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Most people agree that our technology is getting smarter, but most don’t realize just how smart.

To condemn the riots that rocked Belfast last Friday as “shameful”, as the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers has done, fails to address the two conflicting […]

Science fiction writer William Gibson famously stated on NPR’s Fresh Air back in 1993, “The future is already here, it’s just not very evenly distributed.” It’s a quote that in […]

Will increased connectivity create more good or more evil in the future? Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of the tech giant with the famous founding motto of “Don’t be evil,” is naturally concerned with this question.  

Ramez Naam looks at the power of innovation to overcome natural resource and environmental challenges.

Imagine that the president of the United States could legally order the preemptive killing of any American citizen he deemed a potential threat to the country. A Justice Department white […]

Philosopher David Edmonds lists the five books of philosophy that have figured most in his development as a moral thinker. Along the way, he explains when it may be OK to end a life. 

            The New York Times reports that an MIT statistics professor has found that flying on a commercial jet has never been safer. Not that it was ever that much […]

The US Army is requesting proposals for development of coatings and other substances that will absorb 99 percent of all light.

During this year’s Super Bowl, brands like Oreo and Tide didn’t just stick to their traditional pre-planned paid advertising routine—they tried something new.  Along with six others, they flexed their […]

In response to a growing number of visitors along with recent city ordinances restricting or eliminating on-street parking, some parking garage owners are turning to smartphone technology.

This weekend, I saw a story on AU’s Wall of Separation blog that was too funny not to share: According to the Jacksonville Daily News, members of the Baysden Chapel […]

The impending catastrophe has been fueled by a skewed, institutionally enclosed rationality that is widespread within the business community; the basic principle is that short-term power and wealth are more important than human survival.

A new documentary produced by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson details the plight of the West Memphis Three, three teenagers wrongly convicted and imprisoned for 18 years. 

More should be done towards creating a resource file to help medical professionals evaluate whether the average person can handle space travel, say the authors of a new paper.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 will include rules for how apps and social networks gather and use personal data from young users.

Is denial of climate change a fringe belief, like thinking the moon landing was fake? Or is it just one current of thought in our society, which deserves respectful engagement, […]

Here’s what happened: “Gareth Jones, a well-regarded bioethicist at the University of Otago Bioethics Centre, published a piece in the New Zealand Medical Journal …The article… defends prenatal screening for […]

Laptops. iPads (or other tablet devices). Chromebooks. Maybe even netbooks or ultrabooks… As more schools and districts move toward 1:1 computing, one of the most common questions is ‘What device […]

By giving commuters small devices that measure the quality of air on their way to and from work, researchers hope they can create a network that more accurately measures the health effects of pollution. 

Back in August I wrote a post covering a rash of reports on the worrying rise of bad science in TED talks. A couple of months later TED pulled the following […]

Most companies begin with a flash of foresight that leads to an innovation. They come out with a new product or service that satisfies an unmet need, or better yet, […]

This month, proceeds from the purchase of any of three branded items displayed within the popular social game FarmVille 2 will go to the nonprofit organization Water.org.

Did you see Life of Pi or Cloud Atlas?  How about Prometheus or Avatar? Have you picked up a bestseller by Deepak Chopra or Eckhart Tolle? Do you ever leaf […]

A few weeks ago, I was in line at the grocery store and overheard the following exchange. “The cop gave her a ticket for texting and driving.  She wasn’t speeding […]

Almost a year ago I posted a blog post titled ‘A Yale Professor’s One Man Rampage Against PloS, the Internet and a Belgian Research Group‘, covering the case of a […]

The Supreme Court could make history with its rulings on the legality of both California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage and the federal Defense of Marriage Act. 

Now that more kids have cellphones at younger ages, teachers and administrators are looking for ways in which they can be used to benefit everyone

Like X-rays, terahertz frequencies see through items, but most machines that use them are large and costly. Two engineers have found a way to shrink the technology onto a chip.

As architects understand more about the brain, they may be able to design space that facilitates learning and growth, perhaps even space that helps treat neurological diseases.