Elias Howe patents a sewing machine that doesn't make him much money ... until others improve the design.

The Tevatron, king of particle colliders and pride of U.S. physics, races to make one more major discovery before the Large Hadron Collider steals the show. If the Tevatron detects the Higgs boson, it will cushion the blow of losing the crown.

The Superconducting Super Collider in Texas, once the shining hope of American science, is now a physics graveyard looking for a new purpose. Visit the place in this Wired.com photo gallery.

The new book Collider, by physicist Paul Halpern, takes you inside the past, present and future of high-energy particle physics, and the world's biggest scientific instruments. Read an exclusive excerpt on Wired.com.

When the movie 9 opens on September 9, theaters nationwide will be invaded by a swarm of goo-goo-eyed rag dolls wandering a postapocalyptic hellscape bereft of sunlight and dominated by clanky, cranky monster bots. (But enough about the concession stand—hey-o!) The 8-inch computer-generated burlap heroes, voiced by Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly, among others, embody a scrappy aesthetic described by filmmaker Shane Acker as "stitchpunk." "There's a real beauty in turn-of-the-century mechanics, and we wanted to celebrate that," Acker says. "The main machine is basically a cyclops with many arms, and we do our own reinterpretation of Medusa. It's like a steampunk version of Clash of the Titans.

How Indie Animation Attracted Big Stars to '9' For more, visit wired.com/video.

My short film is about to hit the festival circuit. Would it be cool to email a heads-up to everyone in my address book?

The Internet has a name for that, Dear Reader: spam. Unless you wish to join the spiritual ranks of bootleg Viagra peddlers and Nigerian "princes," indiscriminate email blasts to one's acquaintances is never copacetic. Nobody wants to live in a world where giving contact info to a friend or colleague is tantamount to checking the "Yes, please keep me informed about exciting product offers!" box.

That said, there's nothing wrong with aggressive self-promotion. Sift through your contacts to identify people who might be interested, even though they haven't explicitly opted in. Focus on folks with whom you've enjoyed at least one warm exchange. Then tailor the messages. "Personalize each email," says Chris Brogan, president of New Marketing Labs, a social-media consulting firm. "Send them one at a time and say one personal thing at the beginning of each."

Keep in mind that no matter how much care you take to avoid the whiff of spam, there's a chance that some of your recipients will complain. If that happens, be human enough to apologize—something spambots never do.

To boost my blog traffic, I held a contest, awarding $50 gift cards to readers I picked at random. My husband says it was illegal. Am I going to jail?

Technically, your giveaway wasn't a contest but a sweepstakes — à la Publishers Clearing House. You picked the winners at random, rather than as a reward for, say, their knowledge of trivia. As such, you are subject to the laws of your home state regarding sweepstakes. These generally state that the rules must be clearly posted and that entrants shouldn't have to spend money in order to win.

Unfortunately, the fine print in some states can be annoyingly specific. You may come across detailed requirements governing the font and type size for your "No Purchase Necessary" disclaimer or the exact odds of winning.

Didn't dot those i's or cross those t's? Don't fret. You're highly unlikely to do time, especially given your piddling payouts. (The California attorney general's office couldn't identify a single case of a blogger being punished for holding a sweepstakes.) But next time you feel the need to channel Ed McMahon (may he rest in peace), do your best to obey the law. It's a royal pain, but look on the bright side—long legal disclaimers give your blog an air of authority.

I recently posted a photo on Facebook of my 4-month-old son taking a bath. My mom flipped; she said I was creating child porn. Is she overly paranoid?

Sounds like your mother has seen one too many episodes of To Catch a Predator. The legal test is for the depiction of "sexually explicit conduct" (including "lascivious exhibition" of genitalia). Neither the Feds nor Facebook care about a cute bath-time picture of your own kid. And it means a lot if Facebook is cool with it, because the company is notoriously prim—it has been known to delete images of breastfeeding. "We've carved out an exception in our policy to allow photos of infants posted by parents or other family members," says Simon Axten, a Facebook spokesperson.

Mom also needs to understand that Facebook can actually be more private than a beach or park—the photos can be viewed only by trusted friends, assuming you have the appropriate privacy settings. (You do, right?) Unless she has a blanket objection to her grandson appearing naked in public, including during emergency diaper changes, her anti-Facebook logic doesn't hold water.

Need help navigating life in the 21st century? Email us at mrknowitall@wired.com.

Physicist Paul Halpern, author of the new book Collider, answers Wired.com's questions about the Large Hadron Collider, high-energy physics and America's failed attempt to build our own supersize particle collider.

Apple's CEO Steve Jobs appears at a product launch, in his first public appearance since being treated for cancer.

Director Shane Acker's indie determination caught Burton's eye. 9's man-versus-machine spectacle enticed stars like Elijah Wood to give voice to his rag doll warriors.

A solar company backed by Google's founders made its public debut today, pushing a long-promising type of ultracheap solar cells nearly into the marketplace.

When emergencies unfold, why call 911 like some kind of technophobic fuddy-duddy? Share all the gory details in real time with your band of friends and barely acquainted followers.

Our frequent flier gets more attention from JetBlue than some guy from The Office.

Today show viewers using Google to research a clue about the plot of the upcoming Da Vinci Code sequel are finding themselves in the middle of an international conspiracy to put malicous code on their Windows machines. Someone call a symbologist!

'9' is a 'stitch punk' story from director Shane Acker. After seeing Acker's 11-minute student film,Tim Burton signed on to produce the film, and was soon joined by an all-star cast including Jennifer Connelly and Elijah Wood.

It's one city down, several dozen to go as Wired's frequent flier slogs through more than 40 airports in 30 days exploring Jet Blue's route map on an unlimited travel pass.

The most comprehensive database of chemicals known to man got its 50th millionth entry earlier this week, underscoring the explosion of knowledge about molecules over the last 50 years.