, and engineering, and will honor each of three winning teams with $48,000 and a shot to field test their prototype for a final ten grand.

Sure Beats the Weather Channel

We all check the weather in habitual, niche ways. Some watch the news, others glance at their phones. And others still? They require nothing short of 6,000 windows illuminated by 72,000 RGB LEDs that abstractly report the weather.

Hackers start hacking the Pandigital Novel e-reader

The Pandigital Novel e-reader may have had its share of problems since its launch just a month ago, but it's starting to look like a slightly more attractive option for those willing to hack the device. As detailed by Nate of The Digital Reader blog,

Terahertz Detectors Could See Through Your Clothes From a Mile Away

Someone may soon be able to tell what types material are in your pockets from tens, and possibly thousands, of feet away.

The Greenest Supercomputer On the Planet

This is the Grape-DR, a supercomputer housed in the Department of Information Science at the University of Tokyo. It has 64 Intel Core i7-920 processors and an accelerator chip that can achieve 200 gigaflops with a lightbulb's worth of power.

Robins can see magnetic fields with a keen right eye

When it's time to migrate, how do birds find north? The going theory is that some avians can literally see the magnetic fields. Talk about a birds-eye view. However, a recent experiment shows that ability is hampered unless the creature in question has good vision in the right eye.

Pulsar clocks spin closer to reality

Contrary to popular legend, Pulsar wristwatches don't use the light of dying stars to keep time. However, if researchers at the University of Manchester are correct, the strobe-like effect generated by a collapsed star's spin may indeed be the most accurate clock (sorry, Atom) available to mankind. While pulsars have long been studied for insight into the nature of time and gravity, their patterns weren't as