Researchers at Imperial College London believe that they've created a method that could prove critical in the search for unlimited clean energy. The team has produced a theoretical method that, at least on paper, is capable of super-heating an object to ten million degrees in a fraction of a second. It's hoped that technology like this, if proven in the real world, will form a key component of a fusion reactor that'll provide a warm light for all mankind.

These days, connected cameras like the Nest Cam (previously known as the Dropcam) aren't exactly special. There are a slew of competitors out there, like Logitech's Circle and Samsung's SmartCam, so the only way to stand out is by offering something others don't. And that's precisely what Netgear is doing its latest connected camera, the Arlo Q, by giving you seven days of cloud video recording for free. Logitech offers 24 hours of free cloud recording, in comparison. And Nest, whose original camera pioneered this whole category, still doesn't have any video recording without a subscription. Beyond that, the Arlo Q delivers what you'd expect: 1080p video recording and two-way audio that's accessible through a mobile app. It'll be available in the US come December for $220, and it'll eventually head to Australia, Canada and Europe.

Last year, French hardware maker Withings debuted the Activité, a $450 Swiss-made watch that also functioned as a fitness tracker. It then followed that up with the Activité Pop, a much lower-end version that cost only $150. Now Withings has come out with a wearable that sits somewhere in the middle: The $170 Withings Activité Steel. It isn't quite as luxurious as the Activité -- it has silicone straps instead of leather -- but it's certainly a lot classier than the Pop thanks to its stainless steel housing and chrome hands. The Steel also has a distinctive style all its own, opting for a white hand in the sub-dial instead of orange.

Pop quiz, hotshot. You've just launched a pair of GPS satellites into the wrong orbit, rendering them useless for navigation. What do you do? If you're the European Space Agency (ESA), you re-purpose them to do the most precise test ever of Albert Einstein's theory that clocks slow down near heavy objects. The Galileo satellites were placed in elliptical, rather than circular orbits by Russian Soyuz rockets, meaning they pass closer to Earth at certain points. Since our planet bends the fabric of space-time, the super-precise atomic clocks on-board will theoretically slow during those times, then speed up again when the craft move away.

Did you know that Google has its own, homegrown rival to services like Yelp and TripAdvisor? You do now. The search engine is hoping to improve the quality of its offering by handing perks to its unpaid contributors that keep everything updated. Before, they'd simply be provided recognition for their efforts, but now the firm will hand out some pretty tasty bonuses to those who make the most effort. Every review that you write will earn you a point, as will uploading photos, adding new locations to the database, fixing old errors and answering people's questions.

We've all done it: you've gone to bed early in order to catch up on some much needed sleep, only to lay there for hours staring at your phone until you're no longer tired. Some reports believe handsets shouldn't get all the blame for our poor sleep schedules, but we've known for some time that those glowing displays aren't helping. The best solution would be to turn devices off before going to bed, but leading sleep experts are also calling for device makers to include an automatic "bedtime mode" to help us drift off easier at night.

Microsoft has confirmed that a tool that lets Android apps easily run on Windows 10 is "not ready," according Windows Central and other sources. The software giant introduced the Windows Bridge for Android, dubbed "Project Astoria," earlier this year as part of a larger effort to help app-builders easily convert Web, iOS and Android apps to Windows. Developers complained that it still isn't available (unlike the other apps), though Microsoft hasn't said the project is in trouble. However, the Project Astoria forums have gone dark and Microsoft removed the Android subsystem from the last Windows 10 Mobile preview, suggesting it may be killed altogether.

Robotic surgery is no longer the stuff of science fiction. However, these robots can't really feel their way around -- the need for super-small mechanisms rules out existing approaches to touch. That's where Harvard researchers might come to save the day. They've developed a pop-up sensor whose four layers collapse to a tiny footprint (just a tenth of an inch) when necessary, but expand into a 3D sensor thanks to a built-in spring. The design is extremely sensitive, too, with a light intensity sensor that can detected mere millinewtons of force.

Apple CEO Tim Cook isn't sold on the Surface, and the company doesn't plan on bringing together its MacBook or iPad into a single product like Microsoft's computing device, either. In an interview with the Irish Independent, Cook said: "We feel strongly that customers are not really looking for a converged Mac and iPad." This follows comments the CEO made in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, where he questioned why anyone would buy a PC -- those comments were apparently aimed at Windows PCs, not his company's own computer range. "We don't regard Macs and PCs to be the same."

Machines are good at spotting obvious emotions like smiles, but they're not so hot at detecting the extremely brief microexpressions that reveal when people are covering up their true feelings. They may have a keener eye in the future, though: researchers have developed a computer vision algorithm that magnifies facial expressions, making it possible to catch the tiniest bit of displeasure or surprise. While some humans have a knack for spotting these subtle cues, the algorithm is far more effective in early tests -- you likely wouldn't fool the computer into thinking everything was hunky dory.

It's not just hacks that put your personal data out in the open -- sometimes, it's just poor coding. Security researchers Eric Taylor and Blake Welsh have shown Motherboard a MetroPCS website bug that, until it was fixed this month, made it easy to get sensitive info for over 10 million subscribers. All you needed was a phone number to get a person's home address, phone serial number and more. And if you weren't picky, you could have whipped up a script to harvest all of the data within two days.

That fast-charging smartphone you just bought has a dirty secret: more likely than not, it's reducing the lifespan or capacity of the battery to get that breakneck speed. Huawei doesn't think you should have to compromise, though. It just showed off a lithium-ion battery whose graphite-coated anode (where current flows) allows for very quick charging without hurting either capacity or long-term longevity. How quick? With a 3,000mAh of the sort you'd find in a larger phone, Huawei can give you a 48 percent charge in just 5 minutes. Yes, you could have enough power for an evening out in the time it takes to change out of your work clothes. There's an even faster prototype that reaches 68 percent in 2 minutes, although its 600mAh capacity isn't practical at its size.

Facebook isn't the only internet giant offering a helping hand in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks. Airbnb has launched a portal that helps anyone affected by the attacks find (or offer) a free place to stay. If you're determined to meet with a family member or got stuck in the city during border closures, you won't have to pay a thing -- Airbnb is waiving its service fees at the same time. You have to check in no later than November 17th, but that's about the only condition involved.

Facebook originally built its Safety Check feature to help you reassure friends and family in the wake of natural disasters. However, the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut and beyond have prompted a change of heart. Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Facebook will invoke Safety Check for "human disasters" from Paris onward. Simply put, the social network wants to make the tool available "whenever and wherever" it can help -- the company is aware that its policies have been inconsistent (responding to some tragedies but not others, for example) and need improvement. There's no certainty that Facebook has completely addressed the complaints with Safety Check, but here's hoping that we don't have to find out for a long, long time to come.

[Image credit: AP Photo/Peter Dejong]

Forget robot chauffeurs, our future ground transports won't even need drivers to start with. Between their LIDAR arrays and digital mapping technology, autonomous vehicles are getting safer, more capable and -- dare we say it -- more attractive by the day.

Here's something we never thought we'd hear: Wind farms in Texas are generating too much energy -- and some utilities are actually giving it away for free. In other news, the world's largest nuclear fusion reactor is set to switch online this month, and it could unlock the key to limitless cheap electricity. Clean energy is on the rise around the world: A new study shows that renewables account for half of all power plants built in 2014, Taiwan is building the world's largest dual axis solar tracker station and a Swiss company built a giant machine that sucks up CO2 and transforms it into electricity.