D-ILA chipsD-ILA on the other hand, is a very different technology than DLP and is actually a variant of LCoS or Liquid Crystal on Silicon.

ENGADGET: D-ILA and DLP: what are they? HD

It's probably just a little too late to ask for one of these for the holidays, but you can still plan for next year (hey, Valentine's Day is coming, right?) by checking out Sound and Vision's review of 70-inch HD-ILA Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) set.

ENGADGET: JVC D-ILA 70-inch LCoS reviewed

Liquid Robotics, the Silicon Valley startup that makes the surfboard-sized robot called a Wave Glider, announced Wednesday that Papa Mau arrived off the coast of Queensland, Australia, on Nov. 20 after surviving storms, sharks and 25-foot surf while its solar-powered sensor arrays collected terabytes of data on ocean and atmospheric conditions during the year-long journey.

FORBES: Ocean Robot Completes Record-Setting 10,000 Mile Journey

For instance, the ultra-thin layers of graphene (a two-dimensional form of graphite) are formed by injecting liquid solutions containing carbon and silicon into an extremely hot, ionised gas (plasma) of argon.

ECONOMIST: MONITOR

Thanks to this new technology, called liquid-crystal-on-silicon, displays will become cheaper, thinner, brighter, and more portable, says Chris Chinnock, editor of Microdisplay Report.

CNN: Watch for microdisplays this year

Their working model is a shoebox-sized package of electronics and liquid-filled tubes, with a silicon chip at its core.

ECONOMIST: Nanopores may lead the way to a new generation of sequencing