Watch CBS News

Matt's Favorites: Rescue Tech In Oklahoma, The Online Bride, The Pirate Ant, And More

What's new and most interesting in the ever-fascinating world of high tech? Well, pull up a virtual chair and check out these gems...

* Rescue workers are bringing to an end the search for survivors in rubble of the tornado-ravaged city of Moore, Okla. At least 24 people have been killed by the massive twister that ripped through the Oklahoma City suburb on Monday. Among the tools rescuers used in looking for people in the rubble were thermal imaging cameras, devices that use infrared radiation to detect a person or object based on the electromagnetic spectrum, where colors correspond with wavelengths. They essentially look for heat signatures given off by warm-bodied humans or animals.

* And frankly I was wondering this myself: Why aren't reinforced storm shelters mandatory for public buildings like schools in Tornado Alley?

* A thoroughly modern bride named Ysolt Usigan is using Internet sites like Pinterest and Etsy to save time in planning her wedding.

* Scientists have discovered a strangely patterned new insect in the Philippines, dubbing it the "pirate ant" because of a dark stripe over its eyes that makes it look like it's wearing an eye patch.

* Here's more on that food replicator we reported on yesterday -- NASA has doled out a research grant to develop a prototype 3D printer for food, so astronauts may one day enjoy 3D-printed pizza on Mars. Anjan Contractor, a senior mechanical engineer at Systems and Materials Research Corporation (SMRC), based in Austin, Texas, received a $125,000 grant from the space agency to build a prototype of his food synthesizer, as was first reported by Quartz. NASA hopes the technology may one day be used to feed astronauts on longer space missions, such as the roughly 520 days required for a manned flight to Mars.

* Consumers awaiting Apple's rumored wearable, watch-like device might need to wait until next year before the gadget sees the light of day. That's according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said Apple "may not have adequate resources" to develop a version of iOS for the device given its efforts to revamp the software as part of iOS 7.

* Happy 40th birthday, Ethernet!

* Ever wondered what the Earth would look like if it had rings like Saturn's? It would look really cool, that's what.

* If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em. OtterBox, which struggled for months to bring a waterproof iPhone case to market, has acquired rival LifeProof, which makes one of the best -- and best-selling -- tough iPhone cases.

* Hewlett-Packard is thinking a lot more about Android these days. CEO Meg Whitman focused on new Android products during the company's earnings conference call Wednesday.

* The wheels on the Mars rover Curiosity are showing some pretty nasty damage.

* And joys, the U.S. power grid remains highly vulnerable to cyberattack.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.