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Innovation / Technology

Will digital assistants replace both Google searches and mobile apps?

How Machines Are Getting Better at Making Conversation

Digital assistants are developing personalities, with some help from poets and writers

The Innovative Spirit fy17

How Computer Scientists Are Using Twitter to Predict Gentrification

Cambridge researchers have created a way to predict a neighborhood’s fortunes in coming years by analyzing social media data

Smart Startup

Hosting an Event? Don’t Toss Leftover Food, Donate It

With an Uber-like app, Transfernation is reducing food waste while feeding those in need

Future is Here festival attendees heard from visionaries in a wide range of fields.

Future Is Here Festival

How to Make Science Fiction Become Fact, in Three Steps

Speakers at Smithsonian magazine’s “Future is Here” festival said be patient, persistent, but never, ever pessimistic

ArcAttack's lightning guitarist wears a protective Faraday suit.

Future Is Here Festival

When Electricity and Music Collide, the Tesla Coils Sing

The band ArcAttack delivers a high-voltage performance with a side of science education

Jekan Thanga (right) and students holding FemtoSats

The Innovative Spirit fy17

These Tiny Satellites Can Be Launched Into Space for as Little as $1,000

Researchers at Arizona State University may be paving the way for consumer satellite flight

For Those Clutching Pearls Over Buzzfeed: A History of Newspapers Reveals That It’s Always Been This Way

From user-generated content to political screeds, the future of news happens to look a lot like the past

Some molecular motors in this “biocomputer” are made in the lab but copy those found in brains.

Can Proteins From Living Cells Solve Problems That Vex Supercomputers?

When nature knows best

Sam Bousfield, pictured here in a mock-up of the Switchblade, worked with Boeing engineers refining wind-tunnel construction before launching Samson Motorworks.

The Future of Cars Is Already Here

Even before the “Jetsons,” people dreamed of flying cars. Now breakthroughs in technology are helping all kinds of vehicles get off the ground

Future Is Here Festival

Tech Visionary Nicholas Negroponte Talks About the Future of Education

The act of writing a computer program, says the founder of MIT’s Media Lab, allows a child to learn about learning

Andy Weir

Future Is Here Festival

Andy Weir, Author of “The Martian,” Shares Details About His Next Novel

The science fiction writer also talks about the future of space travel

Adriaen van de Venne engraved this early depiction of a Dutch telescope. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

10 Bizarre, Vision-Enhancing Technologies From the Last 1,000 Years

Before Oculus Rift, there were lorgnettes, TV glasses and eyborgs

A spectrometer can determine the nutritional value and caloric content of single piece of fruit.

You May Soon Be Able to Scan a Piece of Fruit to Check Its Nutritional Value

That’s one of the ideas Target is testing as it explores how much of a competitive edge it gets from being transparent about food

A mini-module, called a BEAM, is slated to be attached to the International Space Station in late May. There, it will undergo testing.

This Expandable Structure Could Become the Future of Living in Space

A Nevada real estate magnate has poured $290 million into a wild dream of being a landlord in outer space. His first tenant: NASA

Cemeteries of the Future

Do you want to be buried in a coral reef, a skyscraper or on an artificial island?

Halo says its headphones can strengthen muscle memory.

Can Headphones That Shock Your Brain Help You Run Faster and Jump Higher?

They’re called Halo Sport, and they send electrical charges into the brain that their inventors say can boost athletic performance

These Light-Up Fishing Nets Could Save Sea Turtles

New research shows attaching LED lights to fishing nets can keep turtles from becoming accidentally entangled

The fake egg looks and feels the same as a real vulture egg.

Scientists Are Using Electronic Eggs to Study Vultures

A sensor-packed egg, developed by a team at Microduino, could lead to clues about the birds’ livelihood

Six of the Wildest Skyscrapers Imaginable

The winners of the annual skyscraper design competition think way beyond the “tall rectangle with windows” model

Neurospora crassa, or red bread mold

Future of Energy

Could Mold Power the Batteries of the Future?

Researchers have discovered how to use a fungus to create materials that could be used to make more sustainable lithium-ion batteries

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