Technology

A stolen laptop can be a real problem. Think of all the personal information and documents that may be stored in it. And how would you ever find it again? Read how one man in California was able to photograph and identify the person who had his stolen laptop.

It used to be that automation was only something used in manufacturing. But now it's reaching offices. Companies are starting to use software to read and understand large numbers of legal documents. Think you'll never lose your job to a computer? Think again.

Dark skies do more than just inspire us. Having bright days and dark nights is important to keeping our body chemistry (and that of plants and animals) in balance. How bright are the city lights where you live? Scientists would like you to tell them.

Instead of creating a special database, Watson's creators fed it encyclopedias, dictionaries, and works of literature and let the computer find connections on its own. Using 2,880 processor cores, it's able to answer quiz questions in seconds.

Each year, between 70 and 100 people around the world are attacked by sharks. But what sharks cannot see well, they are less likely to attack. Researchers in Australia say they have made a simple discovery that will help surfers and divers.

Researchers at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh have found a way to stop avian influenza, or bird flu, from spreading among chickens. They haven't made a vaccine; instead, they've created a new kind of chicken with modified genes.

In these days of Android, BlackBerry and iPhone apps, nothing comes as a complete surprise anymore. But one app has been installed almost 10 million times, although hardly anyone in the press ever writes about it. It's "the Bible app".

It's been the year of the iPad and Dubai's Burj Khalifa, to name two of 2010's extraordinary things. But when it comes to improving the lives of millions affected by deforestation and over-farming, the Groasis Waterboxx is the innovation of the year.

Ubisoft's digital strategy is not about making money from games on Facebook. It's about trying to build brand loyalty and an interlinked experience. The success of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and CSI: Fatal Conspiracy is at stake.