Author Archive
Digital Government
The History of Women in Science Is Hidden in Plain Sight
By searching through footnotes, researchers found female programmers who made important but unrecognized contributions to genetics.
Artificial Intelligence
A Game-Changing AI Tool for Tracking Animal Movements
Scientists are already using it to study octopuses, electric fish, surgical robots, and racehorses.
Digital Government
Ebola Returns Just as the White House Loses Its Top Biodefense Expert
The highly respected Tim Ziemer left the National Security Council earlier this week. Here’s who will be taking over his duties.
Emerging Tech
What Bill Gates Fears Most
The threat of a flu pandemic clouds even his legendary optimism, so he's launching an initiative to prevent one.
Digital Government
Trump’s Pick for CDC Director Is Experienced But Controversial
On the face of it, veteran virologist Robert Redfield seems like a good pick to lead the agency, but decades-old disputes are shadowing his appointment.
Digital Government
The CDC Is About to Fall Off a Funding Cliff
It's already planning to pull back on work that protects the world from pandemics.
Artificial Intelligence
A Popular Algorithm Is No Better at Predicting Crimes Than Random People
The COMPAS tool is widely used to assess a defendant’s risk of committing more crimes, but a new study puts its usefulness into perspective.
Emerging Tech
A New Kind of Soft Battery, Inspired by the Electric Eel
The animals inspired the design of the very first battery. Two centuries later, they're at it again.
Emerging Tech
Octopus-Inspired Material Can Change Its Texture
The U.S. Army is funding the creation of shape-shifting sheets that mimic the abilities of the ocean’s masters of camouflage.
Cybersecurity
These Scientists Took Over a Computer by Encoding Malware in DNA
There’s no immediate threat, but as sequencing becomes more commonplace, researchers face security risks.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence: The Park Rangers of the Anthropocene
We worry about machines going rogue. What if they went green instead?
Featured eBooks
Digital Government
This Speck of DNA Contains a Movie, a Computer Virus, and an Amazon Gift Card
Meet the storage format that never goes obsolete.
Emerging Tech
A Wall-Crawling Roomba That Teaches Kids to Code
Harvard roboticists have created a robot that will gradually introduce children to programming skills by blending them with art.
Digital Government
A Google Maps for the Human Body
A group of scientists has taken the first important steps towards creating the Human Cell Atlas—a complete inventory of our staggeringly diverse cells.
Digital Government
Future Smartphones Will Tell You What’s Killing Your Plants
By amassing a huge library of leaf images, scientist are training computers to diagnose the diseases that threaten our food supply.
Digital Government
Brain Prosthetic Allows Paralyzed Man to Move His Hand Again
The system decodes his brain activity and uses it to control his arm muscles, bypassing his injured spine.
Digital Government