The Computer History Museum is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the integrated circuit, pictured above, with a multimedia exhibit called "The Silicon Engine" to explain why many claim the IC as one of mankind's greatest and most important inventions ever.

Using oral histories from those who experienced the creation and development of the integrated circuit, the Computer History Museum compiled a documentary on this invention that irrefutably changed the world. The year-long exhibit will feature examples of early transistors, the vacuum tubes they replaced, and early integrated circuits, as well as explaining who was behind the inventions, especially the so-called "Traitorous Eight" engineers that largely developed the IC back in 1959.

After departing from the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory, engineer Jean Hoerni and the rest of the "Traitorous Eight" moved to Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957. There, Hoerni developed the planar process which would become the foundation for the integrated circuit. The planar process involves using an oxide layer to protect the joining of the p-n semiconductors on a silicon chip, named because of the flat surface in which it results. The planar process is more electrically efficient than the then-common method of stripping the oxide layer for fear of contamination, but more importantly, the design allowed for a complete circuit to be built on a silicon chip.

Later in 1959, fellow "Traitorous Eight" member Robert Noyce demonstrated that the combination of the oxide coating and the flat surface allowed for a complete integrated electrical circuit, with diodes, transistors, resistors and capacitors, to be built within a planar chip. Simultaneously, Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments independently developed a similar idea based on the planar process, though his was based on a germanium chip, rather than Noyce's silicon. This new integrated circuit, called the "monolithic integratic chip," is the basis for pretty much everything we love today, including computers, radio, television, audio equipment, cars and anything else that uses a microchip.

It's no exaggeration to call the IC an invention that profoundly changed the world. Microchip technology has exploded since its invention 50 years ago, and few (if any) other inventions have become so essential worldwide in such a short amount of time. The technology is kind of tough to wrap your mind around, but the Computer History Museum's exhibit sounds like an illuminating look at how Silicon Valley and our favorite hobby began. [Computer History Museum]

Philippe Boulet's "luminotherapy" bed is supposed to help you sleep. But since when does light shining in someone's face help them sleep?

Loaded with a variety of multicolored LEDs, you can change the hue of the luminotherapy bed with the touch of a remote. The resulting colors, such as pink, blue and green will make your lover glow with all the vibrancy of a Star Trek Original Series alien babe. Well, that, or they'll give you night terrors of being stuck on a Cylon base ship (before they got all lovey hippie on the humans) or a painfully hipster sushi joint. [phillipe boulet via Unplggd]

MacRumors found three interesting patents that point to various new interaction techniques. The most interesting is the fingerprint ID directly on the screen so that the iPhone can see which finger you're using and accept gestures appropriately.

The fingerprint ID also, of course, can theoretically act as a security device so that only you can activate your phone. There's also haptic (physical) feedback when you're hitting things, as well as using the touchscreen as an RFID reader. None of the three are really mindblowing in themselves, on the surface, but if implemented intelligently might make for a big step forward in the iPhone product line. [Macrumors via Boy Genius]

This is why the Sonim/Land Rover S1 phone is the toughest phone yet: it can stand an elephant stomp, being run over an actual Land Rover and being tossed out of a second floor window. Plus...

...it was dunked in mud, put inside a 300 degree oven, and soaked in beer. What finally did it in is being crushed by a three ton forklift, which is pretty above and beyond the duty of any phone we'd normally use.

As for the specs, it has 1500 hours of battery (standby or talk, we're not sure) and a 2-megapixel camera. And, most notably, it has an "extra loud" ringtone so you can hear it under elephants. [Telegraph via Slashdot]

If fembots were viciously cultured Japanese escorts instead of just ditsy blondes, Austin Powers would not have lived to make The Love Guru. (Tagged NSFW for crude violence and PG13 T&A)

This preview for Robo Geisha captures a world in which geisha are robotic assassins, super villains shoot rockets from wheelchairs, giant robots make buildings bleed and assassins sometimes sustain inconvenient anal injuries by way of panty katana. The film is expected to hit (Japan's?) theaters this fall.

If anyone has any more information on this must-see, Oscar-sure film, please share it in the comments. [Robo-Geisha via CrunchGear]

NASA has tweeted in space, but now one of its astronauts will tweet what no one has tweeted in orbit before: He’ll be sending his Twitter updates in Spanish as well as English.

In a fresh set of research papers, scientists add perspective to the Phoenix Mars Lander's findings about Martian water and soil.

One device allows a user to remotely activate a loud siren designed to rattle the thief. Another application, designed for iPhones, can reveal the phone's location.

An inflatable tower nine miles tall and tethered to a mountain top could cut the cost to launch spacecraft, reduce the need for geostationary communications satellites, and improve cell phone signals.

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