“All we know is, we opened a gate. We just hope we didn’t open a Pandora’s box.” It looks like algorithms can write academic papers about themselves now. We gotta wonder: how long until human academics are obsolete? In an editorial … Continued
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN TRY TO CREATE YOUR OWN “EUREKA” MOMENTS. Have you ever had a great idea right before you fell asleep — only to forget it the next morning when you wake up? A new study says there’s … Continued
Today’s computers guzzle large amounts of electricity, raising concerns about the climate impact of technology. A breakthrough in superconducting electronics could reduce the power bill significantly, while also making computers far faster. The phenomenon of superconductivity was first discovered in 1911 … Continued
A vast array of 12,000 solar panels are set to become Europe’s largest floating solar park when they finish taking position atop the Alqueva reservoir this year. Supplying a third of the electricity to the nearby towns of Moura and … Continued
For the first time in recorded history, wind power was the second-largest source of electricity in the country for an entire day. That’s according to data from the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Hourly Electric Grid Monitor, which on March 29 spotted wind … Continued
Nasa is taking a step in a distinctly Star Trek direction with a new communication method it tested on the International Space Station (ISS). It’s called ‘holoporting’ and, as you’d expect, is a mix between a hologram and teleportation. And it resulted in … Continued
A team of engineers at Stanford University have developed a solar cell that can generate some electricity at night. The research comes at a moment when the number of solar jobs and residential installations are rising. While standard solar panels can provide electricity during … Continued
Taking the “right to repair” one step further, a Viennese repair bonus is going national — and keeping thousands of items out of the junkyard Sepp Eisenriegler loves giving second chances: To the defunct electrical appliances awaiting repair or refurbishment, … Continued
The human brain is only the latest chapter in the ancient story of thinking on Earth. Rocks do not think. Rocks do not feel. Rocks do not share their experiences with fellow rocks in the hope that their hard-won knowledge … Continued
Arts and Industries Building 900 Jefferson Drive, SW Washington, DC Part exhibition, part festival, FUTURES presents nearly 32,000 square feet of new immersive site-specific art installations, interactives, working experiments, inventions, speculative designs, and “artifacts of the future,” as well as historic objects … Continued
Last summer, the science-fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson went on a backpacking trip with some friends. They headed into the High Sierra, hiking toward Deadman Canyon—a fifty-mile walk through challenging terrain. Now sixty-nine, Robinson has been hiking and camping in … Continued
Swedish engineering firm Minesto has designed special gliders that look a lot like airborne drones — except that they’re meant to capture power from underwater currents and use it to generate electricity, down near the ocean floor. The company is … Continued
Technology has advanced at a blinding pace in the past 150 years. That won’t always happen. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” That little aphorism is called Clark’s third law, and it haunts all our efforts to find alien … Continued
Combining a vertical farm and office space into a single 51-storey concept out of Chinese mythology, an Italian architect is completing the Shenzhen skyline with a stunning “farmscraper.” With a façade that features a vertical hydroponic farm extending the entire … Continued
Nissan has launched its most advanced production line to date as it works toward creating an emissions-free manufacturing process for its next-generation vehicles. Using the very latest robotic technology, the Nissan Intelligent Factory started operating this week in Tochigi, Japan, … Continued
Intr Government introduces Bill to formally recognise animals as sentient beings Animal Sentience Committee will put animal sentience at heart of government policy Bill introduced as part of government’s first of a kind Action Plan for Animal Welfare Vertebrate animals will … Continued
The brain’s neurons tend to get most of the scientific attention, but a set of cells around them called astrocytes – literally, star-shaped cells – are increasingly being viewed as crucial players in guiding a brain to become properly organized. … Continued
Gardens persist for 150 years after those who planted them were removed. –Chelsey Armstrong In the 1930s, an archeologist from the Smithsonian wrote a short paper remarking on the exquisite vegetation around First Nation villages in Alaska. The villages’ … Continued
Google Earth is already a powerful tool for observing our planet, but today it’s getting a major upgrade with the introduction of a new 3D time-lapse feature. Described by Google Earth director Rebecca Moore as the biggest update to Google … Continued
In a new first for genetic engineering, scientists have developed a single-celled synthetic organism that grows and divides much like a normal cell, mimicking aspects of the cell division cycle that underlies and generates healthy living cellular life. The achievement, … Continued