Listen to the music playing in your head

I often hear music in my head--usually Beatles tunes or, sadly, commercial jingles. Maybe you have a jukebox in your brain, too, or maybe you'd like one. Here's a new gadget that simulates the experience, called the Hypersonic Sound device. It "streams [sound] in a precise, laser-like beam for up to 150 yards with almost no degradation in quality or volume," according to Popular Science magazine (the favorite publication of geeky sixth-graders everywhere, or at least it used to be). That means that when you're standing in the beam, you can hear the music, but someone standing next to you will hear nothing at all (and will probably think you've finally flipped). Alas, there are advertising applications for this technology. You may soon hear the sound of cola being poured--or some viciously seductive jingle--every time you pass a Coke machine.

(Thanks to Maud Newton)