60-Second Tech
161 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 9 years ago - ★★★★ - 83 ratingsScientific American Online associate tech editor Larry Greenemeier provides a weekly minute commentary on some of the most interesting developments in the world of technology
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Episodes
Contact Lens Binoculars Are in Sight
February 19, 2015 19:15 - 1 minuteResearchers revealed their latest prototype contact lenses that magnify vision almost three times with the wink of an eye. Larry Greenemeier reports
Keurig Coffee Drinkers Hack Back
February 13, 2015 20:00 - 1 minuteUsers of the K-cup coffee company’s products have counterattacked against its efforts to restrict the brands that their new machines can brew. Larry Greenemeier reports
Radar Makes All Houses Glass
February 05, 2015 16:20 - 1 minuteLaw enforcement agencies have handheld radar that can “see” through walls via RF signals, raising Fourth Amendment concerns. Larry Greenemeier reports
Smart Keyboard Gets a Charge out of You
January 30, 2015 20:41 - 1 minuteResearchers have made a secure, waterproof wireless keyboard that gets charged by the action of your fingertips as you type. Larry Greenemeier reports
Rival Space Internets Vie for Sky Pie
January 23, 2015 19:19 - 1 minuteSpaceX’s Elon Musk and fellow tech mogel Greg Wyler both have plans for low Earth orbit satellite networks that could fill in many of the world's current gaps in Internet coverage. Larry Greenemeier reports
Gestures and Eye Movements Will Control Cars
January 16, 2015 10:01 - 1 minuteCarmakers are working on ways to let drivers interact with their cars using presumably safer hand gestures and eye movement in addition to voice controls and touch screens. Larry Greenemeier reports
Facebook Puts Its Money Where Your Mouth Is
January 12, 2015 10:23 - 1 minuteThe social media behemoth buys voice-recognition start-up Wit.ai to prepare for the impending Internet of Things. Larry Greenemeier reports
Teen Inventors Connect DVR to Your Zzzs
December 24, 2014 12:06 - 1 minuteBritish students made a wrist monitor that senses if you nod off and sends a signal to your DVR to record whatever you were watching. Future such devices could control additional household functions. Larry Greenemeier reports
Future Smartphone Could Fall Smartly, Too
December 19, 2014 19:28 - 1 minuteApple got a patent for a system to adjust your falling device in flight to minimize the damage on landing. Larry Greenemeier reports
Recycled Laptop Batteries Bring Light to Power Poor
December 11, 2014 19:51 - 1 minuteIBM scientists in India developed an experimental power supply from reusable lithium ion cells salvaged from three-year-old laptop battery packs. Larry Greenemeier reports
NYC School Computers Are MIA
December 08, 2014 19:05 - 1 minuteNew York City public schools are missing hundreds and possibly thousands of computers, due to poor record keeping, theft, corruption or some combo. Larry Greenemeier reports
Cats Teach Robots to Land on Feet
November 21, 2014 15:56 - 1 minuteTraining rescue robots to land safely from falls like cats could give them nine lives in the field. Larry Greenemeier reports
Solar Roadways Take Baby Steps
November 18, 2014 16:51 - 1 minuteDutch cyclists can now pedal a path paved with solar panels. Larry Greenemeier reports
Smartphone Case Furthers Unplug Movement
November 06, 2014 14:04 - 1 minuteYondr’s locking gadget-case aims to keep digital distractions down during live performances. Larry Greenemeier reports
Apple Pay Perturbs Prying Personal Prospectors
October 28, 2014 09:52 - 1 minuteLaw enforcement agencies and retailers such as Walmart and Best Buy balk at Apple's operating system and payment app privacy efforts. Larry Greenemeier reports
Tapping the Twitterverse for Meaning
October 10, 2014 20:05 - 1 minuteTwitter and M.I.T. have teamed up to launch the Laboratory for Social Machines to analyze the impact of social media messages on society. Larry Greenemeier reports
Drivers While Voice Texting Are Still Distracted
October 02, 2014 11:07 - 1 minuteDrivers in a simulator reacted slowly to sudden traffic emergencies regardless of whether they were thumbing texts into smartphones or dictating them to Google Glass. Larry Greenemeier reports
App IDs Other Battery-Eater Apps
September 29, 2014 19:08 - 1 minuteMore than a million volunteer users of the smarthphone app Carat have helped researchers identify those apps that really suck battery power in both the Android operating system and Apple's iOS. Larry Greenemeier reports
Jet Pack Keeps You Grounded, but Faster
September 19, 2014 21:00 - 1 minuteMini-jet backpack for runners could help military personnel and others get home faster. Larry Greenemeier reports
Bike Helmet Meets Black Box
September 12, 2014 10:35 - 1 minuteA future smart bike helmet can track the rider's motion, determine if a crash was likely and call for help if the rider is incapacitated. Larry Greenemeier reports
Apple Expected to Set Its Sights on Wearables, Mobile Payments
September 05, 2014 13:00 - 1 minuteThe rumor mill surrounding the company's latest is in high gear, with possibly a wearable device and smartphone wallet capabilities to be announced next week. Larry Greenemeier reports
We're All Hawking Products Now
August 24, 2014 15:00 - 1 minuteSoftware start-ups getting big bucks to write code that can identify, find and link logos and brands in the billions of images posted daily. Larry Greenemeier reports
Robotic Exoskeletons Giving (and Gaining) Support
August 17, 2014 23:40 - 1 minuteHydraulic-powered, mind-controlled support suits aren’t just for superheroes. Soon you might have to wear one to work. Larry Greenemeier reports
Medical Workers Page Google Glass
August 03, 2014 13:45 - 1 minuteThe Internet-connected headset is drawing interest in the medical community as a video consultation tool. Larry Greenemeier reports.
Moth Eyes Inspire Different Solar Cell
July 25, 2014 16:55 - 1 minuteMoth eyes absorb almost all incident light, thus reducing reflection that predators would notice. Researchers have now used the moth eye structure as the basis of a highly efficient solar absorbing cell. Larry Greenemeier reports
Feline Facial Recognition Overcomes Kitty Overconsumption
July 18, 2014 19:45 - 1 minuteA multicat feeder system incorporates facial recognition so that owners can tell if individual cats are eating too much or too little. Larry Greenemeier reports
Hacked E-Cigs May Get around Regulations
July 10, 2014 21:00 - 1 minuteSome users are modifying electronic cigarettes to produce stronger flavors, more impressive vapor clouds and to deliver even more nicotine. Larry Greenemeier reports
Software Finds Best Parts of Boring Video
June 27, 2014 19:35 - 1 minuteMachine-learning researchers are developing software that automatically searches through long videos to create edited summaries, or personalized trailers. Larry Greenemeier reports
Apple, Google Say "Drop That Doughnut!"
June 20, 2014 18:15 - 1 minuteTech companies are offering an ever-increasing number of health monitoring and promoting apps, to keep you in shape and interesting in buying more gadgets. Larry Greenemeier reports
Microsoft Bets on Gestures to Buoy Windows Phones
June 15, 2014 10:00 - 1 minuteMicrosoft is allegedly adding Kinect-for-Xbox–like gesture recognition to the next generation of Nokia’s Lumia smartphone. Larry Greenemeier reports
Cyber Currencies Get Boost from High-Profile Endorsements
June 06, 2014 20:33 - 1 minuteDon't bet all your chips on crypto coins yet, but Apple's app acceptance makes things interesting. Larry Greenemeier reports
Thought-Controlled Flight Reaches the Runway
May 29, 2014 13:55 - 1 minuteResearchers at Munich's Technical University had subjects control flight simulators with brainwaves via an EEG interface. Larry Greenemeier reports
Facebook Encourages Yentas to Share Info about Friends
May 22, 2014 18:25 - 1 minuteThe social network hopes to fill in the info blanks for its low-profile members by having their friends supply the details. Larry Greenemeier reports
The Internet Gets Amnesia—in Europe at Least
May 16, 2014 15:25 - 1 minuteA European Union court ruling endorses the right to be forgotten online. The U.S. is less forgiving. Larry Greenemeier reports
Tape Data Storage Makes a Comeback
May 12, 2014 19:31 - 1 minuteSony's new process lets them store more than 185 terabytes of data on a single tape cartridge. Larry Greenemeier reports
Lytro Camera Refocuses on Upscale Audience
April 25, 2014 09:25 - 1 minuteThe Lytro Illum camera system allows refocusing of a photo after it's taken. It's faster guts and more professional design make the camera more attractive—and pricier—than its predecessor. Larry Greenemeier reports
Broadcast TV Streamer Aereo Fights for Legal Life
April 18, 2014 12:28 - 1 minuteThe U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether Aereo can keep streaming live broadcast TV to mobile gadgets and other devices. Larry Greenemeier reports
Being Bad at Video Games Ups Aggression
April 10, 2014 20:45 - 1 minuteA custom-designed video game that frustrated players left them at least as aggressive after playing as did other games famous for their violence. Larry Greenemeier reports
Umpires Show Bias for Stars and Strikes
April 07, 2014 10:00 - 1 minuteBaseball's expanded review system excludes ball and strike calls, which a study finds to be biased in favor of star players, especially late in games. Larry Greenemeier reports
Greatest Invention in Human History Helps You Avoid Certain People
March 28, 2014 10:45 - 1 minuteThe era of antisocial networking has begun with the development of apps such as Cloak, which identifies locations of your contacts so you don't have to see them. Larry Greenemeier reports
Eye-Catching Adapter Makes Smartphone Ophthalmic Screener
March 14, 2014 05:40 - 1 minuteResearchers are developing adapters that let smartphones take high-quality images of the eye that could be used to remotely screen patients for eye conditions or disease. Larry Greenemeier reports
Facebook Plans Remote Coverage via Drones
March 11, 2014 19:26 - 1 minuteA consortium including Facebook and Qualcomm wants to launch solar-powered atmospheric satellite drones that can carry equipment for relaying wireless networks in remote areas that currently have no Internet connections. Larry Greenemeier reports
Contest Takes Aim at Smart Guns
March 02, 2014 20:15 - 1 minuteCompetitions like the Firearms Challenge could give guns that use radio-frequency tags, biometrics and other tech a push into the mainstream. Larry Greenemeier reports
Mobile Device Thieves Face Off against Kill Switch
February 20, 2014 12:21 - 1 minuteCalifornia wants to be the first state to mandate antitheft features on mobile devices, but carriers fear lost insurance revenue. Larry Greenemeier reports
Digital Flicks Invade Art House Cinemas
February 10, 2014 11:00 - 1 minuteParamount Pictures is the first of what will be many studios to release major motion pictures in all-digital, forcing small movie houses to upgrade their technology. Larry Greenemeier reports
Kid Smartphone Gives Parents More Control
January 31, 2014 17:48 - 1 minuteA new smartphone for youngsters is being marketed for its ability for parents to set parental filters and strict guidelines for use. Larry Greenemeier reports
Your Driving Data Can Reveal Your Routes
January 24, 2014 15:36 - 1 minuteUsing data about when you drive, the times of your starts and stops, and your speed, insurance companies may be able to also tell where you go, even without GPS. Larry Greenemeier reports
Eye Reflections Could Catch Crooks
January 06, 2014 21:15 - 1 minutePhotos that include people now produce images clear enough to make a positive ID of any individuals whose faces are reflected in the corneas of the people in the picture. Larry Greenemeier reports
Big Majority of Facebook Posters Self-Censor
December 20, 2013 18:32 - 1 minuteIn a study of user behavior, Facebook determined that about 70 percent of people about to post an item engage in some form of self-editing or self-censorship. Larry Greenemeier reports.
Whistleblowers, Courts Reveal Surveillance Secrets
December 12, 2013 19:09 - 1 minuteThe year brought numerous revelations about government surveillance on ordinary citizens. Do we care? Larry Greenemeier reports.