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Innovation / Technology

When Robots Take Our Jobs, Should Everyone Still Get a Paycheck?

A concept called universal basic income is gaining traction as a way to help people deal with machines taking over the job market

Pneumatics allow the material to change shape.

A New Material Could Make Medical Devices That Expand and Collapse

Harvard researchers develop a new origami-inspired material that changes shape

Journey to the Center of Earth

What Are You Flying Over? This App Will Tell You

Flyover Country uses maps and geology databases to identify features of the landscape as a plane flies over them, no Wifi necessary

Future of Energy

This Solar Cell Can Float on a Bubble

MIT scientists have created the world’s lightest solar cell, thin enough to be used on paper or clothing

This Morphing Mannequin Could Transform the Fashion Industry

Created by Hong Kong professor Allan Chan, iDummy can be programmed with any measurements

Vans like this could help fill one of the big gaps in public transportation.

Is Bridj the Next Phase in How People Will Get Around Cities?

A project in Kansas City will see if a ride-hailing service can work with a government agency to help bring public transportation into the 21st century

Watch What These Soft Robots Can Do

Scientists are making bendy robots that can squeeze into small spaces and grip objects of any shape

Steve Wozniak’s Apple I Booted Up a Tech Revolution

With only a circuit board, keyboard and tiny, blurry monitor, the circa 1975 computer looks crude by today’s standards

MIT’s moisture-sensitive sportswear might one day be genetically modified to glow in the dark.

The First Truly Breathable Fabric Contains Living Bacteria

Microbiology meshes with fashion to create a new kind of cool

Virtual reality headsets at the 2015 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam allow visitors to view digital reconstructions of artifacts destroyed by ISIS.

The Heroic Effort to Digitally Reconstruct Lost Monuments

Scholars create a virtual archive of antiquities destroyed by extremists in Syria and Iraq

Texting is blamed for ruining personal discourse and common courtesy.

Texting Isn’t the First New Technology Thought to Impair Social Skills

When Alexander Graham Bell introduced the telephone, skeptics worried about how it might affect people’s interactions

When Work Becomes a Game

Across corporate America, applying the principles of games to the non-game setting of the workplace is a growing phenomenon

Future of Energy

Five Tech Innovations That Can Keep Your Car From Burning So Much Gas

Yes, gas is cheap, but car makers are still facing ambitious goals to make vehicles way more fuel efficient

New Software Can Actually Edit Actors’ Facial Expressions

FaceDirector can seamlessly blend several takes to create nuanced blends of emotions, potentially cutting down on the number of takes necessary in filming

Levi's Stadium

360-Degree Cameras and Other Cool New Tech for Super Bowl 50

This year’s game, held at San Francisco’s Levi’s Stadium, should be the most high-tech Super Bowl ever

White rhinos graze in Nakuru National Park, Kenya.

Future of Conservation

Five Ways to Fight Wildlife Crime in the Digital Age

From GPS-tagged eggs to smartphone apps, these emerging technologies could help give endangered species a chance at survival

Google’s New AI Can Beat Human Champions at the Game of Go

Google appears to have won the long race to develop a Go-winning artificial intelligence, considered a major step towards more human-like AIs

The transporter in this artwork is called the Clarke Clipper, after the British science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote about space elevators in his novel The Fountains of Paradise.

People Are Still Trying to Build a Space Elevator

Though key players have distanced themselves from the concept, a new film examines the continuing draw behind the sci-fi staple

A Detachable Airplane Cabin and Other Strange Aviation Ideas

A recently unveiled concept for a removable, parachute-equipped airplane cabin is only the latest in a long line of far-out designs

Three F-14 Tomcats fly in a tight formation over the Red Sea during Operation Desert Storm. The F-14s primary function was to intercept multiple airborne threats in all weather conditions and at night.

Operation Desert Storm Was Not Won By Smart Weaponry Alone

Despite the “science fiction”-like technology deployed, 90 percent of ammunitions used in Desert Storm were actually “dumb weapons”

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