From March 11th through 16th, 40 top high school scientists have come together in Washington D.C. for the annual Intel Science Talent Search competition (Intel STS). The Intel Science Talent Search is essentially the country's biggest science research competition which offers the opportunities for high school seniors to present their research to a group of distinguished scientists. These students are competing for $630,000 in awards with the top winner receiving $100,000 from the Intel Foundation.

InteraXon is a company that has worked extensively on developing thought-controlled computing. Just in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, they plan on putting together the world's largest thought-controlled computing installation. Their Bright Ideas installations will allow visitors of the Winter Olympics to control the lights at light displays at Toronto's CN Tower, Ottawa’s Parliament Buildings, and Niagara Falls, just by using their thoughts. The installation uses a headset that measures the brain’s electrical output and reacts to alpha waves, associated with relaxation, and beta waves, associated with concentration.

Tech from a Small Island is a brand new monthly column from our new Chip Chick European Correspondent, Zara Rabinowicz.  Zara hails from the cold city that is London Town, but finds the horrible weather a great excuse to stay in and play on her XBOX.  She has been involved in the technology world for many years now, and finds that her day can be easily brightened by a (tastefully) diamante encrusted USB stick or a new Android device. She's an expert on all types of gadgetry, with a particular penchant for eReaders, compact cameras and PMP's. You can find her musing about non gadget related goodness on her blog www.AlmostZara.com or updating you on her dinner plans via her Twitter feed (follow her @AlmostZara). The USA may beat the Brits in terms of being the first to go hands on with Apple devices, but that doesn't mean we don't have a fair amount of exciting gadgetry up our sun deprived sleeves. January's always a funny month in terms of tech news, as people are still recovering from the deluge of 3D goodness and the latest supersized TV that has been shown at CES. There are still cool and quirky products making it onto the market however, and here's what has been making us tech savvy Brits excited this month.

The Laxman is probably the ugliest pair of eyewear we have ever seen, but they do much more than make a terrible fashion statement. It is a mind relaxation product that attempts to soothe your stress, give you increased energy, allow for deeper sleep, and increase concentration. Depending on your brainwave output the Laxman will work to get you into a different and healthier state of mind. The Laxman has MP3 compatibility so you can listen to your tunes as you relax, a mini-SD card

Learning a language is something a lot of us want to get around to doing, but software like Rosetta Stone and regular old books are boring to use. Instead, how about having a robot teach you a new language? Talking Robo is a personal robot that can teach you to speak a new language, and it will even speak to you like a native speaker. This little bot features speech recognition and it understands natural language when you speak to it. It will also suggest what topics to talk about for practicing. On top of that, Talking Robo also features face recognition so that when the robot converses with a user, it will recognize the user's face and be able to understand the user's profile in order to converse with the user more appropriately.

The Jockimo Liquid Lava line are transparent liquid filled tiles that can be used on table tops and floors. The modular tiles burst to life when you apply pressure with your hand or foot to it, magically creating a new design with every touch. These tiles are probably perfect for clubs that have a lot of dancers  and it will just add even more color dimension to a party scene. The Liquid Lava tiles are among the hardest working surfaces available. They have undergone high pressure testing and are made from a non-toxic substance and the tile materials used are eco-friendly polycarbonate. So there is no need to worry about your hand or feet

Well it looks like Britain's Ministry of Defense will no longer be able to investigate if there are little green men in space. Due to the recession; after more than 50 years of service, the ministry has shut down its UFO investigation unit because it can't justify its expense. Now doesn't that sound like a something out of the X-Files. During its 50 years they found no evidence of a threat to Britain or

VITAband can be this generation's Medical ID bracelet.  It’s a digital identification bracelet with two key functions: it stores personal health records to give first responders access to critical information in the event of an emergency, PLUS gives access to tap payment technology through a RFID chip – and this is all on your wrist, just like in Japan where this technology is extremely popular. So the VITAband works out great if you end up in the hospital. All your medical data is on your wrist, and when you are done just tap your wrist and pay your bill.  To get started it will cost you $39.90 for the bracelet and an annual subscription. For every year thereafter it will cost you $19.95

Even flashlights are getting upgraded these days. CES 2010 is quietly lurking around the corner already and we are starting to see companies squeak out some new goodies to tease us with. This latest device from mPower Technologies, is the mPower Emergency Illuminator which was designed by Porsche Design Studio.  The mPower Emergency Illuminator utilizes the advanced battery technology, so by the time you have your first mid-life crisis, it will be time to change the battery since it lasts 20 years! It also has an integrated USB port to charge devices such as a cell phone. Currently there are no other details, so we just have to wait ...

HoMedics has turned water filtration on its ear today with the release of the Restore, a complete water purification system in a pitcher. Restore will provide cleaner and supposedly better tasting tap water by utilizing germ-killing Ultraviolet (UV) Clean Technology to remove bacteria and viruses with a filtration system to reduce metals, chlorine (taste and odor), and other pollutants. Restore’s UV Clean Technology utilizes UV light in the C spectrum to kill most of this bacteria. Geez…I’m not sure what kind of water HoMedics thinks we are drinking…Its sounds like its from the street or toilet bowl with all this bacteria it plans on killing with the UV light.  The Restore will

Many women have difficulties getting pregnant and usually the solution is IVF. This is an expensive method that sometimes needs to be repeated over and over until successful. DuoFertility is an advanced fertility monitor that measures a woman’s temperature 20,000 times, every 24 hours to provide a very accurate reading of temperature changes in your Basal Body Temperature. Ovulation causes a change in BBT enabling and the DuoFertility indicates when a couple should try and conceive. "DuoFertility automatically collects BBT for analysis, and in addition a number of other general fertility clues and health symptoms, such as ovulation pain, cervical mucus quality and illness, can be manually input into the monitor to aid the analysis and improve the prediction."  The best part is, there is no peeing into any applicator to get results. Just wear the DuoFertility sensor under your arm and DuoFertility will do the work for you.

If you are a dedicated surfer, you surf whether you freeze your butt off or not. So you will pleased to know that Quiksilver has the first ever battery powered heat vest that can be worn and operated under any wetsuit. Utilizing FAR infra-red heating technology, the Cypher PS+ Heat Vest System delivers hours of heat to vital organs maintaining your core temperature. The rechargeable battery provides hours of heat so you can ride those waves when the water is freezing. The vest is available now for around $198 at various surfshops online.

The CyberGlove II may not make a fashion statement but it sure would shame the Powerglove.  CyberGlove II is a wireless data glove that accurately captures the movement of a user's fingers and hand, and, in conjunction with the software, maps the movement to a graphical hand on the computer screen, allowing users to "reach in and manipulate" digital objects as if they were physical objects. The CyberGlove II is made of stretch fabric for comfort and a mesh so your hand can breathe. The 18-sensor CyberGlove II also has open fingertips allowing you to easily type and write. You won't find apps that works with this hand just in your average Best Buy. CyberGlove Systems offers virtual software that will bring the glove to life. Pricing is not publicly available so you will have to inquire if your interested.

The Pet Emergency Evacuation Jacket is probably the stupidest and smartest thing I have ever seen. Stupid because it looks utterly ridiculous on your pet. Smart because it will probably help save its life in a disaster as well as yours. Made from material used by Japanese firefighters, this flame retardant suit protects your pet and is equipped with a handle to quickly make a run for it when a situation gets deadly. The jacket holds an abundance of items that could be heavier than your pet like a food bowl, rubber booties, muzzle, rain coat, freezer gel packs, nutrition bars, etc..you can fit enough crap in this jacket ...

So its football season and you know what that means? – schlepping out with your guy to the stadium, as he roots and cheers and you freeze your butt on a cold hard seat. Well no more! The battery-powered heated seat cushion converts any cold bleacher or chair into a warm and toasty experience for 10 hours. The seat is also waterproof if you have too much of a good time or of course get stuck in the rain. The cushion will can produce heat from 85º F to 135º F. You can keep your touche warm for 2 hours on the highest setting or for 10hours on the lowest. ...

Looking to have fun with an iRobot Packbot? Why not make a music video then. That's what the group Lansdowne did with the help of some iRobot folks ( I could spot them from their t-shirts saying iRobot) and a Packbot. As the music plays in the background we get to see the Packbot in its full glory - deactivating bombs, night vision, chasing and catching bad guys. A true military soldier at work. The video is cool just for the clips of the Packbot doing its job, the song is kinda ehhh, but for those metal heads out there you might enjoy it. Check out the video after the jump.

Thank goodness for the recent Star Trek movie, or else you'd be pretty humiliated carrying around this business card holder. But ever since the success of the recent Start Trek film, it's a tad bit cooler to be sporting Star Trek merch than it has been in recent years. So the next time you whip out your business card, impress them with your Star Trek Metal Business Card Holder. The metal holder has a picture of Spock poised with his famous "live Long and Prosper" solute. You can pick up the Star Trek Metal Business Card Holder for just $12.99.

Looking to make sure the alcohol in your drink is not some cheap swill? The Rotgutonix is a chemical sensor which will detect the quality of the alcohol in your glass and determine if there  is 'rotgut' - aka adulterated alcohol. Because when you spend $10 dollars a glass, you want to make sure you get the good stuff. Just dip the Rotgutonix into your drink and watch your bartender sweat. If all is good, it will display the type of alcohol or brand on the device. Otherwise you will get an image of a skull and cross bones declaring your drink has rotgut and the bartender looking for ...

Almost a month ago we reported on our exclusive trip to the iRobot headquarters and teased about the iNGENIOUS Challenge but never really said much about it. Well the day has come and I can now let the cat out of the bag, which I hope will encourage all of you to whip out your thinking caps. So what exactly do you have to do?  Send us a great idea - big or small, creative, or even inspirational.  The goal is to think of an ingenious idea that is also practical in execution. Do you have an annoying problem that you deal with every day and you have a solution for it? Send it to us.

Jacob Jensen, famous designer of B & O equipment as well as some Oregon Scientific clocks and weather stations debuts his newest creation - Jacob Jensen Weather Station.  The weather station consists of indoor thermometer, outdoor thermometer, barometer, hygrometer, alarm clock, temperature station, table stand and wall mounting plate. Each one is sold separately but put together its your own little meteorologist.  You can mix and match the parts you want and they can stand alone, be wall mounted, or stack on a station stand.  Prices range from $49.99 to 99.99 for each part.

SENSACELL keeps the interactive light-show going with the release of the HSI64-36-RGB module. This is ideal for interactive marketing, architects, and designers who enjoy the flexibility of being able to apply it to floors, elevators, kiosks, and furniture.  And this certainly brings the lights and imagery of Las Vegas one step closer into your living room.