One of the more creative visions of the direction tablet computing could take is no more, as Microsoft has decided to pull the plug on its Courier concept. The two-screen tablet, which folded like a book and combined both finger-touch and stylus controls, was never publicly announced by Microsoft as a real product. Gizmodo first [...]

Here’s your mad scientist idea of the day: engineers at BP are looking into designing a giant underwater dome that could be lowered over the out-of-control oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico right now. The dome would block the spread of oil, as well as let it be sucked up. Apparently, it’s not the [...]

Here’s an attractive solution to the problem of gathering energy offshore: Harness both wind and wave power at the same time. A company named Floating Power Plant plans to build Poseidon 37, a 754-foot-long floating power generation station that can output 50 gigawatts of wave and wind power each year. Great timing. Just yesterday, the [...]

The BallP, or Ball Inverted Pendulu, is a 20-inch, 16.5-pound robot that balances on top of a bowling ball, using it to roll around wherever it wants. It’s got motors, micro-step controllers, gyroscopes and accelerometers on board that keep it upright, even with a heavy load like a cinderblock sitting on its head. The whole [...]