lights

Take a look at this eccentric array of action figure lamps by U.K. firm Evil Robot Designs. They feature painted pint-size superstars from geeky films, video games, and comic books.

Each of the six lamps in the collection has an ear-catching name like Alien Nation and Forbidden Planet. It would take paragraphs to list all the characters integrated into the 2-foot fixtures, but some notables (not mentioned in the photo captions) include Mysterio; Green Goblin; evil xenomorphs from the "Alien" movie series; He-Man; Bunnygirl "Suzumiya Haruhi"; and many more. … Read more

Neutrinos can't travel faster than the speed of light after all.

CERN has confirmed that an initial reading, which recorded neutrinos -- nearly mass-less subatomic particles -- sent from CERN to the Gran Sasso laboratory as moving faster than light, was based off of a "faulty element" with the experiment's fiber-optic timing system.

The results, presented today at the International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics in Kyoto, Japan, closes the chapter on a highly surprising finding last year that challenged the conventional wisdom of physics. The results quickly faced public scrutiny.

"Although this result … Read more

The Golden Gate Bridge turned 75 this past weekend, with a spectacular fireworks show to celebrate.

Unfortunately, some of us were home with spring colds and could only listen mournfully to the endless booming while imagining the historic show that was passing us by. Luckily, though, there's another bridge birthday happening in the Bay Area, with a related light-based extravaganza which, if all goes according to plan, should be pretty amazing -- and pretty hard to miss.

As our friends at Wired noted recently, artist Leo Villareal and his supporters want to honor the neighboring Bay Bridge on its 75th birthday by festooning it with 25,000 individually programmable white LED lights. "The Bay Lights" project will create a gigantic, shimmering "light sculpture" that responds to environmental stimuli such as the underlying water, the overriding traffic, and the surrounding weather, and will remain in place for two years.… Read more

The iPhone 4S' camera does an admirable job in a variety of lighting conditions, particularly when you remember that the device is a phone first, and a camera second. Still, if you find yourself shooting in low-light situations, you probably have noticed that your photos look blurry or grainy. Cortex Camera is a $2.99 app that can reduce this graininess or noise when shooting in low light. Here's how it works:

Instead of taking a single, still photo, Cortex Camera actually captures a short video when you hit the shutter button. Thus, you will need to hold your … Read more

The concept of an illuminated piece of wood might seem hard to visualize, but Japanese designer Ryosuke Fukusada created a surreal wooden light bulb that would make anyone do a double take.

Fukusada, who previously worked with Sharp, designed the "still under development" lamp with a "mix of modern design and traditional craft technique," as noted on his Web site. … Read more

Memorial Day is considered the traditional start of summer here in the U.S., and we noticed the streets, subways, and elevators getting less and less populated as the week wore on. But it was another full week for the CNET Reviews team, who cranked out more than 20 tech product reviews -- including a few items that are beyond our usual purview.

Hot cameras We sampled only two cameras this week, but both were four-star winners.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX30V is camera royalty, of sorts: the compact megazoom model is the successor to 2011's DSC-HX9V, an Editors' Choice … Read more

A resourceful videographer, Parker Maimbourg, has managed to build a continuous ring light for just $20.

The setup consists of a cheap, circular LED lamp ($10), an AA battery holder ($1.99), and an unused hotshoe salvaged from an old flash unit. A continuous ring light is typically used to provide even illumination for portraits and closeups and usually costs at least a few hundred dollars.

Basically, Maimbourg rewired all the LEDs on the lamp to a separate battery holder, which will be mounted on the camera's hotshoe. Next, he cut a hole through the center of the circular lamp enclosure to fit his lens, spray-painted the whole setup black for that professional feel, and voila! … Read more

When Barnes & Noble launched a Nook e-reader with an integrated light last month, many speculated that it was only a matter of time before Amazon would release a new front-lit version of its monochrome Kindle e-ink e-reader. Well, according to an unnamed Reuter's source who's allegedly seen a prototype of the product, Amazon is aiming to have that new Kindle in stores by July.

Barnes & Noble's began shipping its $139 Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight at the end of April in time for Mother's Day. The e-reader received a CNET Editors' Choice and Barnes & Noble says that sales have been brisk. … Read more

LightSquared's end is near.

The company filed for bankruptcy today, according to Bloomberg, marking an unglamorous end to its attempt to create an upstart provider of super-fast wireless service.

LightSquared was designed as a neutral wholesale provider of 4G LTE service, injecting additional competition into the industry and giving companies an alternative partner to work with. Despite its network in constant jeopardy, it had lined up an impressive list of partners willing to ride on its network.

LightSquared, in a statement, said the company plans to continue its normal operation through the process, and still plans to build its … Read more