Dark flash n. An invisible burst of infrared and ultraviolet light used for clandestine night photography. While the greenish pictures can be color-corrected, the system can't yet pick up freckles, a hitch for paparazzi stalking Lindsay Lohan.
Galápagos syndrome n. The scourge of Japanese mobile companies, whose superadvanced 3G handsets won't work on foreign cell networks. It's named for the birds of the Galápagos, whose specialized beaks don't cut it on the mainland.
Saser n. Sonic laser. Employing the same technique lasers use to focus light, sasers emit perfectly aligned terahertz sound waves — once a purely theoretical phenomenon. The tech could be adapted for medical and security imaging.
EATR n. The Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot, a Darpa-funded machine able to forage for its own biomass fuel. Fox News suggested that EATR could feed on dead soldiers, eliciting reassurances from the maker that the bot is "strictly vegetarian."
Jonathon Keats (jargon@wired.com)
