The Other Global Toxic Cloud: China's Pollution
We naturally focus on catastrophic risks like nuclear meltdowns, but chronic dangers like pollutants can be just as significant in the long run… More »
Edward Tenner is a historian of technology and culture. He was a founding advisor of Smithsonian's Lemelson Center and holds a Ph.D in European history. More
We naturally focus on catastrophic risks like nuclear meltdowns, but chronic dangers like pollutants can be just as significant in the long run… More »
Behold an analogue pattern generator that creates designs so fine they remain invisible to the naked eye… More »
Japan is a leader in emergency robots, so why aren't machines responsible for entering these radiation-heavy zones?… More »
Employers screen job candidates via on automated scan of resumés. Could this search focus on too narrow a pool?… More »
At the annual TED conference, an invited group of speakers talk for 18 minutes -- no lectern, no notes and a healthy dose of fear mixed with inspiration… More »
When growing up in the industrial Chicago of the 1950s I regularly saw from the elevated tracks a slide rule factory where spider silk was used in making cursors… More »
Would Errol Morris still have made films if Thomas Kuhn hadn't thrown an ashtray at him?… More »
Standards for balls, pins, and lane treatments have permitted a transformation of the game… More »
Are patents truly a proxy for technological innovation? Today's applications run hundreds of pages, and significant ideas may be getting lost in the shuffle.… More »
Can protective technology make althetics more dangerous? An old controversy continues in women's lacrosse.… More »
From LEDs to increased fuel economy, the 747-8 spotlights great achievements. But even those show limits to progress.… More »
A Time cover story on the prospects for abolishing death by 2045 is only the latest of a series of media features about Ray Kurzweil and the Singularity movement… More »
The authority should have paid attention to the clown… More »
Our scientific knowledge has exploded in quantity in recent years. But a deluge of data is only as good as its storage system, and ours needs work.… More »
Summers' idea was so explosive because of the context in which he raised it… More »
If the supercomputer bests the human champion next week, the news will be everywhere. But we shouldn't worry.… More »
Why have successful entrepreneurial ideas over the last generation not succeeded in raising living standards?… More »
How did bird-watching develop into a recreational activity? A response to Slate's characterization of the pass-time.… More »
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