"Physicists Build a Quantum Gambling Machine":

Quantum gambling machines may not be popping up at futuristic casinos any time soon, but the devices could have other uses – such as enabling physicists to study game theory in situations where cheating is impossible.

"Survival Gear That's Just Crazy Enough to Work"

Senseless signage.

"How much is my credit card number worth on the black market?"

Ghost imaging:

Under special optical arrangements, physicists can create an image of an object using light that has never interacted with the object.

Fun way to fly! (Via Howard Roerig.)

Nice graphical representation of the TLD (top level domain) country codes of the world. Also available as a $30 wall poster. (Via Boing Boing.)

What does your e-mail address reveal about your personality? Here's the article abstract.

"10 Dumb Ideas that Made A Lot of Money". (Via Dark Roasted Blend.)

Philosopher Nick Bostrom explains, "Why I hope the search for extraterrestrial life finds nothing".

Gift idea of the day: Star Trek Enterprise bottle opener. (Via Neatorama.)

"Summoning lightning bolts with a laser".

Bionic eye update:

Surgeons have carried out the first operations in Britain using a pioneering "bionic eye" that could in future help to restore blind people’s sight.

Two successful operations to implant the device into the eyes of two blind patients have been conducted at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.

The device — the first of its kind — incorporates a video camera and transmitter mounted on a pair of glasses. This is linked to an artificial retina, which transmits moving images along the optic nerve to the brain and enables the patient to discriminate rudimentary images of motion, light and dark.

The physics of whipped cream. (Via Cosmic Log.)

The FBI is asking for the power to perform "widespread monitoring of 'illegal' Internet activity":

The suggestion from FBI Director Robert Mueller, which came during a House of Representatives Judiciary Committee hearing, appears to go beyond a current plan to monitor traffic on federal-government networks. Mueller seemed to suggest that the bureau should have a broad "omnibus" authority to conduct monitoring and surveillance of private-sector networks as well.

...Mueller said his idea "balances on one hand, the privacy rights of the individual who are receiving the information, but on the other hand, given the technology, the necessity of having some omnibus search capability utilizing filters that would identify the illegal activity as it comes through and give us the ability to preempt that illegal activity where it comes through a choke point."

...If any omnibus Internet-monitoring proposal became law, it could implicate the Fourth Amendment's guarantee of freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. In general, courts have ruled that police need search warrants to obtain the content of communication, and the federal Wiretap Act created "super warrant" wiretap orders that require additional steps and judicial oversight.

Holographic data storage to debut in May 2008. (Via Instapundit.)

Sports in outer space. (Via Transterrestrial Musings.)

"10 Common Travel Scams". (Via BBspot.)

"Look up in the sky! It's a bird!... It's a plane!... It's the Indian version of Superman with Indian version of Spiderwoman!"

I must note that I find this depiction of the two superheroes to be grossly unrealistic -- everyone knows that Superman comes from the DC Comics world, whereas Spiderwoman comes from the Marvel Comics universe... (Via MeFi.)

Two links from Howard Roerig: A slick motorcycle-Segway combo, and inside the Archon X Prize for Genomics.