A group of researchers in Japan have succeeded for the first time in superconducting power transmission of direct current over two hundred meters.

Google’s getting into the data visualization game: Yesterday, Google Labs unveiled the “Public Data Explorer,” which allows you to see animated visualizations of some of the most searched-for data sets on the Web. This is an add on to a search feature that Google Labs rolled out last year, allowing you to find publicly available data sets–things like unemployment and GDP and fertility rates, published by organizations such as the World Bank.

Law Enforcement Sensitive

Existing lab-on-a-chip designs can put the power of testing in the palm of your hand, but an upcoming model may represent the cheapest and most colorful one yet. A Harvard University chemist has created a prototype “chip” technology out of paper.

The earthquake that killed more than 700 people in Chile on Feb. 27 probably shifted the Earth’s axis and shortened the day, a NASA scientist said.

Every few decades, the sun experiences a particularly large storm that can release as much energy as 1 billion hydrogen bombs. Officials from Europe and the U.S. say an event like that could leave millions on Earth without electricity, running water and phone service.

Law enforcement is tracking Americans’ cell phones in real time—without the benefit of a warrant. How many of the owners of the country’s 277 million cell phones even know that companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint can track their devices in real time? Most “don’t have a clue,” says privacy advocate James X. Dempsey.

Spray-on liquid glass is transparent, non-toxic, and can protect virtually any surface against almost any damage from hazards such as water, UV radiation, dirt, heat, and bacterial infections. The coating is also flexible and breathable, which makes it suitable for use on an enormous array of products.

UT Dallas researchers have laid the groundwork for attaching virtually any organic molecule to silicon, a technological feat that promises to greatly improve semiconductor devices’ performance in health care and solar power applications in particular.

Researchers at the Joint Quantum Institute can speed up photons (particles of light) to seemingly faster-than-light speeds through a stack of materials by adding a single, strategically placed layer.