Emerging Tech

Wind Turbines Can Act Like Big Magnets for Lightning

But the lightning doesn't strike when the turbines aren't rotating.

Emerging Tech

HHS Wants to Mine Social Media During Health Emergencies

A proposed tool could alert the agency when hospitals are being evacuated or when a disease has spread.

Modernization

Cost of Obamacare Contract Has at Least Quintupled

The cloud that supports HealthCare.gov has nearly doubled in cost since the days before the site’s troubled launch.

Emerging Tech

New York Might Be First to Regulate Bitcoin

State regulator still positive on the virtual currency but warns it won't be allowed to develop in a vacuum.

Emerging Tech

How Driverless Cars Could Save the Government Lots and Lots of Money

In an autonomous world, many long-delayed improvements will be rendered obsolete.

Digital Government

How Government Data Is Fueling a New Economy

Entrepreneurs tell us what’s working and what isn’t in the drive to open up government data.

Modernization

Bitcoin Could Become the Go-To Currency for Digital Tipping

Many Bitcoin users ranked gifts and donations as their most frequent transactions.

Modernization

Why Facebook Just Spent $19 Billion on a Messaging App

Facebook wants to dominate in the three areas WhatsApp excels in: apps, messaging, and usage in the developing world.

Emerging Tech

Coming Soon: Free Internet From Space

Outernet wants to use tiny satellites to take the whole world online—even in countries where dictators wish they wouldn’t.

Emerging Tech

DHS Wants Facial Recognition Border Surveillance System

The department is exploring technology that would use various biometric matching techniques to track the exit of foreign visitors.

Digital Government

DHS Taps Contractors to Continue Supplying Biometric IDs

Temporary move comes as department reevaluates $103 million award to HP for developing iris and facial recognition credentials.

Digital Government

U.S. Ranks 8th in Citizen Satisfaction With Digital Government

Nonetheless, online services for Americans are the most mature in the world, researchers say.

Modernization

Google Tells Glass Users Not to Be 'Creepy or Rude'

Google's new etiquette guidelines highlights the ongoing debate around privacy and their technology.

Emerging Tech

Social Media Makes the State Department Nimbler

Diplomats advised to 'never tweet anything you don’t want to see on the front page of the Washington Post.'

Emerging Tech

The Best Cameramen at the Olympics Are Drones

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles for sports photography is far from a passing gimmick.

Emerging Tech

The Dawn of the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Reasons to cheer the rise of the machines