Futurism

MIT’s Robotic Cheetah Can Now Run And Jump While Untethered

Well, we knew it had to happen someday. A DARPA-funded robotic cheetah has been released into the wild, so to speak. A new algorithm developed by MIT researchers now allows their quadruped to run and jump — while untethered — across a field of grass. The Pentagon, in an effort to investigate technologies that allow…

Why Is It So Hard To Predict The Technology Of The Future?

Attempting to predict the future is always a roll of the dice — even if we manage to correctly foretell where the winds will shift us, it is impossible to know what unexpected events will detour us on the way there. But what makes the technology of the future so particularly difficult to imagine? In…

The Paradoxes That Define Our Relationship With Science Fiction

Science fiction is the literature of change and discovery. So there are no limits to how far a science fiction story can go… except for scientific plausibility. And yet, science fiction is created by and for human beings, with all our weird limitations. So here are eight paradoxes that shape our relationship with SF. Top…

The First Space Vessel Designed Entirely for Tourists

Right now, space tourism is just for the ultra-rich. But this experimental design for a cargo plane full of spaceships could make visits to low-Earth orbit part of everyday life. I think what’s most exciting is the idea that the cargo vessel shoots the spacecraft out of its bay using an “electro magnetic space catapult.”…

Why Do the Anarcho-Primitivists Want to Abolish Civilization?

Anarcho-primitivists are the ultimate Luddites — ideologues who favor complete technological relinquishment and a return to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. We spoke to a leading proponent to learn more about this idea and why he believes civilization was our worst mistake. Philosopher John Zerzan wants you to get rid of all your technology — your car,…

This Wearable Lets Us See the Future Better than the Apple Watch

Like Google Glass, the Apple Watch is the beta version of a technology that might one day exist. It suggests a future of effortlessly wearable data devices, more graceful than phones. But one science fiction writer thinks Apple has it all wrong — and that future wearables will be a lot simpler than you think.…

China’s Answer To DARPA’s BigDog Looks Awfully Familiar

The arms race to develop hideous-looking dog-like robots is now officially underway. This quadrupedal “bionic mobile platform” was recently showcased at the 2014 Beijing International Emergency Rescue Expo. Hmm, now where have we seen this before…. Looks like the Chinese government has been paying attention to Boston Dynamics’ YouTube channel. Edwin Kee from Ubergizmo describes…

Here’s What You Need to Know About Big Data

What the hell is “big data,” and why does everybody keep saying it will change the future? If you want to understand the answer, you’ve got to get beyond the buzzword and back to the term’s real meaning. In a recent post on UC Berkeley’s Data Science blog, Jenna Dutcher asked several people who work…

If Reddit’s leaders consider themselves a government, is it time to declare Reddit a failed state? That’s what T.C. Sottek is asking over at the Verge, in a thought-provoking essay about Reddit’s failure to control the way its members are abusing women.

Check Out DARPA’s Insanely Agile ‘Tank Of The Future’

DARPA’s Ground X-Vehicle Technology (GSV-T) program is an effort to revolutionize tank design. To that end, the advanced concepts research wing is considering designs that focus less on armor and more on mobility and speed. This wild concept video should give you a good idea of what the U.S. military is striving to achieve. A…

8 Things We Can Do Now to Build a Space Colony This Century

Before humans start living in space on a regular basis, there’s a lot of basic science and political agendas that need to advance. We talked to scientists and experts about the fundamental things they think we should do right now, if we want to have a space colony in the next 100 years. Interstellar Mayflower,…

Neal Stephenson Inspired Madeline Ashby To Write This Wild, Clever Tale

Tomorrow sees the publication of Hieroglyph, a book of optimistic science fiction spearheaded by Neal Stephenson’s famous call to arms . And we’ve got an exclusive excerpt from Madeline Ashby’s weird, bracing short story, in which she imagines a world without border fences. Top image: “Border City” by Daniel Leivick. You can read more about…

What’s Your Legacy To The Future?

We think a lot about what we collectively are leaving to the future, both the good (an accounting of landing on the moon and a national park system) and the bad (a depleted ozone and the Pacific garbage patch). But what’s your personal legacy to the future? Maybe your legacy is some bit of knowledge…

Could An Evil Mega-Corporation Ever Exist In Real Life?

Dystopian stories are full of evil corporations that rule the world. But writers seldom explain how they rose to power in the first place. Could an amoral mega-corp really exist? We talked to a couple experts to find out. The good news: It probably couldn’t happen. Bad news: We may already be getting something worse.…

Would Artificially Intelligent Androids Be Religious Fundamentalists?

James McGrath is a Christian theologian and science fiction fan. So, it was only a matter of time before he began contemplating how a truly self-aware robot would respond to human religious beliefs. Is artificial intelligence compatible with faith—and, if so, should we worry? In a paper titled “Robots, Rights and Religion,” McGrath explores questions…

Will Human Short-Sightedness Screw Up Our Next Technological Miracle?

Over at the the New York Times, Farhad Manjoo presents some great reasons to be optimistic about the future — 3-D printing, self-driving cars, modular construction and other technologies could finally transform our inefficient ways of living. But then he raises a good point: could human nature screw it all up? Top image: Self-driving car,…

The First Successful Demonstration Of Brain-To-Brain Communication In Humans

For the first time ever, neuroscientists have demonstrated the viability of direct — and completely non-invasive — brain-to-brain communication in humans. Remarkably, the experiment allowed subjects to exchange mentally-conjured words despite being 5,000 miles apart. It’s the neuroscientific equivalent of instant messaging. Two human subjects, one in India and one in France, successfully transmitted the…

Top Engineer and Futurist: Tomorrow’s Robots Might Mercy-Kill Mankind

Nell Watson is an engineer, a futurist, and the founder and CEO of Poikos. As such, she knows a lot about the machines we use today, and the ones we’re planning for tomorrow. And she’s worried that the artificial intelligence of the near-future might decide the most benevolent thing to for mankind is to destroy…

Do You Really Want To Live Forever?

The average human lifespan is increasing at a rate of around five hours a day. Meanwhile, “longevity startups” have become a thing. According to one aging expert, life extension is the biggest change confronting humanity in the 21st century. Are we prepared for this change? Do we even want it? https://gizmodo.com/a-world-map-of-average-life-expectancy-by-country-how-5964093 https://gizmodo.com/craig-venters-new-longevity-startup-will-make-100-the-1536833065 https://gizmodo.com/google-wants-you-to-live-forever-1349384338 Photo Credit:…

People in the U.S. Fear War More Than Economic Downturn

In a national survey, U.S. residents said that the biggest global threat to the country today will come from extremist militant groups or nations. But they nevertheless said that other big threats include pandemics and global climate change. This survey reflects a change from last year. War and violence are rated as a bigger threats…