College dropout says he’s cracked the crucial component for self-driving cars
When I met him in San Francisco this week, 22-year-old Austin Russell couldn’t help but smile when I mentioned the acrimonious legal battle between Uber and Alphabet’s self-driving car unit, Waymo. Waymo says a top engineer took secret plans for lidar sensors, which map the world in 3-D using Read More...
This Argentinian artist is building a "pantheon of banned books" in Germany
Ever since the printing-press was invented, different regimes have tried to censor books they found controversial. In fact, Argentinian artist Marta Minujín worked with researchers from the University of Kassel to identify over 72,000 forbidden titles going back to the early 1500s. As a massive Read More...
Study: Having a pet in the house can boost a child's immune system
Having a dog in your home is known to boost mental health, but did you know it can improve physical health as well? According to new research, children born into homes with pets have higher levels of gut microbes that protect against allergies and obesity. Researchers say the indirect exposure to Read More...
Technology for sustainability: Meet Tarzan, the machine inspecting crops
If farmers can spot diseases in their crops sooner, they can avoid using chemicals that are unhealthy for people and planet. Technology can help them. At Georgia Tech, a team of researchers has designed a machine that will be able to use its 3D printed claws to grab onto a wire suspended over the Read More...
Glowing bacteria could help in landmine cleanup efforts
Every year a few thousand people die while clearing leftover landmines from war zones. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have found a special type of bacteria that illuminates when in the presence of explosive vapors seeping from the landmines. By placing the glowing bacteria into Read More...
3 tips to help you become an early riser
Research shows that early risers enjoy better health, greater productivity, and get more sleep than those who wake up later in the day. With all these benefits, getting up early seems like the logical thing to do. The only problem is the actual process of waking up can feel dreadful in the morning. Read More...
4 lessons from the longest-running study on happiness
Have you ever wished you could fast-forward your life so you could see if the decisions you’re making will lead to satisfaction and health in the future? In the world of scientific research, the closest you can get to that is by looking at the Harvard Study of Adult Development — a Read More...
The cows of America have a renewable energy message for you
The Trump Administration has been tooting the domestic energy production horn, so it stands to reason they would enthuse over the latest development from the US Department of Energy. Scientists at the agency’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have discovered a new secret to tapping the Read More...
Ants mastered sustainable agriculture 30 million years ago
Ants cultivated designer crops in controlled environments millions of years before humans figured out how to push seeds into the ground to grow food, scientists reported in a study Wednesday. It has long been known that dozens of ants species tend and harvest fungi in subterranean farms, mostly to Read More...
Tech alone won’t be enough to reboot progressive politics
Ravi Gupta is standing with both hands resting on the lip of a lucite podium. Some 600 audience members, including his mother, are staring intently back at him. Few of them have ever worked in politics before, but they’re all here to hear the former Obama administration staffer tell them how they Read More...