When I was a kid, I bought over 50 used, hardcover Tom Swift, Jr. and Hardy Boys books at my church’s annual rummage sale. If I remember correctly, they only cost me five or ten cents apiece.

I spent many hours nestled up in the branches of a crabapple tree — and many more hours sitting under a pyramid of covers in bed, with a flashlight, late at night — reading those enthralling adventures. [more...]

Here’s some news that promises to be a legal, ethical and emotional double-edged sword for anyone who currently has — or who has ever had — a loved in a persistent vegetative state.

“Scientists have been able to reach into the mind of a brain-damaged man and communicate with his thoughts. [more...]

As a technophile, I’m always interested in new technologies — whether they’re demonstrated in tiny, consumer-oriented gadgets or in huge, ecologically friendly infrastructures.

Here’s a new technology of the latter type that appears to have a lot of promise for the future: “A Louisville, Colorado, company says it has perfected a solar-energy technology capable of producing [more...]

It’s been less than a month since I told you that researchers had demonstrated a way to turn ordinary paper into a rechargeable battery.

But already, “A group of scientists in Japan have invented a lithium polymer battery that can be manufactured [more...]

Did you know that Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple fame used to make and sell electronic devices that allowed people to make free long-distance phone calls?

Did you know that Jobs once used one of those device to call [more...]

Today’s Internet is filled with spam, phishing sites, malware and many other undesirable things.

I’ve seen it described as “the digital wild west” — referring to a time in U.S. history when criminals could do their dirty deeds with little danger of being caught or prosecuted by the law. [more...]

I’ll bet that when you read that headline, you instantly had the exact same concerns that I and probably everyone else has when they read it.

What good would that be? How’s it going to protect my newspaper, groceries, frozen foods, goldfish, etc.? What kind of chemical waste is it going to leave behind? [more...]

Over the years, I’ve been very blessed to have had the opportunity to help a lot of people.

But, depending on my mood, sometimes I feel like my small contribution of good to the world has been really insignificant. [more...]

When I was growing up, my paternal grandparents had one of those big, old AM radios that you can only see in museums nowadays.

Its outside consisted of a dark, heavy, wooden cabinet that stood about four feet (122 cm) tall and about two feet (61 cm) wide and deep.

Inside that cabinet, the “guts” of the radio included several [more...]

Many years ago, I read an article in Popular Science magazine that extolled the virtues of a new type of engine.

I don’t remember how it worked, but I was impressed enough to still remember that they said that the new type of engine was so powerful that one of them the size of a normal automobile engine would be strong enough to pull a [more...]