Vacuums Double as Ponytail-Making Machines

Dads of the world, take note: you don't have to leave the hairstyling to mom. Got a vacuum? Great. Got one of those snakey tube attachments? Perfect. Pop a rubber band on that bad boy, suck your daughter's hair up in the tube, and voilà! A perfect ponytail. Cue touchdown dance.

Be careful, though. One false move and, instead of a cleanly coifed child, you could have a very bald, very upset kid on your hands. Regardless, whoever thought of this is dad of the year. More here.

Apple Stock Hits a Nine Month Low

Apple's stock took a sharp jump downwards at the opening bell this morning, continuing the rough slide it's been on since the last quarter of 2012. The stock is currently trading around $488 a share. Back in September of 2012, at its peak price of $705 a share, Apple was far and away the world's most valuable company, a crowning achievement for a company that had its share of dark days in the 1990s. But with the loss of its iconic leader, Steve Jobs, and recent flubs on software such as new Maps app, investors seem to have lost much of their confidence in Apple.

"The company has never traded on its profit, it's the exact opposite of Amazon," said trader and Stocktwits founder Howard Lindzon. "Apple has been rewarded for its innovation. The market is expecting more magic. Apple is kind of stuck, for a company that executes so flawlessly. They are printing money, and the market doesn't care." More here.

Coffee or Tea? Don’t Choose Because This Cup Is Two-Faced

If you didn't get your flu shot, you might fall victim to what has now actually turned into an epidemic. And that means you'll temporarily trade your morning coffee in for a steady drip of tea. But fear not, this reversible cup suffers from multiple personality disorder, meaning it's appropriate for whichever hot beverage you prefer.

Depending which way you look at it (literally), the adorable little mug looks like either a tea cup or a coffee mug. For $18 you're basically getting two adorable mugs—a wonderfully indecisive accessory for indecisive people. More here.

This Is What a Virus Infecting a Cell Looks Like

This isn't a cartoon tree or some strange piece of modern art. In fact, it's what researchers from the University of Texas at Austin saw when they managed to observe a virus in the act of penetrating a cell.

In the image, you can see a T7 virus (red) burrowing its way into an E. coli bacterium (green). The six yellow strands are actually rudimentary legs, which allow the virus to crawl over cells to find a weak spot and then infect them.

The image is the first time scientists have observed a virus inserting its tail into a cell to infect it. It's believed that the process allows it to infect a cell directly with its DNA. The weirdest part? The fact that this all happens in your body, too. More here.

The World’s Tiniest Clock Is Just One Atom

Holger Muller, a physicist at the University of California at Berkeley, and his colleagues were interested in breaking down time-telling to its simplest possible forms, and a single-atom clock seemed like a good place to start. The whole concept relies on Broglie's matter-wave hypothesis, which states that a particle of matter can behave like a wave. That means it'll oscillate in a normal pattern that can be used as a clock.

It's not quite that simple though; a single atom will oscillate too fast to be read. So the researchers basically split a cesium atom in half, and had one half move back and forth. Because this movement dilated the oscillation of that half, and the scientists knew exactly how they'd disrupted the atom, they were able to use all the data to calculate the oscillation of the original atom, and essentially make a single atom clock out of it.

A one-atom clock is awesome, but not exactly great at its job. It's only about as accurate as the first atomic clocks, and one billion times less so than the nuclear clocks we have today. Still, it's an impressive accomplishment. More here.

Awesome Window Washers Dressed Up As Spiderman When They Visited a Children’s Hospital

Cleaning windows at a hospital can be totally awkward for everybody involved so All Children's Hospital in Tampa Bay got creative by having their window washers dress up as Spiderman while they cleaned their windows. It brightened up their entire day.

A superhero of a job, I'd say. I'm glad the kids got a kick of it and more hospitals should do the same (if they don't do it already). More here.

Even The Department Of Homeland Security Wants You To Disable Your Java

There was that vulnerability that affected like a billion computers, and Apple went so far as to remove Java plugins from all OSX browsers. Now even the Department of Homeland Security is in on the act with a special message: "Yo, shut off that Java jazz".

The Java exploits can make your computer (Mac or PC) vulnerable to all kinds of nasty stuff from ransomeware to assorted other virus-y goodness. There are plenty of "exploit kits" out there to help script kiddies get their jollies by messing with your stuff. As such, the Department of Homeland Security's Emergency Readiness Team put out a notice saying "Due to the number and severity of this and prior Java vulnerabilities, it is recommended that Java be disabled temporarily in web browsers."

Oracle plans to release a patch on Tuesday that will fix the bulk of the problems by closing up a whopping 86 vulnerabilities, meaning that for the time being, you've got at least 86 vulnerabilities to worry about if you've got Java on. In the meantime, you best disable that stuff. More here.

Astronomers Found a Star Almost as Old as the Universe Itself

The universe is a big, ancient place, and we've barely scratched the surface of what it contains. We've also found some real gems, like this one: a star that's almost as old as the universe itself.

Sitting 190 lightyears from our solar system, HD 140283 was found almost a hundred years ago, and has been studied by astronomers ever since. Scientists knew the star was old due to it's composition of primarily helium and hydrogen, but it wasn't until now that they were able to narrow down its age and come up with any sort of number. It turns out that is roughtly 13.9 billion years, actually older than the universe—but there's a 700-million-year margin of error, which gives it plenty of room on the right side of the universe's birth.

Astronomers knew of another star that was almost this old, but the reading on this star in particular is far more likely to be accurate. It almost definitely is the oldest star we've ever seen. More here.

Asus Claims the Title of World’s Smallest Wi-Fi Router

Amongst all of its Windows 8 PCs and tablet announcements, Asus also quietly revealed what it's boasting as the world's smallest Wi-Fi router. And with a form factor only slightly larger than a well-equipped flash drive, the WL-330NUL Pocket Router is the perfect accessory for minimalist road warriors.

Weighing in at just 25 grams, the 802.11b/g/n router includes an ethernet port on one end for sharing a wired connection, and a USB cable on the other for stealing power from a computer. It can also be plugged into an outlet if you want to spare your laptop's battery. For ultra-thin notebooks lacking an ethernet port, the WL-330NUL doubles as a USB ethernet adapter too. As for pricing and availability, that's still to be announced. More here.

Puregear’s Retro Game Cases Completely Justify Covering Your iPhone 5

In February they'll be available in three different versions for $30 a pop: a traditional boxy maze, a circular maze, and a pseudo-pinball machine that works more like The Price Is Right's Plinko.

They look about a hundred times more addictive than Angry Birds, don't require a Wi-Fi connection, Bluetooth, or a battery. And they'll help keep your iPhone 5 from getting all dinged up when you get frustrated at navigating that tiny ball and throw your smartphone across the room. More here.

Whoever Had the Idea to Make Bread Knives That Look Like the Alps Is a Genius

Commemorate your recent European travels and turn any loaf of bread into a pile of shredded crumbs with this trio of knives that feature serrated edges mirroring the silhouettes of the Alps. Pricing and availability haven't been locked down yet, but the famous peaks include the Zurich Panorama, the Lake of Constance Panorama, and the Berner Alps Panorama. They're all about form, not function, so make sure you have a way to display them instead of burying the set in a knife block. More here.

This Fork Yells at You When You Overeat

Forget smartphones, 2013 is the year of the smartfork. A company called HAPILABS has just introduced their tech-laden HAPIfork. What’s the point in squeezing a bunch of microchips into a utensil, you ask? Why, to keep a watch over you as you shovel food in your mouth, of course.

This fork checks how fast and how much you are eating. If it starts to think you are overdoing it, it’ll let you know by administering a vibrating jolt. It’s like having a really mean, four-tined friend with you at the dinner table. It’ll then shoot that information to your phone so you can never forget what a glutton you were. Cool!

In all seriousness, wrapping your brain around portion control can be tricky so if this fork wants to help with that, more power to it. HAPIfork will launch in 2014 at a suggested price of around $100. More here.

Here’s Your iPhone 5 Battery Case

Mophie tends to be the first to market but it looks like iBattz might squeak one in first. With two 2200mAh batteries, both the Mojo Refuel and rugged Moro Armor can recharge your iPhone 5 up to three times, says the company.

The Refuel is expected to be available next month for $89.90, while the Armor will be available in March for $99.90.

A third case, the AquaSeal Hi5 is waterproof and comes with a detachable 2500mAh battery. No word on pricing or date. More here.

This Wireless Blender Is Your First Step to a Cord-Free Kitchen

Magnets can do more than just heat your meals—they can power the rest of your cooking gadgets as well.

The Haier Cordless Blender is the first such device to part ways with power outlets. Instead, you install a power transmitter (read: induction coil) in your kitchen counter top and place the blender on that. More here.

This Is the Most Embarrassing Furniture Ever

If you really hate your guests, looks no further than Jay Watson Design's thermochromic furniture. Before they sit down it looks like any normal old table and bench—but when they rise, their sweaty ass will leave a large bright patch that would make any man blush.

Made of solid oak, its surface is coated with thermochromic paint, so that when it's exposed to heat its color changes temporarily. Yes, just like those Hypercolor shirts you wish you could forget. At $1,850 it might be a little expensive for a practical joke—but then maybe you liked your Hypercolor all those years ago? More here.

Kingston’s HyperX Predator Flash Drive Is the Easiest Way To Misplace a Terabyte Of Data

Last year at CES Victorinox surprised everyone with a one terabyte flash drive that the company estimated would sell for almost $3,000. It sounded too good to be true, and given there's been no sign of it since last January, it apparently was. So can Kingston fill the void left in our hearts with its new HyperX Predator one terabyte USB 3 flash drive? Let's hope so.

With promised read and write speeds topping out at 240MB/s and 160MB/s respectively, filling the HyperX Predator with your data won't be a week-long chore. And availability is promised to be as soon as the first quarter of 2013, although pricing info hasn't been revealed just yet. But with the company's 512 gigabyte model coming in at $1,750, you can safely expect it cost a small fortune. More here.

USB 3.0 Is Going To Double Speeds

USB data transfer is about to get a hell of a lot faster. The USB Promoter Group is rolling out SuperSpeed USB, a supplement to USB 3.0 due out later this year that should surge your speeds two-fold.

SuperSpeed USB is supposed to give you 10 Gbps USB data rate, which is the same as Thunderbolt. It's also expected to feature better data encoding for transfers, more efficiency power efficient ports, and best of all, compatibility with existing devices. Later this year when you download a movie or a CD, it could take much less time thanks to the new standard. More here.

The Messier You Are, the Harder This Dust-Detecting Samsung Vacuum Sucks

Samsung shows it's still in the housecleaning game with a trio of new stealthy vacs, including the champagne-tinted SC96 which uses a multi-chamber design that's promised to deliver longer suction while being a lot quieter than its predecessors.

The sound dampening is made possible through a customized airflow design which keeps the rushing wind to a dull roar, but the vacuum is also able to automatically adjust its suction level on the fly thanks to sensors that detect the amount of dust and dirt that's being drawn in. So if you're a neat freak, you'll be rewarded with a whisper-quiet cleaning routine. And if you're a real-life version of pig pen, the $450 SC96 will ramp up the suction in an attempt to tackle your mess. More here.

Move Over GPS, a New Positioning System Has You in Its Sights

GPS is now so widespread that we take it for granted. But it's not always perfect—so what if a new technology could achieve more than those triangulated military satellites in the sky?

In fact, a team of researchers has been mulling exactly that, and come up with a new positioning technology called Locata. New Scientist explains:

Instead of satellites, Locata uses ground-based equipment to project a radio signal over a localized area that is a million times stronger on arrival than GPS. It can work indoors as well as out, and the makers claim the receivers can be shrunk to fit inside a regular cellphone. Even the US military, which invented GPS technology, signed a contract last month agreeing to a large-scale test of Locata at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

You see, GPS often struggles with indoor environments and big cities: towering concrete buildings make it hard to get a signal, and tight road and pedestrian networks mean inaccuracy is problematic. By contrast, Locata already has accuracy of 18 centimeters along any axis, and claims to be able to get that number down to 5. Crazy.

The technology is, however, still in its early days, and it would take some impressive performance and marketing if it's ever to supersede GPS. Chances are, then, that it would work alongside GPS, creating a hybrid system which combines the best features of both technologies. In fact, such a thing already exists: Leica is trialling a briefcase-size Jigsaw Positioning Systemwhich is being used to guide drilling in the gold mines in Western Australia. How quickly that can translate into a consumer product, though, remains to be seen. More here.

This Is Supposedly a Photo of a Photo of Samsung’s Galaxy S IV

So this really horribly shot picture is supposedly a press photo of the Galaxy S IV. There's a small chance it's Samsung's next smartphone, but to be quite honest, it looks like someone snapped a picture of something that was Photoshopped.

But in the off chance it actually is the S IV, what are we actually looking at? The bezel is slimmer, the home button is gone, and the phone looks thinner overall. SamMobile, the source of the photo, also claimed the new phone will have a 5-inch display, 13-megapixel camera, and Jelly Bean out of the box. Obviously Samsung is going to release a follow up to the S III—it's a good phone and it continues to sell well.  More here.