Alexandra Ossola
at 09:56 AM Jul 9 2015
Gadgets // 

Back in 1999, the Matrix was a groundbreaking film in many ways—including its special effects, for which it won an Academy Award the following year. The most memorable scene was when the main character played by Keanu Reeves dodges bullets—the camera circles around him as he seems to move in slow motion:

Chandra Clarke
at 11:24 AM Jun 26 2015
Mobile // 

Scientists from the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago have just released a smartphone app called the Great Lakes Fish Finder. The app will help Great Lakes visitors identify what they're seeing while holidaying, and meanwhile will help researchers learn more about what species are highly prevalent in the lakes in real time. The app is being powered by iNaturalist, and is completely free.

Dave Gershgorn
at 11:49 AM Jun 24 2015

At first, Instagram was the app for picture people. Photographers who saw the app's potential early on in its life cycle, like David Guttenfelder and Michael Christopher Brown, gained hundreds of thousands of followers. News organizations like National Geographic and Time jumped on, and brought millions more eyes to their photography. And, of course, there has always been a healthy amount of pictures from brunch.

Levi Sharpe
at 09:37 AM Jun 19 2015

It took all of two seconds for the dermatologist to look up at me from her special magnifying scope to tell me that the mole on my left calf had to go. This was two days after my leg began to itch and what I thought was a bug bite actually turned out to be a dark mole that was bleeding. Moles shouldn't bleed.

Dave Gershgorn
at 09:54 AM Jun 9 2015

It's said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If so, then Apple was sure flattering its competitors at the annual Apple Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) today in San Francisco. Apple announced updates to its software for iPhones and iPads in the form iOS 9, as well as an updated desktop operating system for Mac computers in the form of the awkwardly named OSX El Capitan. Both updates promise improved stability, fewer bugs, and some new features over their predecessors. Yet as many in the tech press pointed out, it was hard to shake the impression that Apple was playing catchup to its rivals, Microsoft and Google, in terms of some of the biggest new features within the two new operating systems.

Kristen Hall-Geisler
at 10:43 AM May 20 2015
Cars // 

Those in the automotive know have been lamenting lately that these kids today don't want cars; they want devices. That may be true, but there is a way to have both: develop apps for the Apple Watch (and other soon-to-be-sold smart watch platforms) that work with your car.

Kelsey D. Atherton
at 10:36 AM May 8 2015
Drones // 

FAA aeronautical maps are great for trained pilots, but without an aviation background and expertise, they're a formidable challenge to any casual drone pilots. In light of this, as well as the changing legal landscape for drone users, hobbyists have made multiple drone-law mapping projects, like 2014's Don't Fly Drones Here effort or the recently announced AirMap (more on that in a second). Announced today, the FAA itself wants to dispel this drone confusion with an app of their own, and one they've already spent $430,000 developing.

 
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