Emerging Tech

Analysis: Is Online Transparency Just a Feel-Good Sham?

Programs claim to let Americans participate more directly in government, with few tangible results, critics say.

Emerging Tech

The Crowd May Have Answers, but Agencies Must Define the Problem

Effective crowdsourcing requires a lot of upfront work, according to a new think tank report.

Emerging Tech

Which Panels Will Make It to South by Southwest?

Digital divides and the crowdsourcing of things make my list for next year's conference.

Emerging Tech

Good News! The UFO Just Spotted From the Space Station Was Not Really a UFO

... But also, imagine being an astronaut and waking to find a mystery object outside your window.

Emerging Tech

The Next Solar Manufacturing Boom Will Be in the Middle East

Here's more proof that the center of the solar-power universe is shifting.

Digital Government

Pentagon Weighs Enlarging Nuclear Surveillance Program

An upgraded monitoring system would fine tune algorithms and enhance data analysis to better detect foreign nuclear activity.

Digital Government

The Spat Between Microsoft and Google Is Getting Ugly

Both tech companies have been engaged in a series of battles using negative PR.

Digital Government

Is Lab-Grown Meat Good for Us?

No saturated fat, no heme iron, no growth hormone—cultured meat seems to have many potential benefits.

Emerging Tech

Why US Power Companies Don’t Want You Putting a Solar Panel on Your Roof

Electrical utilities believe solar panel distributors could put them out of business.

Emerging Tech

3D Scanners Are Getting Cheap so Fast, the Age of 3D Piracy Could Soon Be Upon Us

MakerBot, the leading maker of desktop 3D printers, is launching its own 3D scanner.

Emerging Tech

NASA's Planet-Hunting Telescope Will Never Hunt Planets Again

The space agency has given up on repair attempts to the Kepler Telescope.

Cybersecurity

What Does It Really Matter If Companies Are Tracking Us Online?

A scholar argues that the real issue is protecting consumers from corporations that are developing ever more sophisticated techniques for getting people to part with their money.

Digital Government

How Drones Fundamentally Alter the Nature of Combat

The weapons, like all significant advances in warfare, are essentially unfair.

Emerging Tech

Google Is Preparing for Screenless Computers

The tech giant is moving rapidly to enable voice commands in all of its products.

Emerging Tech

The White House Didn't Promise to Respond Quickly

Website listing unanswered We the People petitions is built with streaming data supplied by the White House.

Digital Government

State Department May Give Embassy Drone Surveillance Another Shot

Officials cancelled an earlier bid for the aircraft, but they've scaled back requirements in a new notice to contractors.