Crave

We all know that invading space aliens have one primary objective, and that is to impregnate human kind. That and possibly to collect today's assortment of handy gadgets for use on their own planet. Meanwhile, there we'll be, doing their alien chores and cooking their alien dinners for them with no ability to break from their alien spell. Aren't we just a sad bunch of humanoid life forms?

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Cool Window Phone would simulate the weather

Gizmo gauges gals’ fertility–20,000 times a day

Japanese rescue robot consumes injured humans

The 10 most badass sci-fi battlesuits ever

STS-111 multisegment airship is not a flying sandworm but a flying spermatozoon

Starting Friday, the largest tornado research project will touch down in Norman, Okla., this time with the participation of one Lenovo.

The company announced Thursday that it has partnered with the nonprofit Center for Severe Weather Research to power advanced levels in tornado and severe weather research. This is part of a $11.9 million nomadic project called Vortex2, during which CSWR will use more than 50 pieces of Think-branded PC equipment.

(Credit: vortex2.org)

The equipment includes ThinkPad notebooks, ThinkCenter desktops, ThinkVision monitors, and IdeaPad S10 Netbooks. They will be used to help track and store radar data, guide vehicles in the storm, provide weather briefings, and analyze information for future use.

Based in Boulder, Colo., the CSWR conducts ongoing research on tornadoes, hurricanes, and severe weather. With Vortex2, the team will work in the field in "tornado alley" for several weeks to study why some thunderstorms produce tornadoes while others don't. The efforts will hopefully help researchers better predict future tornadoes' intensity, duration, and path.

Other than Lenovo, Vortex2 includes a diversity of governmental, academic, nonprofit and international organizations including the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. More than 100 scientists will participate in the field study, which will span 500,000 square miles across parts of seven states. They will use more than 40 specially designed vehicles and 70 pieces of weather equipment to get close to the eye of a storm.

You can keep track of this project here, or you follow it on Facebook or Twitter.

Sony's PlayStation 3 got a small update early Thursday morning that added a new channel called Life with PlayStation. It merges news feeds, weather forecasts, and live Web cams on a giant world map.

It's an evolution on the Folding@Home application, the protein-folding scientific project that's gotten a hefty processing boost from worldwide PlayStation 3 owners who run the small application when not using their systems to play games or watch movies.

What makes the service neat is that it figures out where you are and automatically jumps to that point when you start it up. The news feeds are pulled in from Google News, while the weather reports are served up in real time via the Weather Channel. As you move around the globe, both the news and weather changes by city, and both are continuously updated throughout the day.

A similar offering was provided by Nintendo for its Wii system back in January of 2007 with both its News and Forecast channels, however in the U.S. the stories were limited to those from the Associated Press, unlike Sony's offering which pulls them in from all over the Web.

Noam Rimon, Sony Entertainment of America's senior development manager of R&D, provides a walk through the updated service in the video below.

Click to see more images

Lincoln and THX representatives brought a new MKS by our offices to give us a demonstration of the technology. This car not only features a hard drive-based navigation system, but it also offers Sirius Travel Link, which integrates traffic, fuel prices, and weather with the navigation system. Better yet, the THX audio system gets music from Sync, which lets you hook up just about any MP3 player. Using this system, you can tell the car which bands you want to hear. We subjected it to some of our standard testing tracks and found the listening experience to be very impressive. We've published some preview photos of the MKS, and have a full review scheduled for late September.

Click here for photos of the 2009 Lincoln MKS.

For those who want their local weather on the 7s.

(Credit: Maplin)

Don't trust Marshall Seese? Me neither--the Weather Channel anchor looks a little shifty to me. And I think Jim Cantore's been left out in the field a little too long. If you've lost faith in the Weather Channel, it's time to take meteorological matters into your own hands with the USB Wireless Weather Forecaster. Plant the wireless sensor unit in your backyard, connect the small LCD touch screen to your PC, and sit back as it tracks the temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, rainfall, and wind speed.

What doesn't it do? Well, it doesn't work with Macs, nor does it show moon phases. And you'll need to buy it the next time you're in England, for 80 pounds.

Via Everything USB

(Credit: Oregon Scientific)

If you've ever spent much time in the Pacific Northwest, you'd understand why Oregon Scientific is obsessed with weather gadgets. And if you've ever spent much time in England, you'd be sympathetic.

It makes perfect sense, therefore, that U.K.-based Pocket-lint jumped on a new item from the Portland company that claims to forecast the next day's weather with sophisticated meteorological functions crammed into a wristwatch. The "Meteo" tracks barometric pressure trends displayed on a reverse LCD screen to predict atmospheric conditions 12 to 24 hours ahead.

The waterproof gadget also serves as a thin timepiece and stopwatch, so you won't feel foolish for having spent $70 on it while wearing shorts and an aloha shirt in the pouring rain.

The 2009 TSX will be unveiled in New York

(Credit: Acura)

Acura has begun to drip-feed us information about its updated TSX sedan, which will be formally unveiled at this year's New York auto show. Based on the single beauty show we got today, the styling of the 2009 TSX departs from that of the current model in several significant ways. The front end has the same beak-shaped arrangement that many of Acura's newer models, including the 2009 RL, which was unveiled last week. At the stern, the new TSX appears to have more of a raked rear windshield than the current model. It also appears to forgo the horizontal decklid of the current generation car, in favor of a smoother, more bulbous rear profile.

The new TSX is expected to be the first diesel-powered Honda in the United States

(Credit: CNET Networks)

The new TSX is expected to get Honda's new 2.2-liter i-DTEC diesel engine when it goes on sale later this year, making it the first diesel-powered car from Honda Motor to reach the United States. There is currently no information available on Interior upgrades of the new model, but don't be surprised to see it equipped with Acura's version of XM NavWeather, which has already been announced for the 2009 RL.

Click the image to access the gallery

(Credit: Acura)

The gadget-laden Acura RL has long been a favorite here at CNET Car Tech. As one of the first cars to offer a navigation system with real-time traffic data, and an active collision mitigation system, the current generation RL was ahead of the pack in terms of cabin and drivetrain technology. However, as we found in our recent review of the 2007 RL, the model has started to show its age. Acura is remedying that with the release of the 2009 RL. The 2009 RL comes with a new body style, a more powerful engine, and some more pioneering cabin technology including real-time weather information, and a navigation system that can automatically reroute around congestion. Check out our photo gallery here.

(Credit: ThinkGeek)

Years ago we purchased a rare early version of one of those personal weather stations that are everywhere these days, and it failed miserably. Or, more accurately, we failed miserably; we could never get it to work properly and, even when it did, we couldn't figure out how to read it. So even though their more recent design efforts are much appreciated, we still fear that they'll be too complicated for our woefully limited technical comprehension.

Enter La Crosse Technology and its $15 LCD Window Thermometer. Not only does it claim to be simple to use, according to GadgetGrid, but it's also easy to read--nothing fancy here, just the facts. And if it's mounted on a glass door, it can also keep you from accidentally bumping your head on those rare occasions when it's clean enough to see through.