Forecasts of the impact of artificial intelligence range from the apocalyptic to the utopian. An October 2025 report from Senate Democrats, for example, predicted AI will destroy millions of US jobs.

CRISPR is a breakthrough technology with humble origins. Scientists first discovered the powerful gene editor in bacteria that were using it as a weapon against invading viruses called phages. Phages ...

Nuclear power’s role in combating climate change is a contentious topic, but a Silicon Valley entrepreneur thinks he can sway the debate by releasing open-source designs for a small-scale reactor that ...

Gene editing is a numbers game. For any genetic tweaks to have notable impact, a sufficient number of targeted cells need to have the disease-causing gene deleted or replaced. Despite a growing ...

It’s easy to take safe drinking water for granted. In most developed countries, access to safe water takes a simple flip of a kitchen tap or a run to the grocery store. But over two billion people ...

A couple months ago, friends and business contacts started asking me for a crash course on my professional research studying virtual environments. Their interest reflects an explosion—which you’ve ...

The price tag is orders of magnitude cheaper than most robots in its class, which can run into tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now China’s Unitree Robotics, best known for its nimble ...

I give a lot of talks to successful, strategically-minded business people who can see around corners in their own industries, yet they struggle to grasp what exponential improvement really means. And ...

The robots, each the size of a single cell, casually turn circles in a bath of water. Suddenly, their sensors detect a change: Parts of the bath are heating up. The microrobots halt their twirls and ...

It sounds like science fiction, but the system could help people with brain or spinal cord injuries regain lost abilities. In 2020, Keith Thomas dived into a pool and snapped his spine. The accident ...

When Jeanne Calment died at the age of 122, her longevity had researchers scratching their heads. Although physically active for most of her life, she was also a regular smoker and enjoyed ...

Time feels like the most basic feature of reality. Seconds tick, days pass, and everything from planetary motion to human memory seems to unfold along a single, irreversible direction. We are born and ...