MIT Technology Review

VR can be the basis of a new communications industry if the technology becomes less insular and isolating.

A startup called Darwin Life says it will use a controversial fertility technique to help forty-somethings get pregnant for $100,000.

A startup called Darwin Life says it will use a controversial fertility technique to help forty-somethings get pregnant for $100,000.

Courts, banks, and other institutions are using automated data analysis systems to make decisions about your life. Let’s not leave it up to the algorithm makers to decide whether they’re doing it appropriately.

A community of San Diego retirees is using the personal-assistant gadget to listen to audiobooks, keep current with family news, and control home appliances.

In an exclusive interview, the CEO of Apple talks about artificial intelligence in iPhones and why he doesn’t want to talk about the future.

In Rwanda, an early commercial test of unmanned aerial vehicles cuts a medical facility’s time to procure blood from four hours to 15 minutes.

The White House’s deep proposed cuts to energy R&D could cede leadership to China, and derail the international Mission Innovation partnership.

Loxo Oncology is developing a so-called “tumor agnostic” drug that requires expensive genetic testing often not covered by insurance.

Seventy percent of cancers caught early are curable. Can a blood test find them?

Verizon has devised a system of cameras, sensors, and algorithms that can track the number of times cars fail to yield to bicyclists and pedestrians at a particular intersection.

A pending cap-and-trade bill would earmark hundreds of millions of dollars for clean energy research, as the White House takes aim at federal funding.

The genetic testing company wants customers to do an experiment to help uncover genetic links to pain.

New ideas in chip design look likely to keep software getting smarter.

Mycroft’s voice-enabled assistant is embodied in the startup’s friendly looking Mark 1 gadget, but you can build it into all kinds of devices.

An industry outsider will help Ford navigate an altered car industry and compete with the likes of Google and Uber.

A dexterous multi-fingered robot practiced using virtual objects in a simulated world, showing how machine learning and the cloud could revolutionize manual work.

Todd Holmdahl says that starting from behind won’t keep Microsoft from winning the race to commercialize quantum computing.

Making machines inquisitive could improve their ability to perform important complex tasks.

Tech companies think biology may solve a looming data storage problem.

Tech companies think biology may solve a looming data storage problem.

Elite players of the strategy game reveal how they would fight high-level AI bots created by DeepMind, Facebook, and other tech companies.

Our electric supply is increasingly vulnerable to cyberattack, and new technologies aim to sound the alarm earlier.

The administration wants to weaken the “social cost of carbon” as it looks to overhaul Obama’s climate regulations.

Startup Spirit AI says it has a solution to the growing problem of harassment in online games: a sensitive bot.

Behind one woman’s decision to pursue a medical career at a San Francisco Internet startup.

Training software to accurately sum up information in documents could have great impact in many fields, such as medicine, law, and scientific research.

Banks and investors have sunk millions into the idea that blockchain programs called smart contracts can make finance and other industries more efficient.

Chip maker Nvidia leads the race to power the machine-learning gold rush, but competition is coming from tech giants and startups.

Zeynep Tufekci’s new book shows how social networks have empowered mass protests—but also made them more fragile.

Chinese researchers have developed an algorithm that could help make lung cancer diagnosis less error-prone.

China’s BYD has huge market share and the backing of Warren Buffett, but a recent drop in government subsidies is hurting sales of its electric cars.

Big-name advertisers have begun to question whether they’ve placed too much faith—and money—in targeted advertising.

UC Davis plant geneticist Pamela Ronald wants to create rice varieties that can survive in harsher conditions, including more frequent droughts.

Deep Genomics aims to develop drugs by using deep learning to find patterns in genomic and medical data.

GlaxoSmithKline says it has treated a child with Strimvelis, its gene therapy for immune deficiency.

Robots are still learning to walk. Here’s one that runs on two legs.

Startup OtoSense makes software that can listen for sirens or engine trouble.

A documentary about the superhuman Go program created by Google DeepMind shows us what it’s like to be superseded by artificial intelligence.

New algorithms are able to diagnose disease as accurately as expert physicians.

The accelerator’s new Startup School offers a virtual way into the startup scene even if you’re not based in the Bay Area.

Desktop Metal thinks its machines will give designers and manufacturers a practical and affordable way to print metalparts.

Why do most patients fail to respond to the newest cures?

The technology has been touted as a powerful diagnostic tool, but it doesn’t provide answers to everyone.

As bleaching devastates the critical ecosystem for a second year in a row, marine scientists are getting desperate.

An expert who is studying Bitcoin and blockchain technologies says those looking to commercialize them need to be aware of potentially dangerous technical issues.

Blockchains are being used to trace blood diamonds, verify health records, and secure supply chains.

As climate change accelerates, a handful of scientists are eager to move ahead with experiments testing ways to counteract warming artificially. Their reasoning: we just might get desperate enough to use this technology one day.

Using smartphone data and artificial intelligence to track and interpret behavior, a Chicago startup is attempting something extraordinary: predicting and preventing relapse into drug use.

Some scientists are thinking about what human space travelers will look like in the future. They might be extra-small and radiation-proof.