Alvin Toffler, who died in 2016, will be remembered for his many contributions to the work of futurism. Toffler was a prolific writer, most notably the author of the 1970 best-selling book Future Shock, and a man who became friends with important figures across the political spectrum in Washington DC, including NewtâŚ
When you think of jetpacks, your first thought is probably an image of some fun, care-free piece of pop culture like The Jetsons or James Bond. Or maybe even the Super Bowl. But jetpacks were serious business for the U.S. military in the 1960s. And, believe it or not, there were plenty of futuristic ideas thatâŚ
Boston Dynamics is preparing to build its terrifying army of robot dogs, according to a Saturday report in Inverse that the company has set a target date of July 2019 as the time it will be ready to manufacture 1,000 of its compact SpotMini models annually.
Summer is finally upon us, which means itâs time to put together a reading list, whether itâs for the beach, your cottage, or the hammock in your backyard. Here are 15 science and technology books that will keep your nerdy brains engaged and titillated.
Current prosthetic limbs arenât yet capable of transmitting complex sensations like texture or pain to the user, but a recent breakthrough by scientists at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, in which a synthetic layer of skin on an artificial hand transmitted feelings of pain directly to the user, takes us one stepâŚ
Boston Dynamics, the makers of the very GIFable robots that will inevitably turn on us all, is preparing to unleash the first horseman of the robot apocalypse on the public. Starting in 2019, the company will make its SpotMini robot commercially available, the company revealed Friday.
Two years ago, a consortium of scientists, lawyers, and entrepreneurs announced a plan to synthesize an artificial human genome from scratchâan extremely ambitious endeavor thatâs struggled to secure funding. Project organizers have now disclosed details of a scaled-down version of the venture, but with a goal thatâsâŚ
A neuroscientist from Yale University is claiming to have developed a technique that preserves the brain tissue of pigs for an extended period following decapitation. The brains are apparently not conscious, but the new technique is raising a number of important ethical issues.
Chinaâs state-owned aerospace corporation is embarking on a plan that would see tens of thousands of fuel-burning, cloud-seeding chambers dispersed across the Tibetan Plateau in an attempt to increase rainfall in the region. It sounds impressive, but itâs an open question as to whether this extensive rain-makingâŚ
The common conception of a technologically enabled apocalypse foresees a powerful artificial intelligence that, either deliberately or by accident, destroys human civilization. But as a new report from the RAND Corporation points out, the reality may be far subtler: As AI slowly erodes the foundations that made theâŚ
Having to assemble furniture from Ikea is about as fun as having to binge watch a season of Fuller House, so how cool would it be to have robots that could do the job? Researchers from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore having now taken us a significant step closer to achieving that dream.
A new report by the Lords Select Committee in the UK claims that Britain is in a strong position to be a world leader in the development of artificial intelligence. But to get thereâand to keep AI safe and ethicalâtech firms should follow the Committeeâs newly proposed âAI Code.â
Over 150 experts in AI, robotics, commerce, law, and ethics from 14 countries have signed an open letter denouncing the European Parliamentâs proposal to grant personhood status to intelligent machines. The EU says the measure will make it easier to figure out whoâs liable when robots screw up or go rogue, but criticsâŚ
Artificial intelligence is all the rage these days, so naturally we want to throw it at all of our problems. Yesterday, Mark Zuckerbergâs comment that Facebook wonât have effective tools to filter hate speech for another âfive to 10 yearsâ seemed both dismissive and uninspiring. No doubt, it was classic SiliconâŚ
A prominent research lab at MIT has terminated its relationship with Nectome, a new startup with the stated mission of preserving human brains such that they can be digitized and uploaded into a computer in the future, effectively bringing the dead back to life. But while MIT has chosen to distance itself from theâŚ
Physicist Stephen Hawking died today at the age of 76. In the latter stages of his illustrious career, Hawking devoted a considerable amount of time and effort to issuing warnings of future threatsâfrom the perils of climate change and nuclear war through to artificial superintelligence and alien invasions. And forâŚ
Using a technique developed three years ago, researchers from MIT and 21st Century Medicine have shown that itâs possible to preserve the microscopic structures contained within a large mammalian brain. The breakthrough means scientists now have the means to store and study samples of the human brain over longerâŚ
The 1985 Master Development Plan for the city of Las Vegas included a cover illustration straight out of Tron. Itâs unclear who designed it, but if it wasnât Syd Mead himself, it was someone who clearly took a lot of inspiration from the legendary artist.
Speaking to an audience of active-duty airmen, US Air Force Chief of Staff General David L. Goldfein predicted itâll only be a âmatter of yearsâ before American forces find themselves âfighting from space.â To prepare for this grim possibility, he said the Air Force needs new tools and a new approach to trainingâŚ
