If every living thing on Earth died tomorrow, would future generations be able to detect that animals and plants once covered the globe.?

Well, sure, if they got lucky and found the broken head of the Statue of Liberty sticking out of the sand, but two UC Berkeley researchers have so far not found distinguishing fingerprints left by the presence of life--such as erosion patterns--that could definitively determine whether or not life existed on a particular planet.

William Dietrich, professor of earth and planetary science at the University of California, Berkeley, and grad student J. Taylor Perron examined different geological … Read more

Jim Armstrong, managing director at Clearstone Venture Partners, says his firm is looking at investments in China and India like everyone else, but believes the next "big" opportunity for venture capitalists might be in those cities on the US Airways circuit.

Investing in the regional tech pockets in the U.S will get big over the next 36 months, he said. The tech talent is out there, but it's being underserved by the firms on Menlo Park's Sand Hill Road. Historically, these firms have preferred to invest in companies a car drive away.

"You've … Read more

Sales of silicon-based car sensors will reach more than $10 billion this year, up 11 percent from last year, according to a new report from research firm Strategy Analytics.

That means carmakers plan to outfit more vehicles with fancy features such as lane-departure warnings, which are still new to only a few luxury cars. Lane-departure warnings, with the use of infrared optics and cameras, alert drivers when they're headed off-road or into another car's lane.

Similarly, sensors for boosting car performance and safety will also drive the market, according to the report. So much so that Strategy Analytics … Read more

Thirty three percent of teens surveyed in the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index predicted the demise of gasoline powered cars by 2015. Only 26 percent, however, expected compact disks to become obsolete in the next decade.

Teens were also somewhat optimistic that technology could ameliorate many of the world's pending environmental problems. 91 percent thought tech could tackle the issue of clean water while 89 percent were optimistic about solving world hunger. 84 percent felt that technology could provide answers for pollution reduction.

"Perhaps more than any preceding generation, today's young people are completely comfortable with rapid technological change,&… Read more

Fighter pilots get to handle some of the most advanced technology around, from weapons systems to the avionics equipment that helps keep them flying straight. But to guard against the deafening noise of their jet engines, they've long had to rely on little more than cheap, disposable foam earplugs.

They can start putting hearing loss on hold, however, with some gadgetry cooked up by the Air Force Research Laboratory. The new ACCES gear embeds specialized electronics and a voice communications cable into a pair of custom-molded earpieces that the research agency says "allows clear communications while simultaneously protecting … Read more

The buzz at L.A.'s annual Auto Show is all about the newest, fastest car in the world, Bugatti's Veyron 16.4.

The super sleek car has a 16-cylinder engine in a "W" layout with four turbos, giving 1001 horsepower running through a clutchless sequential 7-speed transmission. It has a launch control feature which allows the driver, when pressing the brake and gas at the same time, to make the most of the car's rocket-like propulsion and jet forward. It accelerates to 60 mph in 2.3 seconds and hits top speeds of 253 miles … Read more

What's the ultimate driving machine for Southern Californians squeezed by real-estate prices? An urban loft on wheels, of course.

The so-called GMC Pad is a concept car from the automaker that took first prize in the L.A. Auto Show's design competition Thursday. In keeping the with the contest's theme of "an L.A. adventure," the Pad is a roving, hipster bus that offers the city dweller cultural and geographic freedom, according to its designers.

The concept car features an electric hybrid system for propulsion while driving, but which also serves as a power generator … Read more

The focus of attention on Blue Origin, the secretive space colonization initiative backed by Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos, has shifted from Texas to the Pacific Northwest.

The Seattle Times is reporting that documents filed with the city of Kent, Wash. and with the Federal Aviation Administration show Blue Origin is revamping a 243,000-square-foot office and warehouse to accommodate rocket assembly equipment and a staff that will grow from 40 people currently to as many as 100 over the next several years. The low-profile, high-altitude start-up is expected to move into its new quarters in the first quarter of … Read more

The clock's ticking on the launch of the first demonstrator spacecraft for Galileo, Europe's global satellite navigation system. On Wednesday, a Soyuz rocket is expected to carry Giove-A into space, according to a BBC News report.

The plan is for 30 satellites to eventually be put into orbit for Galileo, a public-private effort that is expected to run up a tab of billions of dollars. The project, led by the European Space Agency, should give countries on the continent an independent alternative to the U.S. military-run Global Positioning System.