Futurism

How NASA Could Build A Cloud City Over Venus

Owing to the extreme conditions on the Venusian surface, it’s going to be quite some time before a human ever steps foot on that planet. That’s why NASA is developing a plan to deploy human-occupied airships in Venus’s upper atmosphere. And yes, permanent occupation is the ultimate goal. As reported by Evan Ackerman in IEEE…

What Would Happen If All The Earth’s Microbes Suddenly Disappeared?

It’s generally agreed that life on this planet would not be possible if it weren’t for microbes. In a fascinating thought experiment, a pair of biologists scrutinized this assumption to find out. As their paper makes clear, a microbe-free world would be a strange place, indeed. Top image: Nutrient rich waters off Patagonia in South…

3D Printing Has Turned This Canine Into A Cyborg

Meet Derby, a Husky mix born with underdeveloped legs and paws. To help, tech firm 3D Systems has printed a pair of prosthetic front limbs that now allow him to outrun his owners. Derby’s previous foster-owner, Tara Anderson, is an employee of 3D Systems, which is based out of Rock Hill, South Carolina. The firm…

The Rise of Global Trade Cities That Operate Outside the Law

It’s not the Illuminati, but there is a New World Order cropping up all around us — if we’re willing to look closer and see. Keller Easterling is an architect, writer and professor at Yale University. Her most recent book, Extrastatecraft: The Power of Infrastructure Space (Verso, 2014), examines a new global network woven by…

12 Reasons Robots Will Always Have An Advantage Over Humans

We puny humans can be depressingly fragile and flawed, a realization that’s all the more discouraging when we consider the incredible potential for robots. Here are 12 reasons why machines will always have the edge over us meatbags. Top image: Scene from Automata. Before we get started, it’s important to point out that I took…

How Neal Stephenson Is Helping To Make Snow Crash‘s Metaverse A Reality

Magic Leap’s mysterious augmented reality tech promises to “bring magic back into the world.” And now Neal Stephenson, who imagined the virtual Metaverse in his 1992 novel Snow Crash, has joined the company. He tells io9 why this technology may “demand a new way of thinking.” Top image via Magic Leap website Magic Leap had…

These Multidirectional, Cable-Free Elevators Could Be Ready By 2016

Elevator technology hasn’t really improved much since its first appearance over 160 years ago. Enter ThyssenKrupp’s MULTI — an advanced elevator system that’s poised to radically transform the way we get around buildings. The system works by replacing vertical lift cables with linear motors in each elevator cabin. European tech giant ThyssenKrupp says the system…

Watch The Navy’s New Laser Weapon Take Out Two Boats And A Drone

The Navy’s first laser weapon is operational, and it looks very effective. Earlier this year, the U.S. Military installed its high energy Laser Weapon System (LaWS) aboard theUSS Ponce to conduct field testing in the Persian Gulf. In this just-released test footage, LaWS can be seen performing flawlessly, taking out two ships and a drone…

These are NASA’s coolest and strangest airplanes of the future

Most people don’t know this, but NASA doesn’t only work in exploring space. Its contribution to airplane technology—National Aeronautics and Space Administration—has been crucial to the development of safer, faster, more efficient travel. These are their coolest future concepts—some of which could enter service as soon as 2025. These concepts have been developed working with…

The Coming Age Of Cyborg Animals

Wearable tech like fitness bands and GPS trackers are all the rage, and our pets are starting to use them, too. These tools can help us monitor and track our companion animals. But these devices are also changing our pets’ capabilities and how we interact with them. We’ve entered the age of cyborg animals. Illustration…

This Incredibly Advanced Prosthetic Is Powered By Robotics Technology

Borrowing from the same technology that allows modern bipedal robots to walk, researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas have developed powered prosthetics that allow amputees to walk on a moving treadmill almost as fast as an able-bodied person. Bipedal humanoid robots are capable of walking, running, jumping, and climbing stairs autonomously. But the…

The Most Stable Way To Store Data For The Future

Is the most stable way to store data for the far off future just old-fashioned pen and paper, or set adrift out there somewhere in the cloud, locked into a series of backup hard drives, or is there another system that’s even more secure and long-lasting? In response to a post asking which of our…

It’s Time to Bring Back the Social Media Suicide Machine

Nearly five years ago, a group of artists and programmers debuted a simple web app called the “Web 2.0 Suicide Machine.” It was designed to quickly and effectively shut down your accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media sites. But then Facebook unleashed their lawyers. That’s because over 58,000 people severed friendship ties…

10 Diseases That Might Afflict Us In The Future

Today, humans suffer from a wide range of diseases and disorders that didn’t exist in the past, a trend that will likely continue well into the future. Here are 10 unexpected and wholly unpleasant diseases we’ll eventually have to contend with. Top image: A scene from Floris Kaayk’s Metalosis Maligna, a short film featuring a…

What Artifact Will Tell Future Generations The Most About Us?

Today’s treasures may be tomorrow’s trash, but give that trash enough tomorrows and it becomes something entirely different: an artifact. Will it be something electronic (perhaps even with some leftover data on it) that tells all? Maybe it will be some large infrastructure project (a canal, a highway) that’s big enough to make it to…

The U.S. Army is now testing its lightweight warfighter exosuit. The assistive devices could significantly reduce soldiers’ risk to injury and improve battlefield performance. The exosuit, which can cut a wearer’s exertion level by 25% when carrying a 100 pound load, could be ready as early as 2016. Image: U.S. Defense Department

This man could be the future of the internet. Over at the New York Times, there’s an interesting profile of Lu Wei, China’s “Internet czar.” That means he’s the guy who regulates the so-called Great Firewall of China, determining which western services and apps make it to Chinese users. That is an incredible amount of…

Why tracking our lives may be key in the next step of human evolution

Our friend Jason Silva gives an interesting argument in this video: Rather than thinking that tracking ourselves—geographically and biologically—will inevitably result in our individual alienation and the ultimate slaving of humanity, he believes that it would help each and everyone of us to realize our full potential. It makes sense. Used for good, the anonymous—and…

Stephen Hawking is once again warning about the perils of AI. “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race,” he recently told the BBC, adding that “It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate…Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t…

What From Today Will People Still Be Enjoying 100 Years From Now?

Sometimes it’s hard to see our own time clearly — especially what from it will last and what will fall away. Today we want to know what you think will stand the test of time. Maybe it’s a book or TV series that has yet to become a classic, but you believe will. Maybe it’s…