About 300 years ago, the English playwright William Congreve wrote, "music has charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak." This week we learned that it can also help hackers break into your car.
A German Lab in Berlin has created a car that can turn right, turn left, accelerate, and brake using <em>only your thoughts</em> (…and some electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors, and some creative software hooked up to the hardware of your car).
After 10 months of study and the assistance of NASA engineers, the U.S. Department of Transportation has concluded that the unintended acceleration that plagued some Toyota automobiles was not caused by faulty electronic components or software.
Ford Motor Company debuted its first all-electric vehicle, the Focus Electric, at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show Friday. It is one of five new electrified vehicles that will be available in North America and Europe by 2013.
Google <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/207416/googles_selfdriving_cars_a_ride_drive_down_memory_lane.html">self-driving cars</a> may someday let us nap at the wheel, but in Hollywood driverless cars such as K.I.T.T. are old news. Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently announced the search engine giant was <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-were-driving-at.html">actively testing autonomous cars</a> and had already logged 140,000 miles with its fleet. The technology isn't quite ready, but don't tell that to Hollywood.
Pioneer is developing a head-up display for cars that links in with the navigation function available on many modern smartphones. A prototype of the device is on show this week at Japan's Ceatec electronics show, and the company said it hopes to have a commercial model available in 2012.
Researchers from Rutgers University and University of South Carolina have found that wireless communications between new cars and their tires can be intercepted or even forged.
A new safety system developed by Nissan ties together a car-mounted radar and computer to reduce the risk of collisions.
Siemens is warning customers of a new and highly sophisticated virus that targets the computers used to manage large-scale industrial control systems used by manufacturing and utility companies.