Remember that nifty little gadget from last year, the external LCD projector that can display images from a mobile phone? Well, Texas Instruments took the idea one step further by creating a cellphone with the projector built right into the device: the Pico Projector.

The device is still in its early stages, and a prototype was demonstrated at a Pepcom event in New York. The actual projected image from the device looks like it still needs some improvement but it's already looking to be pretty nifty.

No more suffering small screens on your mobile phones, and judging from the demo in the video uploaded by Popular Science, it looks like it might make a good substitute for a portable media device as well.

This month's issue of "Popular Science" -  the credible source of all things scientific - predicts that the PlayStation 3 will outsell both the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii by 2010. How? The magazine explains this off as due to the PlayStation 2's current trend in outselling all the next-gen consoles, as we can see in the scan of the "Popular Magazine" page below. How true can this be? This is after all the credible source of all things scientific. It's your call to believe in this prediction or not.
 
Click on the scan to get more information!

Schadenfreude is a b***h, and so are SmashMy. Ipods, 360s, PS3s, and now the Wii (although it wasn't the two Wiis they were hoping for). And so they ceremoniously purchase their Wii, hurl it into the ground, and take the sledgehammer to it. At least when PopSci bricked their Wii, (a) it was unintentional, and (b) at least they got some use out of it.

Yeah. These guys really don't believe in Santa.

If you want previous coverage of the SmashMyConsole extravaganza (Victor's title, his idea), link here for the PS3 destruction, and here for the Xbox 360 meeting its demise. We're really thinking about emailing the Angry Nintendo Nerd to ask if he can unleash his ranting on these guys, but someone else in the staff room's suggesting we save up the money to hire Agent 47 instead. Or perhaps, they should smash their own Wiis... erm, okay.

We'll end with one of the Angry Nintendo Nerd's trademark lines (one we can post here without incurring the wrath of the FCC). They're scum. We're wondering what happened to the DestroyMyVirtualBoy guy...

PopSci gets its very own Wii. PopSci runs around the room screaming "Wiiiiiiiiii!" like the N64 kid. PopSci plays with its Wii. PopSci decides it's time to show off the Wii's inside (like, you know, other people showing off the PS3's guts), and proceeds to disassemble the little white box.

Cover your eyes and ears, kids, if you fear what happens next. PopSci bricks their Wii in the process.

But the Wii proved to be one tough nut to crack. Due to Nintendo's special proprietary screws, we had to resort to brute force. And in the process of doing so, our precious white beacon of joy was rendered unplayable, forever.

The show must go on, of course, and the photos splayed out before you today are those of PopSci meticulously examining the bits and pieces of a once-functioning Wii. Now we don't know what PopSci did that bricked the widdle white Wii, whether it was the shock of prying the case open, exposing the parts inside, or something else entirely.

We also don't know if there is a way to make the Wii playable again, like parts replacement, or connecting a wire or two - and it's not like Nintendo's warranty covers intentional disembowelment of the Wii.

Or if it was simply because, as a handful of comments to the PopSci article point out, those guys really don't know how to use a screwdriver. And they call themselves "PopSci" (this isn't our sarcasm talking - it's theirs. The commenters, we mean). Well, if PopSci can't put Humpty Dumpty back together again, time for them to get back in line.

More pictures of the damage PopSci has done at the full article. Now you know why repairs are best left to the professionals.

NASA's soon-to-be-of-drinking-age eye in the sky is set to get a new set of upgrades this 2008, and unlike the last five trips which were done just to keep it running, this new mission is set give the Hubble some cool new gear that'll vastly improve its performance. The first upgrade involves swapping out its main camera, the 13-year old Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, with a brand new Wide Field Planetary Camera 3. The new lens will carry all the functions the old camera had, only better.

The next major upgrade is a totally new tool for Hubble. It's a device called the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and according to Popular Science Correspondent Michael Moyer's interview with NASA investigator James Green, the COS is designed to track normal matter in the universe - like the gas clouds that just float along and absorb light from nearby stars and quasars.

The COS will pick up how much light these gas clouds absorb, and from there identify what these clouds are made of; very much like how your typical lab spectrum analyzer works, only...IN SPACE! Speaking of space, the COS is currently undergoing vacuum and temperature tests for two straight months to verify if it can handles the extremes (IN SPACE!) before it's launched along with the Wide Field Camera 3 to the Hubble (IN SPACE!) in May.

NASA is hoping that with these two upgrades will keep the aging (and admittedly glitchy) Hubble running until 2013, the year it's finally retired and replaced with the James Webb Space Telescope.

We really don't have to discuss the magazine Popular Science. Being founded in 1872, it certainly knows what it's talking about. The monthly magazine generally deals with Science and Technology subjects and during its more than 130 years of existence, it definitely has seen a lot.

So, it really meant something when they recently gave the grand award for their "Best of What's New" category to Nintendo Wii (Cheers! Applause!). The said magazine is all praises for Nintendo's baby, claiming that it has taken the right path in selecting revolutionary gameplay over modern technology for graphics.

That's the main point of Wii. It takes back people to the time when videogames were simple yet fun. Nintendo went on a totally different path, leaving the technological race to Sony and Microsoft. Did they make the right decision? Well, we will all see in coming weeks. For now, it's another win for Wii.

Area 51: aliens, conspiracy plots, crashed weather balloons, experiments on alien corpses, Agent Scully... A lot of good stuff comes to mind when the name of the most famous classified base is mentioned. What else comes to mind? Agent Scully... Mmmm... let me get my head out of the gutter. What else comes to mind? Ah, yes, top secret airplanes, or "black planes."

Black planes can get really famous whenever the government reveals one of them. Think about the U-2 spyplane of the 1950s; a band's named after that plane now. Then there's the SR-71 Blackbird. The X-men's plane looks awfully similar to the SR-71. Then there's the F-117; during the first Iraq war, it literally became the poster boy for the whole war effort. The first Iraq war was around fifteen years ago. Only three aircraft have been introduced since. One was Polecat. Another was Northrop Grumman’s Tacit Blue, nicknamed "the Whale." The third was Boeing’s Bird of Prey, which tested visual stealth strategies, including shaping that minimizes shadows and contrast and, rumor has it, body illumination that allows it to blend into its background.

This does not mean, however, that the black-aircraft community is dormant. Google Earth reveals a newly constructed additional runway and multiple new hangars and buildings at the base. Increased activity? It may mostly be educated speculation but the nice folks at Popular Science have featured a list of probable planes that are currently being tested at the famous site.

Read on to see concept images of the planes and the evidence and details surrounding them (click on the Full Article link below).

We thought  the house of the future would look something like the glasshouse in the movie "Thirteen Ghosts". But Popular Science House of Innovation rolled out an example of what they thought future homes would be like, and it doesn't look too sci-fi. In fact, it looks a lot like present-day homes. What makes it futuristic are the hi-tech innovations and products in practically every room.

The kitchen, for instance, have stain-resistant concrete counters. Definitely something homemakers with  messy kids would kill for. It also has a coffeemaker that gives out a weather report on top of its usual job of brewing cup after cup of caffeine.

The bathroom has a programmable shower that can be set to suit different personal preferences - a feature that will save a modern-day Goldilocks a lot of time. Its windows can go from clear to opaque with a touch of a button. Hmmm, this feature would've gone well with that haunted glasshouse.

The star of the house is obviously the media room. It simulates a real theater experience combined with the convenience of
controls over lighting, air conditioning, and even telephone.

Proof that the Xbox 360 is here to stay for a long time, the house's playroom has "a real race car seat, and a wheel designed for the Xbox 360."

For wine connoisseurs, it has a wine cellar that holds 20,000 bottles with a computer that keeps track of each one. Probably the database would also indicate which bottle perfectly matches the status of dinner guests.

Other upcoming technology include in the house of the future is a device that transforms natural gas into electricity.

The state-of-the-art 6,500-square-foot home located in Alamo, Texas comes with $5.5 million price tag (Xbox 360 and 20,000 bottles of wine not included).

Do-It-Yourself Chemical Laboratories can attract the unwanted attention of the authorities. Just ask physicist Bob Lazar and his wife. The couple was handcuffed and dragged like a scene from "Cops." Their crime: possessison of sulfur, potassium perchlorate, and powdered aluminum which can be used to make illegal fireworks banned under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.

The chemicals were there because of the Lazar's business called United Nuclear. Through their website, United Nuclear sells chemicals such as ammonium dichromate (the main ingredient in the classic science-fair volcano), zinc oxide powder, sodium, mercury, radioactive minerals among other things that make science geeks foam in the mouth.

The search was initiated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, normally associated with declaring recalls of faulty household gadgets "We are not just a recall agency," explains CPSC. “We have turned our attention to the chemical components used in the manufacture of illegal fireworks which can cause amputations and death.” The agency found that 2 percent of fireworks-related injuries in 2004  were caused by homemade or altered fireworks.

Read full article after the jump!