Hard Tech

Clean Energy

3D-printed “superalloy” could make power plants more efficient

The material is both stronger and lighter than those used to make conventional turbines.

Sam Jarman

a flat, clear piece of rubber in a spiral shape with thin wires running through it

Brain

This soft brain implant unfurls its arms under the skull

A soft brain implant that unfurls under the skull could make implantation surgeries less costly and risky.

Kristin Houser

a closeup of a tiny LED in the middle of a microchip

Computer Science

MIT breakthrough creates world’s smallest holographic microscope

The world’s smallest holographic microscope foreshadows a future in which smartphones could be used for high-res microscopy.

Kristin Houser

Can humans figure out how deep learning AI thinks?

Deep learning AI is becoming more complex, capable, and impenetrable, but these scientists are attempting to break the black box.

B. David Zarley

Hacking

Ethical hacking challenge: Can you take over a military satellite?

The U.S. Air Force is hosting Hack-A-Sat, an ethical hacking competition challenging participants to find security vulnerabilities in satellite systems.

Kristin Houser

Big Tech

Fighting child exploitation with big data

6:29

In partnership with Palantir

Last year, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received 18 million reports of images and videos depicting child sexual abuse. Now, they’re using a new technology to confront this issue with the force necessary to eradicate it.

Doug Dais

Oceans

Underwater drone finds wreckage of the “unsinkable” USS Nevada

More than 70 years after the U.S. military deliberately sank the “unsinkable” USS Nevada, researchers have located its final resting spot.

Kristin Houser

Hacking

Society runs on GPS. What happens when it gets hacked?

GPS runs more than you’d think. It’s also more vulnerable than you’d think. The old-school radionavigation system Loran could save GPS from catastrophe.

Teresa Carey

Series| Dope Science

Are social media giants censoring life saving drug research?

5:30

The first casualty of war is truth, and that applies to the war on drugs. Some are fighting back with harm reduction and drug education, yet they’re facing opposition from an unexpected source.

Doug Dais

Biology

Bioengineered blood soaks up toxins inside the body

Tiny sponges that look and act like red blood cells remove toxins from the body.

Teresa Carey

New VR system uses strings to provide haptic feedback

Wireality is a new device that provides haptic feedback for someone using a VR system by pulling on their fingers and wrist with a series of strings.

Kristin Houser

Transportation

First autonomous air taxi terminal to open in 2020

Chinese autonomous aerial vehicle company EHang plans to build the world’s first air taxi terminal in Hezhou, China, before the end of 2020.

Kristin Houser

Robotics

Can a robot really freestyle?

7:08

Engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have designed the first robot capable of not only playing music, but creating it.

Doug Dais

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