Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is well known for getting their point across on social media. A seven-minute montage of mannequins succumbing to 4th of July firework injuries may be an unconventional way to warn about the dangers of recreational explosives--but try forgetting those images when lighting your next bottle rocket. In similar pyrotechnic fashion, the CPSC is warning everyone to take extra care during the holidays when it comes to all kinds of combustible, seasonally appropriate objects. On December 22, the commission illustrated how some gifts are far more flammable than others with its 30-minute Escooter Lithium-Ion Battery Yule Log video.

A Russian group is cobbling together hoverboards, a form of personal transport, to create four-wheeled robots capable of carrying out kamikaze attacks, moving supplies or laying a smokescreen. Both sides in the Russia-Ukraine war are using improvised aerial drones by the thousand, while in the Black Sea, Ukraine has deployed an armada of uncrewed vessels developed from Jet Skis and speedboats. Both sides are also developing cheap ground-based robots, and Russia's latest effort is an extreme example.

The Matrix Reloaded, from 2003, used futuristic tech. There's more to futuristic tech in Hollywood than just what is seen in Star Trek or Star Wars, although techies do love a good transponder or tractor beam. Virtual stimulation, mind manipulation and fantastical technology are frequently highlighted in films of the previous decades. The "good" movies involved more than a tired trope of a storyline; those movies were thought provoking, and standouts, at films' release. Were filmmakers offering up what they believed to be a likely view of tech's potential or making it up whole cloth?

A Chinese company has developed technology that could make hoverboards obsolete. InMotions's Hovershoes XI are essentially two self-balancing hoverboards that attach to each foot. The shoes are currently available for pre-order and are expected to be delivered by late July. A Chinese firm has developed technology that could make hoverboards obsolete. InMotions's Hovershoes XI are essentially two self-balancing hoverboards that attach to each foot They also retail at a hefty $499 and, for now, are only available in the US.

First revealed at CES 2016, the Segway Loomo is a $1,700 hoverboard. It operates much like those that came before it. You step onto the self-balancing platform, lean forward to accelerate, lean back to slow and reverse. But unlike its predecessors, turning the Loomo is done by pressing the knees against the unit's center, leaning left and right, which I found to be a far more intuitive method than lifting and pressing the footpads. The Loomo is surprisingly stable, even when leaning back to stop quickly, though the company does insist that users wear a helmet while riding.

As they do every year, hackers descended on Las Vegas this week to show off the many ways they can decimate the internet's security systems. Here's a collection of some of our favorite talks from this week's Black Hat conference, including some we didn't get the chance to cover in depth. Before the week even began, we took a look at how $15 worth of magnets could overcome a "smart" gun's protections, turning it into just a regular ol' gun. Similarly, a popular safe turned out to be anything but against a homemade robot safecracker. Some of the popular tools hackers use to control other people's systems, which turn out to be riddled with vulnerabilities themselves. Radioactivity sensors are easy to hack and not likely to get fixed.

It was actually about when technology goes wrong: In many ways, 2016 was the year of the exploding batteries. A little over a year ago, hoverboards topped many holiday wish lists. By December 2015, they were being recalled by the thousands. According to Popular Science, "…cheaply made hoverboards have exploded and caught fire, forcing Amazon to stop selling specific models and Overstock to discontinue all sales." Rolling into 2016, major computer companies recalled batteries for fire hazards, baby monitors were pulled from shelves and major airlines diverted flights for emergency landings when tablets caught fire onboard.

Just two weeks after the launch of the Galaxy Note 7 phone, Samsung was forced to recall 2.5 million devices worldwide, after reports that many were overheating, or even exploding Do YOU count on your fingers? Experts say it could actually... The 760mph train that'll take you from London to Manchester... Could a folding phone save Samsung? Firm patents radical... Artificial intelligence will'inevitably' destroy millions... Do YOU count on your fingers? Experts say it could actually...

To many, hoverboards may seem like last year's fad, but don't tell Walmart or Target. In revealing their respective Black Friday deals on Thursday, both major retailers announced deep discounts on theelectric-powered skateboards as part of their Thanksgiving night "doorbusters." It shows there is still life in the consumer product that looked like it might be a goner after a rough year. After being last year's holiday hit, schools and colleges banished them. Some were recalled after reports of fires and they were banned from airlines.

Technology advances not so much when it exhibits innovation, but when it becomes truly practical for everyday people. In 2016, we'll see an acceleration of that shift of technologies from the drawing board and geek-only curiosities to consumer devices that change our lives in ways small and big. Here are a handful of technologies that are on the cusp of major action in the coming year. For decades, artificial intelligence was a thing best understood by sci-fi fanatics and screenwriters. That started to change n 2011 with Apple's Siri voice assistant, but 2015 turned out to be a watershed year for computer algorithms that could ape human thought and interaction.