Today's stories on newscientist.com, at a glance, including: the rise of the tiny medibots, the colliders that will follow the LHC, and an interview with Belle de Jour
They'd taken a SCAR assault rifle, and put a "black box" inside the handgrip, networking it with the soldier ("with a kind of Bluetooth" according to the PR guy), and also to home base. The grip is a sealed, 10-year unit that logs the number of bullets fired and remaining ammo a la Aliens. They're also working on pairing to specific soldiers, perhaps using biometrics. Deactivating it if the Taliban get it, for instance? "In the near future," said PR man enigmatically.
We've seen the Palm Pixi drop in price right at launch, but looks like the Droid isn't far behind. The Dell Mobility Store is offering it for a rather reasonable $120 (with a new Verizon account, of course).
This is almost a surprising price drop after what we heard was a pretty decent launch for this handset. Why such a rush to lower price if sales are good? [Dell via 9 to 5 Mac]
I'm not quite sure what exactly is going on here, me being somewhat of a dullard and all, but I do know one thing: this there is one neat video. [Random Good Stuff]
App developers have it hard enough on the iPhone; on Android, they've got to keep prices just as low, and sell to a much smaller audience. So how are some of them coping? By packing up and leaving, like Gameloft.
Finance director for the company, Alexandre de Rochefort, says that even a company that's done extremely well on the iPhone can have trouble breaking even on Google phones:
We have significantly cut our investment in Android platform, just like ... many others ... [The Android Market] is not as neatly done as on the iPhone. Google has not been very good to entice customers to actually buy products. On Android nobody is making significant revenue.
Our Friday lists are all about gadgety fun and leisure, but sometimes technology can be frustrating—and there is definitely a right way and a wrong way to handle it. This is definitely the wrong way.
If you have a problem with you TV, like a certain 70-year old Missouri man did with his converter box during the DTV transition, DO NOT get loaded, shoot it and engage in a standoff with the police. [Link]
If you can't afford a ridiculously tricked out shower, the next best thing might be a Smart Shower from Hansa. It has a standard shower, cascade and hand shower mode for your head an a pivoting spray for your crotch.
Well it could be used for your crotch if you are tall enough, or you have a weirdly high crotch with a weirdly short torso. Either way, it's a sweet-looking fixture with a lot of options. [Hansa via Trendir]
We've teamed up with the HD Guru himself, Gary Merson, to publish the absolute best five TVs you can buy right now. As you'll see (and might already notice above), there are some surprises on the list.
A hacker has broken into the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit and posted over 1000 highly confidential emails online, says Shanta Barley
The Camangi WebStation has been floating around for a few months now in little more than proof of concept form. Now, it's on the cusp of being a real product, released next month for $400.
The system runs Android 1.5 through its 7-Inch (800×480) glass touchscreen display, plus you get Wi-Fi (b/g), GPS , microSD reader, 2MP camera, .3MP webcam and a USB port that can always add 3G (though, the whole idea becomes sort of silly at that point).
Plus, a built-in stand on the back means it can double as a picture frame. Yes!!
There are two ways for a device to access YouTube: either through the regular web interface, i.e. Flash, or for cleaner integration, through its back end APIs. As of December, Google is shutting off the tap. UPDATED
The news comes from the COO of Syabas, the company that makes the Popcorn Hour set-top box. Up until now they'd had a "loose agreement" with the 'Tube: They could stream video from YouTube for free, but YouTube could change the terms of the deal whenever they want. Which they did!:
Black Friday is a week away, and thousands of markdowns are already announced. Our master list of Giz-friendly deals—a hefty read—includes similar items priced differently at different stores. Keep it refreshed, cuz we'll be updating it all week.
Now, you can design your own Fleshlight to your exacting specifications. Can you only climax when making love to a see-thru coinslot in a blue tube? Welcome to Pleasure Town, weirdo! [Fleshlight]
The good news: scientists have developed a Star Trek-like phaser that can be set to stun. The bad news: it only works on worms so far.
Researchers have now found a way to paralyse tiny worms when they expose them to ultraviolet light. Even when the ultraviolet light was turned off the animals stayed stunned. However, if they were subsequently exposed to a different form of light they recovered again and were able to move.
The researchers claim that this is the first time that such an effect has been demonstrated in an animal. Although some of the worms died, most of them lived through the process.
Hey now! Just because the NSA helped Microsoft hone the security of Windows 7 doesn't mean Microsoft designed special backdoors for the organization to spy on us...right?
In a response to Computerworld's article on NSA involvement in Windows 7 development, Microsoft stated: "Microsoft has not and will not put 'backdoors' into Windows."
Not to nitpick here, but doesn't this denial leave another "door" open? As in, couldn't the NSA have stuck their own backdoor into Windows 7 while official Microsoft employees turned a blind eye? Or—and this may come as really shocking—could Microsoft have simply lied to us in the interest of national security??
I get that this Flo TV iPhone demo is just a proof of concept. That's fine! I'm just a little confused as to what the concept is.
Is it just what they're showing us? A Flo TV app, that requires some kind of accessory to tune into broadcasts? That's possible, but given how well the iPhone can stream video over 3G, it'd be a hard sell, even with Flo TV's cable-like channel selection. It would also help if said accessory wasn't larger than the actual iPhone.
Specifics have not been announced, but Amazon noted via their Kindle Facebook page that a more user-friendly, organized ebook management system will arrive as an over-the-air update in the first half of 2010.
As many Kindle owners already know, keeping a large number of books on the device can get a bit unruly—so this would be a welcome update. It's also good news for people on the fence about whether or not to get a Kindle or a Nook over the holidays. It appears that the Kindle is going to be the only game in town until after the new year. [Kindle Facebook via Gadgetell]
Those annoying ads you're forced to watch before online previews and television clips? Apple plans to bring them to your iPhone/iPod, which might mean lower prices at the cash register.
Google Chrome debuts! Have you downloaded it?
Everyone's favorite pocket video camera, the Flip Mino, to include wifi!
Now they'll be praying online ...
Astronauts aboard the international space station and space shuttle Atlantis woke up to a worrying sound -- alarms indicating a fire and dangerous loss of pressure, NASA said Friday.
We've seen the 
App developers have it hard enough on the iPhone; on Android, they've got to keep prices just as low, and sell to a much smaller audience. So how are some of them coping? By packing up and leaving, like Gameloft.
The 
There are two ways for a device to access YouTube: either through the regular web interface, i.e. Flash, or for cleaner integration, through its back end APIs. As of December, Google is shutting off the tap. UPDATED
The good news: scientists have developed a 
Hey now! Just because the 
Specifics have not been announced, but Amazon noted via their 