Tech Culture

Here on planet Earth we're used to flames -- whether from a candle or campfire -- reaching upward to the sky with slender limbs hungry for oxygen and driven by rising hot air. But in space, sans our planet's strong gravitational pull, flames are more likely to take the shape of eerie fireballs.

Within the flame of a regular candle wick, there's quite a bit going on. As the video below released this week by NASA explains, molecules from the wick are being cracked apart and vaporized by the flame, then combined with oxygen to produce light, heat, carbon dioxide, and water, as well as soot.

In recent years we've become quite familiar with how flames can extend and expand quickly in their greedy quest for more fuel and oxygen; witness countless western wildfires of the past decade. But researchers aboard the International Space Station have observed that flames in microgravity behave much differently, staying in a small spherical shape and letting oxygen molecules come to them.… Read more

Unfortunately, the Large Hadron Collider is too big to bring home and put on display in your living room. Scientist Sascha Mehlhase created a 4,500-piece Lego model of the collider back in 2011 at a cost of about $2,700. That was also too big for most people.

Now, he has created a smaller model of the ATLAS experiment, a particle physics experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, and put it up as a candidate for an official Lego kit.

The project is on Cuusoo, a site for Lego enthusiasts to share their models and attempt to gather 10,000 votes in order for Lego to consider making their creations as kits. Mehlhase's ATLAS currently has 5,756 supporters, so it has definitely caught the eyes of Lego builders.… Read more

Sony is once again being squeezed by one of its biggest investors to split itself up by spinning off its entertainment division.

Third Point hedge fund founder Daniel Loeb sent a letter on Tuesday to Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai urging him to set up a semi-independent board to run a spun-off and public entertainment company, Reuters reported. Loeb recently upped his fund's investment in Sony to 70 million shares, or almost 7 percent of the company, a stake worth around $1.4 billion.

Loeb has argued that Sony has been unable to successfully run its entertainment division, which includes … Read more

Late Night host Jimmy Fallon got his chance to play with the Xbox One on his show Monday night.

Microsoft's upcoming new console made its late night appearance courtesy of Phil Spencer, vice president of Microsoft Studios. Spencer touted the Xbox One as an all-in-one entertainment center with games, live TV, a new Kinect camera, and a revamped Xbox Live service coming in the fall.

Fallon, a known technology geek, seemed like a kid in a candy store as he checked out the new console, proclaiming that "the future is here." But the real action took place … Read more

Microsoft's Xbox 360 was the top-selling console in May, but its sales figures weren't all that impressive.

According to the software giant, it sold 114,000 Xbox 360 units in the U.S. in May, leading all other console makers. By beating its competitors, Microsoft was able to nab its 29th consecutive month as the leading console seller in the U.S.

Perhaps the more surprising point there, though, is that Nintendo's Wii U, which came out just last year, sold fewer than 114,000 units. It's to be expected that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation … Read more

Stop me if you've heard this one before: company plans to release a "micro-console" in 2013 as an alternative to the mainstream consoles from Sony and Microsoft. Said console to run Android.

The Mad Catz MOJO Android Micro-Console is the latest such device to be deemed press-release-worthy and hopefully worth your attention as a gamer. Micro-console is a name given to a number of alternative video game systems using the Android operation system although that's not necessarily a requirement. The consoles have thus far featured much smaller-than-usual form factors. Hence the term.

If you've been … Read more

Any Skype user can now send a video message to friends and family who are offline.

Rolled out in February as a beta preview, Video Messaging launched on Monday to all Skype users. Those of you on Skype can record a video message to share with folks who aren't available. The message then pops up for your recipients after they log into Skype.

Built directly into the Skype software, Video Messaging is accessible via Skype for Windows desktop, Skype for Windows 8, Skype for Mac, Skype for iPhone, Skype for iPad, Skype for Android, and Skype for BlackBerry.

There'… Read more

I would no sooner pilot a plane than marry a fish.

So I am always reassured when the voice from the cockpit is one of ineffable calm.

Sometimes, though, pilots must be suffering nervous conniptions when the weather turns on them and, say, the runway disappears as they are landing.

This quite pulsating footage was uploaded to YouTube this week. It shows a Boeing Business Jet landing in rain.

The windshield wipers are working furiously. Suddenly the runway seems to vanish.

The calm decision-making that leads the pilot to abort the landing and try again freezes the lay mind.

What … Read more

Where last year's show felt empty, E3 2013 was anything but. Show-goers were treated to a barrage of new software to gawk over, a lot of which are brand-new franchises. Taking into consideration criticism from my past lists, I'll be highlighting only games that featured gameplay of some kind. As long as someone played it at E3, it's fair game. Sorry, trailers and teasers won't cut it this year!