One theory of the cause of migraine headaches holds that a region of intensely excited neurons slowly spreads through the brain’s cortex, causing a series of events that trigger the brain’s pain sensors. One solution that seems to be working is to trigger neuronal activity from the outside, using magnets to stop the spread.

One way to reduce emissions is to burn less fuel. Another way is to burn fuel more efficiently. A team at Georgia Tech has developed a combustion chamber whose shape keeps air and fuel well mixed, which means the fuel burns cleaner at lower temperatures, and the whole apparautus is projected to be cheaper to build and use than existing combustors.

I’m not convinced this is anything more than a designer’s fantasy, but it’s my kind of fantasy: Herbi, an expandable hydroponic system for low-touch urban herb gardens. For someone with a black thumb like me, the idea of letting a machine do the tending sounds perfect.

According to Wired’s sources, more homeless people have email addresses than postal addresses, which when you think about it isn’t so strange. Email addresses are free, and so is Internet time in many places. Interacting with others online allows homeless people to hide the outward signs of their state of being.

Even those who advocate nuclear power will admit there are problems with its current incarnation – the spectre of waste that stays lethal for thousands of years being one of them. But alternatives may be available. Using the plentiful element thorium as a nuclear fuel would produce waste that decays much more quickly, and as an added bonus it’s no good for producing weapons-grade material.