Carmakers are working on ways to let drivers interact with their cars using presumably safer hand gestures and eye movement in addition to voice controls and touch screens. Larry Greenemeier reports

Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy’s latest comet find is naked-eye visible in the southeast sky until January 24. Clara Moskowitz reports    

The social media behemoth buys voice-recognition start-up Wit.ai to prepare for the impending Internet of Things. Larry Greenemeier reports

The company hopes to send up a Falcon 9 rocket and then safely land the discarded first stage for reuse. Lee Billings reports

British students made a wrist monitor that senses if you nod off and sends a signal to your DVR to record whatever you were watching. Future such devices could control additional household functions. Larry Greenemeier reports

Apple got a patent for a system to adjust your falling device in flight to minimize the damage on landing. Larry Greenemeier reports

IBM scientists in India developed an experimental power supply from reusable lithium ion cells salvaged from three-year-old laptop battery packs. Larry Greenemeier reports

John Grunsfeld, the former astronaut who now heads NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, thinks that traveling light could get people to Mars by the 2040s

New York City public schools are missing hundreds and possibly thousands of computers, due to poor record keeping, theft, corruption or some combo. Larry Greenemeier reports

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is its particular crimson shade because of the interaction of ultraviolet light and specific chemical compounds in the gas giant's atmosphere. Lee Billings reports