Microsoft Reportedly Wants to Use DNA for Cloud Data Storage
In the not-so-distant future, next time you want to back up your work to Microsoft’s cloud, you might be storing it on a few snippets of DNA.
The Survivors of the Coming Apocalypse Just Wanna Have Fun
“I used to be into guns, but that’s not a realistic plan,” says Michael Robertson, 69, of Utah. “How many men do you need to guard a place 24 hours a day? Twenty?”
What Happened to the Amazing HoloLens Future We Were Promised?
Microsoft overhauled its fading corporate image nearly three years ago with that announcement of a powerful new operating system, Windows 10. The most surprising facet of this rebranding effort was a promising augmented reality headset, HoloLens, shown off at a press conference in January 2015. When it debuted,…
The Body Is Not a Computer—Stop Thinking of It as One
When former DARPA chief Regina Dugan announced on stage last month that Facebook planned to build a brain computer interface to allow users to send their thoughts directly to the social network without a keyboard intermediary, it had all the Silicon Valley swagger of Facebook circa “move fast and break things.” With…
How Smart Watches Might Actually Improve Your Health
If you sacrifice style to strap a clunky Apple Watch or Fitbit to your wrist, one of the tradeoffs is supposedly the ability to better monitor your health. But so far, the health benefits of tracking your step count or heart rate are mostly unproven. In fact, some research has suggested the benefits are actually nil.
President Donald Trump: 'What Is Digital?'
The president’s confusing, concerning, and ultimately crazy week continued on Thursday with a prickly Time cover package. It contained an unnerving interview between the magazine’s White House correspondent and Donald Trump. Based on his answers, the president really, really doesn’t understand modern technology, and…
Robots Have Started Teaching Other Robots New Skills
In an important advance that takes us one step closer to the inevitable robopocalypse, MIT researchers have developed a system that teaches robots how to acquire new skills—and then teach those skills to different types of robots.
A Graphene Speaker With No Moving Parts Uses Heat to Produce Sound
The traditional speaker design involves the use of a vibrating membrane that pushes air to create sound waves that travel to your ears. The technology has been in use for well over a century, but scientists at the University of Exeter might have found a way to improve how speakers work—eliminating movement…
Self-Driving Cars Feel Like Death Traps–Can We Be Convinced Otherwise?
Since we’re all friends here on the internet, I’ll let you in on a little secret: I hate driving. I drive too slowly, lurch violently when I change lanes, and the thought of having to merge onto a speeding California highway makes my heart speed up a little even as I write this. I’m no good at driving and never have…
130 Million at Risk of Fraud After Massive Leak of Indian Biometric System Data
A series of potentially calamitous leaks in India leave as many as 130 million people at risk of fraud or worse after caches of biometric and other personal data became accessible online. That’s according to a new report from the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), which details breaches at four…
This Artificially Intelligent Speech Generator Can Fake Anyone’s Voice
The human voice, with all its subtlety and nuance, is proving to be an exceptionally difficult thing for computers to emulate. Using a powerful new algorithm, a Montreal-based AI startup has developed a voice generator that can mimic virtually any person’s voice, and even add an emotional punch when necessary. The…
I Just Strapped a Windows Computer to My Face for the First Time
The future of Windows computers could soon be worn on your face. Today, at a special media event in New York City, we got our hands on the first Windows 10 “mixed reality headset” from Acer. The device is only a developer kit for now, but it’s expected to be commercially available by the holiday season this year.
How Is it Possible to Screw Up a Sonos Clone This Badly
I have this vision of waking up in the morning, and pressing a button that plays music everywhere in my house. Sonos was the original pioneer that built a speaker system to get this multiroom job done, and it remains the best option for a number of reasons: The $200 starting price point is reasonable, the system…
People Are Reprogramming the Galaxy S8's Bixby Button Because It's Currently Pointless
The Samsung Galaxy S8 is one of the prettiest phones you can buy right now, but it launched as a somewhat incomplete product. Bixby, the phone’s new digital assistant, doesn’t yet have one if its key features—voice recognition. This shortcoming wouldn’t be so obvious if only Samsung hadn’t included a new button on the…
Uber's Investigation Into Sexual Harassment Is Off to a Really Bad Start
It looks like Uber’s toxic work culture is so awful, it’s going to take even longer for the company to fully investigate it. According to a new Recode report, Uber just extended its internal investigation into sexual harassment claims at the company. The internal report is now expected by the end of May.
New Research Shows Electric Brain Stimulation Can Help Memory
Zapping the brain with small bursts of electricity in hopes of improving memory isn’t a brand new concept, however a new study shows that the experimental therapy could be more effective than previous studies indicated. A team of neuroscientist from the University of Pennsylvania are the first to successfully…
Facebook Literally Wants to Read Your Thoughts
At Facebook’s annual developer conference, F8, on Wednesday, the group unveiled what may be Facebook’s most ambitious—and creepiest—proposal yet. Facebook wants to build its own “brain-to-computer interface” that would allow us to send thoughts straight to a computer.
French Presidential Candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon's 'Hologram' Is Not Actually a Hologram
French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon is pulling out all the stops in the final days of the campaign season, beaming a holographic image of his far-left message to six cities across the country. There’s only one problem with Melenchon’s incredible technological feat: It’s not actually a hologram.
Photoshop Contest: Bernie Sanders Emerges From a Pint of Ben & Jerry's
When it comes to a cool, refreshing pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, we all know Bernie would have one.
The World's Most Infamous Computer Viruses, Transformed Into Cyberpunk Heroes
Getting hit with a computer virus sucks. But if the process actually resembled one of these amazing designs from artist Ace Volkov slinking its way through your hardware in a mashup between Tron and Neuromancer, it’d probably be slightly less infuriating. It’d also look cool as hell.
