Can the Valkee 2 ease jet lag by lighting up ears? It didn’t for me

Valkee's bright light headset says it can help winter blues (SAD) and rid travellers of jet lag by blasting light into their ears. This traveller was hopeful, but arrival didn't bring results. By Samuel Gibbs

Sharing NHS medical records will be vital for improving healthcare

Dr John Parkinson: Research using anonymised medical records will help ensure the safety and efficacy of drugs, vaccines and medical devices

How a 3D printer gave a teenage bomb victim a new arm – and a reason to live

Emma Bryce: When Mick Ebeling read about a boy in South Sudan who had lost his arms, he set off with a 3D printer to make him a prosthetic limb. Now the project is bringing hope to the country's other 50,000-plus amputees

Sweet solution? Google tests smart contact lens for diabetics

Prototype could revolutionise blood glucose monitoring for diabetics. By Samuel Gibbs

What weird tech trends from CES 2014 mean to the average person

Using Twitter intel from #WeirdCES, here are the strange discoveries of the Consumer Electronics Show decoded

12 New Year’s resolutions that should be abandoned

Vowing to be a better person in 2014 is a waste of time, says Stuart Heritage. Just embrace the lazy underachiever you really are

Wi-fried: do wireless routers really kill plants?

Some students in Denmark did a school experiment and found cress growing near wi-fi routers went brown. Cue hysteria …

Meet the designers behind Bill Gates’s super-condom

Using everything from atom-thick graphene to the humble beef tendon, designers are competing to make a next-generation condom that 'significantly enhances pleasure'

Tired? Troubled love life? Try banning gadgets from the bedroom

Amy Fleming: Late-night fiddling with devices stimulates your brain and invades what should be a quiet space. Time to turn off

Facebook has got it spectacularly wrong on beheading videos

Jonathan Freedland: First thoughts: Facebook is making an editorial judgment in allowing head-chopping yet banning breastfeeding. And it is a very bad one