The Next Step

First Memristor Circuits Built

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:16:10 -0700

Researchers at HP Labs are building a device that could vastly increase the amount of information you can store on your camera's memory card -- or any device's memory. They are testing the first circuit boards that combine conventional transistors with a new kind of electronic element — the memristor.

Space Heater

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:34:20 -0700

The tiles designed to prevent the Space Shuttle from burning up are not up to the task of protecting Orion, the new spacecraft that will replace the Shuttle in just a few years. A special team at Ames Research Center has narrowed the candidates down to 2 materials, one new and one more than 40 years old.

Bug Labs

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:30:20 -0700

Come see the first USB-photo-phono-Wi-Fi-locator-RFID thingie. Mod kits and make-it-yourself kits are all the rage in technology today. But until now there was no kit to help you build something that exists only in your mind. That's a need that Bug Labs is trying to fill, with its "Lego" approach to invention.

CellScope

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:50:11 -0700

A group of doctors and biophysicists at the University of California have built a device that could mean better medical care at home and in underdeveloped countries. CellScope is a cellphone that serves as a medical microscope.

TechShop

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:57:51 -0700

When you need to make copies, you go to a copy shop. When you need to make a picture frame, you go to a frame shop. But where do you go when you need to make the next brilliant invention? Now, there's the TechShop.

Good Enough

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:59:27 -0700

The Next Step 080721 - Good Enough

It’s a thoroughly modern irony. As technology delivers ever-sharper pictures and sound, you and I settle for audio and video that's just good enough. MP3 and TiVo were a step down from what preceded them. And few HD TVs actually display high quality images. What's going on?

Hosted by: Richard Hart

TRT: 09:30

Babbage Computer

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:46:33 -0700

It is the first step in computing. The Babbage Difference Engine was the first digital computer ever designed. It weighs nearly 5 tons and doesn't use electricity. Until May, 2009, the American public will be able to see one of only two ever made, on display inside the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley.

LED Revolution

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:50:15 -0700

The next step in lamps isn't a bulb; it's a glowing microchip. And it's revolutionizing everything from flashlights to chandeliers, from jewelry to knitting needles, and even brooms.

Pragmatech

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:10:12 -0700

The Next Step 080525 - Pragmatech
Practical design of technology, whether keyboards, touchscreens or AC adapters, isn't easy. But it helps to start with a little common sense. Properly done, the future isn't very futuristic, because the greatest technology is the simplest and least noticeable.

Hosted by: Richard Hart

TRT: 11:12

Domainia

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:05:19 -0700

The Next Step 071111 - Domainia

It's time for you to get your own website. It's time to drop the www (duby-dubya-dubya). Richard Hart provides some tips on how to secure a good domain name, how to complain about a bad website, and some do's and don'ts for every site.

Hosted by: Richard Hart

TRT: 10:13