Infrared vision technology, due to the high costs involved, has long been the province of science and military applications. Developments at MIT could change that, however, as they are working on a method of producing quality infrared systems at a tenth of the current cost. Not only will this open up IR to the consumer, it could change the way doctors search for tumours and other diseases.

Another week, another cloaking technology story. This one seems to involve a little less hyperbole, though. Reportedly the ‘Stealth Technology System’ can shield pretty much anything from human or camera vision, plus infrared detection, at the flick of a switch. Of course, it only works if the stealthed person/vehicle/thing is more than 20 feet from the observer…I think I’ll wait for some decent video evidence before I get too excited about this.

Jealous of the scientists and techies who get to use all the best and most-bleeding-edge kit? Unsatisfied with your jury-rigged SETI farm of twentythree self-built open-frame Linux boxes that takes up a whole floor of your house? Now you can buy your very own (approximation of a small) supercomputer – provided you have $10k to spare, of course.

We’ve been promised proper 3D video since I was old enough to watch bad shark movies at friends’ houses. But the wait may be nearly over – several companies, including Philips, are building new displays that produce the illusion of three dimensional objects without the need for any daft two-coloured eyewear. The tech is only for malls and kiosks at the moment, but Philips reckon they’ll be rolling out 3D TVs in a couple of years – which is going to make all those who’ve recently shelled out for high-def flatscreens more than a little gutted.

One thing is for sure, we can’t sustain the cheap availability of air travel for ever. Economists (and science fiction authors) have described futures where physical long distance travel will be either very rare and expensive, or done the slow way (by land or sea). Seems that NASA has clicked to this idea as well, with the launch of ‘Virtual Field Trip’, an immersive multimedia experience designed for students (but available to all) who want to explore remote parts of Australia in the company of scientists.