The Future, This Week

This spiraling sculpture can absorb the emissions of 90,000 cars

Kengo Kuma just unveiled a spiraling, air-purifying sculpture that can absorb the emissions produced by 90,000 cars in a year. Kuma’s “Breath/ng” is …

What I learned working for Bill Gates and Steve Jobs

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.  — [Attributed to] Mark Twain.<p>Warning: I didn’t understand any of this as I was living through it. …

3 years later, who knows what the Apple Watch is for?

In 2007, Apple changed the act of socializing, maybe forever, with the release of the iPhone. There it was, a perfectly packed 4.5-inch-long computer …

China Plans to Bring Artificial Rain to Area Three Times the Size of Spain

Artificial rain is set to fall on mountainous plains three times the size of Spain. At least, that’s the plan for China’s latest weather manipulation …

Big data and artificial intelligence: how will the future traveller get to their destination in 2040?

In the next 20 years, travellers exploring the world will experience a whole different journey – one that will evolve in real-time, long before …

Pepper the Robot is working at the Smithsonian for free

SoftBank’s Pepper the humanoid robot has held a variety of odd jobs over the past few years, but a gig at the Smithsonian may be its most prestigious yet. Starting today, visitors can interact with Pepper at six Smithsonian locations to inquire more museum information, play games, or ask it to pose …

'I'm truly concerned': AEMO chief warns on rooftop solar

You can’t simply say [to those without solar], too bad for you because you have to pay for the entirety of the networks.<p>AEMO CEO Audrey …

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos explains his famous one-character emails, known to strike fear in manager's hearts

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has a notorious habit of sending his executives an email which has a single character: a question mark.<p>When the executive gets an email from Bezos that simply says "?" they know that Bezos is concerned about something because a customer complained, Bezos explained during an …

Automation will affect labor markets and economies around the world, and no one is really ready. But researchers say some countries are ahead of the rest.<p>No country is fully prepared for the impact of robots powered by artificial intelligence. But South Korea, Singapore and Germany are the most …

Wanted at Chinese Start-Ups: Attractive Women to Ease Coders’ Stress

BEIJING — China’s vibrant technology scene is searching for people like Shen Yue. Qualifications: Must be attractive, know how to charm socially awkward programmers and give relaxing massages.<p>Ms. Shen is a “programmer motivator,” as they are known in China. Part psychologist, part cheerleader, the …

With in-car delivery, Amazon tests whether customers will sacrifice privacy for convenience

At a time of heightened concern about user privacy, one of the world's biggest technology companies is seeking access to one of users' most private places: the trunks of their cars.<p>Amazon Inc. on Tuesday launched what it calls In-Car Delivery, which allows Amazon delivery drivers to open the trunks …

Tesla Model X: Driver in Gym Crash Claims Vehicle Accelerated on Its Own

A Tesla Model X drove through the wall of a vacant storefront before crashing through the side of an Anytime Fitness gym on Sunday in Lutz, Florida. …

Your Data Will be Your Company's Source Code

NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang recently spoke at the World Medical Innovation Forum (WMIF) in Boston to more than 1,000 worldwide leaders in industry and academia. Focusing on innovations at the intersection of AI and healthcare, Huang noted “a training data strategy is utterly vital…in the …

Map Reveals How the World Could Switch to Solar Using a Tiny Amount of Land

An all-renewables future is not as outlandish as it seems.<p>A solar-powered society is not as unreasonable as it may seem. While Tesla CEO Elon Musk …

Bitcoin is the greatest scam in history

It’s a colossal pump-and-dump scheme, the likes of which the world has never seen.<p><i>This is a contributed post by Bill Harris, former CEO of Intuit and founding CEO of PayPal and Personal Capital.</i><p>I’m tired of saying, “Be careful, it’s speculative.” Then, “Be careful, it’s gambling.” Then, “Be …

The Painful Cycle of Employee Loneliness, and How It Hurts Companies

Loneliness is a painful and pernicious emotion. Defined as “a complex set of feelings that occurs when intimate and social needs are not adequately met,” loneliness is different from depression, being alone, or feelings of solitude. It has more to do with a person’s <i>quality</i> of social relationships …

Finland's basic income trial falls flat

<b>The Finnish government has decided not to expand a limited trial in paying people a basic income, which has drawn much international interest.</b><p>Currently 2,000 unemployed Finns are receiving a flat monthly payment of €560 (£490; $685) as basic income.<p>"The eagerness of the government is evaporating. …

Alibaba, Baidu, and other Chinese tech companies post men-only job listings, report finds

Qualifications for the job: Must be a man<p>Silicon Valley isn’t the only tech hub guilty of widespread gender discrimination. Major Chinese tech companies like Huawei, Alibaba, and Tencent discriminate against women in their online job listings, a new report from Human Rights Watch found today. Some …

If Solar And Wind Are So Cheap, Why Are They Making Electricity So Expensive?

Over the last year, the media have published story after story after story about the declining price of solar panels and wind turbines.<p>People who read these stories are understandably left with the impression that the more solar and wind energy we produce, the lower electricity prices will …

Business moguls beaten in ‘bitcoin bubble’ debate

Two of bitcoin’s most prominent advocates took to the stage Saturday to debate why the No. 1 digital currency has a bright future and is here to stay.<p>…

Electric Buses Are Hurting the Oil Industry

Electric buses were seen as a joke at an industry conference in Belgium seven years ago when the Chinese manufacturer BYD Co. showed an early …

Let’s destroy Bitcoin - MIT Technology Review

In 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto served the world an entirely new kind of currency. It was one that people could move over the internet instantaneously and …

Why artificial intelligence might trigger a nuclear war

Well before Terminator robots rise and attack us, AI could help us destroy ourselves with nuclear weapons, warns a new study. <b><br>The news:</b> A RAND …

Public Servants Are Losing Their Foothold in the Middle Class

OKLAHOMA CITY — The anxiety and seething anger that followed the disappearance of middle-income jobs in factory towns has helped reshape the American political map and topple longstanding policies on tariffs and immigration.<p>But globalization and automation aren’t the only forces responsible for the …

Cryogenically Frozen Brains Will Be 'Woken up' and Transplanted in Donor Bodies Within Three Years, Neurosurgeon Claims

One World’s First After Another<p>Given the remarkable advances that have been made in medicine in recent years, it’s hard to believe anything is still …

Is It Time To Say Goodbye To Email?

Your email inbox might seem crowded, but consider this: There are more than 1 billion business email accounts around the world, with an estimated 100-plus billion work-related emails sent every day.<p>With such prevalent use, email is a ubiquitous part of office and work life. So why are so many …

Virtual robots that teach themselves kung fu could revolutionize video games - MIT Technology Review

In the not-so-distant future, characters might practice kung-fu kicks in a digital dojo before bringing their moves into the latest video game.<p>AI …

Spotify tests filter to block swearing in songs

<b>Spotify, the UK's biggest music streaming service, has started testing a way of filtering out songs which have explicit lyrics.</b><p>The feature has been introduced on its iPhone and iPad apps - six years after being requested on its online forums.<p>But some users have told BBC Radio 5 live: that the …

How babies learn – and why robots can’t compete

If we could understand how the infant mind develops, it might help every child reach their full potential. But seeing them as learning machines is not the answer. By Alex Beard<p>Deb Roy and Rupal Patel pulled into their driveway on a fine July day in 2005 with the beaming smiles and sleep-deprived …