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Innovation / Technology

A professor teaches an online class with students from around the world.

Will Traditional Colleges and Universities Become Obsolete?

Artificial intelligence and automation are bringing changes to higher education that will challenge, and may even threaten, in-person learning

The inventor at rest, with a Tesla coil (thanks to a double exposure).

The Extraordinary Life of Nikola Tesla

The eccentric inventor and modern Prometheus died 75 years ago, after a rags-to-riches to rags life

Armenia

How Augmented Reality Is Helping Raise Awareness About One of Armenia’s Most Endangered Species

Nine Innovators to Watch in 2018

Meet a group of trailblazers in medicine, education, art, transportation, artificial intelligence and more

Travelers walk in the departure hall of Hong Kong International Airport.

The Rise of Indoor Navigation

You may never get lost in a mall again with these new technologies, designed to help you navigate inside places traditional GPS-based mapping apps can’t

Shan Dou (from left), Jonathan Ajo-Franklin, and Nate Lindsey were on a Berkeley Lab team that, in collaboration with researchers from Stanford, used fiber optic cables for detecting earthquakes and other subsurface activity.

Could Fiber Optics Detect Earthquakes?

By monitoring every grumble, shiver and burp our planet makes, researchers hope to be more prepared to take action when things go awry

The FCC ruled against U.S. consumer protections online.

How Other Countries Deal With Net Neutrality

As the U.S. weakens its protections for internet users, it risks falling behind the rest of the world

BB-8 is an “astromech droid” who first appeared in The Force Awakens.

What the Robots of Star Wars Tell Us About the Future of Human Work

The films’ much-loved robots exist mostly to assist rather than replace humans—and like us, they are prone to errors

Pleito cave site

Virtual Reality Is Allowing Us To See Some of the World’s Most Inaccessible Archaeological Sites

A Native American tribe in California got a chance to reconnect with its past through virtual reality models of sacred sites

The AOL Instant Messenger icon became so well known it was made into a plush toy.

AOL Instant Messenger Taught Us How To Communicate in the Modern World

As AIM sunsets, let’s reflect on its role in preparing people for today’s digital messaging methods

Amazon may be coming to a garden near you.

Amazon Now Has a Patent For a “Garden Service”

The massive online retailer might recommend recipes and tools based on pictures of your plot

Hurricane Maria, September 2017

Turning Hurricane Data Into Music

Can listening to storms help us understand them better? A meteorologist and a music technologist think so

With a low cost attachment, Joshua Broder can upgrade a 2D ultrasound machine to 3D.

How a Wii Handset Inspired a Low-Cost 3D Ultrasound

After playing games with his son, a Duke physician invented a medical tool that could put ultrasound imaging in the hands of more doctors

What is that sound?

This App Can Diagnose Your Car Trouble

MIT engineers have developed an app that uses smartphone sensors to determine why your car’s making that funny noise

One proposed feature is a system where trash would be separated and removed through underground tunnels.

Five Questions You Should Have About Google’s Plan to Reinvent Cities

A waterfront neighborhood in Toronto will be a test bed for technological innovations. It also raises concerns about privacy.

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