Human beings, being human, get anxious. We all do, except psychopaths. An estimated 40 million Americans suffer from anxiety of some form at any given time. Some of us get really, really anxious, like Scott Stossel, a writer and editor at the Atlantic whose memoir of a lifelong and often paralyzing struggle with the condition is about to be published. For those of us to whom anxiety is a more occasional visitor, the condition can be crippling.

For many city-dwellers, the last straw was the surge pricing Uber announced Monday, which could see the cost of cars rise eight-fold at midnight on New Years' Eve. For many more, it was the various other forms of surge pricing associated with the evening: the cost of a babysitter (if you can find one); the cost of drinks (if you can squeeze through the crowd to the bar); the Happy New Year hats and 2014 glasses (worth everything today and nothing tomorrow).

Since 1999, millions of people have donated time on their personal computers for the SETI@home project, which analyzes radio signals to look for intelligent life in outer space. An entrepreneur now wants people to donate time on their mobile phones for a less high-minded pursuit.

Though the $4 billion Star Wars franchise includes manga comics and animated TV shows, no official anime adaptation has ever come to fruition. Until Lucasfilm licenses an anime series, then we'll have to rely on the Internet to make our long-ago galactic dreams a reality.

In the publish-or-perish world of academia, the pressure can be intense for scientists to get their work out in front of peers and to secure more funding for further research — so much so that, well, let's just say mistakes can happen. Some mistakes are innocent, such as an accidental mislabeling of data or images that leads the researchers to an erroneous conclusion. Other mistakes reflect a serious lapse in ethics or common sense.

No matter where you're ringing in the new year, you'll be able to watch a live stream of the festivities in New York City's Times Square right here on Mashable or via mobile apps. The commercial-free live stream -- which begins at 5:55 p.m. ET and ends after the crystal ball drops at midnight to celebrate the beginning of 2014 -- will include musical performances, celebrity interviews and the iconic ball drop atop the One Times Square building.

At the stroke of midnight, Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher's Wall Street Journal-owned tech news site AllThingsD died and the two announced a new venture to take its place: Re/code. A message on the WordPress-created site states that it is set for a launch at 12 AM EST on Jan. 2. Meanwhile, if you try to log on to allthingsd.com, you will be directed to WSJ.D, a new tech news site from The Wall Street Journal.

You don’t have to be a serious audiophile to require improved laptop sound. Whether you’re spending hours gaming, watching movies or just playing tunes, a good set of laptop speakers makes a major difference. See also: 7 Ways You're Killing Your Tech As with any audio gear, speakers can get expensive very quickly. The good news is that a range of price points will give you great sound. Before you buy, think what you need from your listening experience.

A pen and checkbook used to be the only way to donate money to good causes. The Internet, however, has rejuvenated our concept of “giving to charity,” bringing about an unprecedented age of both citizen and viral philanthropy, and calling upon online communities to help those in need. This concept relies on social sharing to spread the word, and is only strengthened by the growing accessibility of mobile phones.

SaaS and app startups can literally be anywhere in the world. With the cloud, both sales and support functions are virtual -- a top-notch software company no longer needs a large local sales force to sell its product via tons of in-person meetings. This opens up the possibility of launching your startup anywhere from Bozeman, Mont., to Tampa, Fla.

Conservationists have extracted 22 century-old images from a box of photo negatives they discovered in Antarctica earlier in 2013. The Antarctic Heritage Trust, of New Zealand, announced the discovery in December, saying the photographs are from Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 to 1917 Ross Sea Party expedition, whose task was to install supply depots on the remote continent.

The next step in transformative technology is already here, and the United States runs the risk of getting left behind. The amount of robotics inventions is steadily on the rise, and the U.S. military is already in on the action. A few years ago, Air Force drones surpassed 1 million combat hours. Hobbyists are using platforms like Arduino to build their own robots, and they're building them by the thousands.

Your cover letter is supposed to catch a prospective employer's eye, but that's easier said than done when it's buried under a pile of applications. As a result, nearly every professional has his or her own advice when it comes to writing one of these formal introductions and bids for employment. There's a typical formula many follow, but some job hopefuls have tried more inventive techniques to get their applications noticed.

The year 2013 was one of huge and affecting news stories, including NSA snooping, the Papal transition and Obamacare. Unfortunately, it was also the year of Joanna Rohrback's Prancercise camel toe. See also: 16 People Made Famous by the Internet in 2013 It may be a new year, but there are plenty of head-scratching images and videos we'll never be able to unsee. Before bleaching your eyeballs, take one last look at 2013 as we pay tribute to the hilarious, disgusting and WTF moments that took place.

Drawing and sketching were once activities limited to pencil and paper, but for budding artists in the digital age, there's a wealth of online, browser-based tools to let your creativity run wild. It doesn't just have to be a hobby or pastime, though -- drawing is useful for brainstorming and problem-solving, and these web apps can aid in any profession.

UPDATE - Jan. 1, 11:54 p.m. ET: Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel told Mashable that the company is "working with law enforcement," and will "update when we can." @neeeda @Snapchat working with law enforcement. Will update when we can.— Evan Spiegel (@evanspiegel) January 2, 2014 More than four-and-a-half million Snapchat usernames and phone numbers leaked online Tuesday after anonymous hackers posted the information on a website called SnapchatDB.info, the group confirmed to Mashable Wednesday.

With the departure of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the city's tech industry loses its most powerful public persona. Replacing him is Bill de Blasio, the former city public advocate who campaigned with a platform that appealed to the everyman, and someone Silicon Alley has greeted with cautious optimism.

This year, you conquer the power drill and the glitter, craft master. DIY projects might seem like an impossible challenge that will leave you covered in glue and crying over a half-constructed birdhouse. But using your own two hands to make something saves money and adds a personal touch. See also: 20 Colorful Bits of Graffiti That Make the World More Beautiful Time to get over your crafting fears, people.

The people of Earth rang in 2014 with raucous celebrations that reached all the way to space, where astronauts on the International Space Station helped usher in the New Year. Three space station astronauts recorded a video wishing humanity a Happy New Year that was broadcast in Times Square during New York City's epic New Year's Eve bash. The video was introduced by NASA astronaut Mike Massimino from Times Square and featured on the iconic Toshiba Vision screen.

Two developers have created a tool that helps Snapchat users check if their accounts were compromised following a massive leak of information that included usernames and phone numbers. Will Smidlein and Robbie Trencheny built "GS Lookup - Snapchat" on Wednesday to "help the public quickly understand if they were affected so that they could take the appropriate actions," Smidlein told Mashable in an email.

The new year always arrives filled with hopes and resolutions to make this year better than the last. It also reminds us that we're getting really old. Year after year, it's unfathomable that it's already time to change the calendar and spend the first three months forgetting to write the correct date on forms. We cling to the past like we're made of saran wrap. See also: 8 Glittering Facts About the New Year's Eve Ball To ring in 2014, we remember what an awesome year 1994 was for music.

A great poet once said, Nothing changes New Year's Day. And while that's true in many respects, it doesn't apply to Netflix. A handful of new movies were added to the site today. Several titles will also be expiring today, and all the buzz around this year-end event has sparked a discussion once again about supporting brick-and-mortar video stores.

We all know the shortcomings of Wikipedia. The encyclopedia that anyone can edit is a frequent victim to hoaxes and trolls who litter it with misinformation that can sometime last as long as a half-decade. Most of us use it anyway. But what if you rely on Wikipedia for medical advice? As Wikipedia exerts a growing influence on our common knowledge of medicine, some Wikipedians wondering if the site should do more to warn users about the quality of the advice they're receiving.

James Avery, best known for playing Philip Banks on the television classic Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, died Wednesday at age 68. Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Uncle Phil's son Carlton on the show, announced Avery's death on Twitter and Facebook. I'm deeply saddened to say that James Avery has passed away. He was a second father to me. I will miss him greatly.

UPDATE - Jan. 1, 11:50 p.m. ET: A Skype spokesperson told Mashable, “We recently became aware of a targeted cyber attack that led to access to Skype’s social media properties, but these credentials were quickly reset. No user information was compromised." Skype is the latest victim of hacking by the Syrian Electronic Army. The VoIP service's Twitter and Facebook accounts, as well as its official blog, were compromised Wednesday afternoon.

2013 was a big year for Miley Cyrus and her tongue, for better or worse, so it seems only fitting that the tongue made several appearances in different variations on the final day of the year during ABC's Dick Clark New Year's Rockin' Eve party.

It's the beginning of a new year, and chances are you're resolving to do several (hundred?) things for the first time, differently, or better. But before you start listing out your new and improved social media plans for 2014, I've scoured the Internet to give you a head start. To find out what the experts are saying will be big in social media this year, read on. Their predictions will help you nail those resolutions -- and maybe even keep a few of them.

Amid the sea of smartphones and handheld cameras capturing the iconic Times Square ball drop on New Year's Eve was at least one pair of Google Glass. Mashable's Associate Entertainment Editor Brian Anthony Hernandez, above, wore Google's wearable technology in New York City to take photos and record videos of the action and festivities surrounding the ball drop during Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.

Today we are focused on apps that will help you with your New Year's resolutions like Quick Diet, GymAssist, Striiv Activity Tracker, and Logacal. All app prices are subject to change at any time and without notice regardless of stated free duration. Price changes are solely under the control of the developers. iPhone: Quick Diet Low Carb ($0.99 Free, 5.6 MB): Take your personal nutritionist with you wherever you go with Quick Diet.

Motorola's flagship smartphone, the Moto X, now costs $399 without a contract, the company has announced. Rick Osterloh, Motorola's Senior VP, Product Management, explained the company's reasoning behind the price change, arguing that prepaid service plans have gotten better than ever.