MIT Technology Review

We can now efficiently split water to make hydrogen, but a practical way to make fuels via artificial photosynthesis remains an elusive goal.

Jean Liu explains how her ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing is besting Uber in China and why data is its biggest asset.

Even amid the venture capital boom of the past few years, entrepreneurs are finding it harder to build big, enduring companies. What does this mean for the future of innovation?

The executive chairman of Cisco has become a Silicon Valley statesman, whether he’s promoting the expansion of digital networks or calling for limits on government surveillance.

Schemes for giving everyone a guaranteed income are gaining momentum in Silicon Valley and throughout Western Europe. It’s a great idea, until you look closely.

Spark Therapeutics is turning gene-therapy experiments into real drugs.

Now that virtual reality has arrived (again), it’s here to stay—even if it’s not clear exactly how we will end up using it.

Political candidates opposed to free trade say Apple should make phones in the United States. Let’s see what that would look like.

Mobile innovation in China is flourishing, bringing new conveniences to daily life. Is that happening despite or because of the country’s strict controls on online expression?

Apple’s Tim Cook says he doesn’t want his company to be able to read customer data—but he probably can’t make that happen.

A pilot plant north of Vancouver is testing a process to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, hoping to prove it is economically viable.

The former chief digital officer of New York, Rachel Haot, explains why government and entrepreneurs need to work together.

Three of the four biggest sums raised on Kickstarter are for the smart-watch pioneer’s products. Why do people like it so much?

A new report from the International Energy Agency includes projections for reductions in energy use and carbon dioxide emissions that could be wildly optimistic.

While helping us get things done, virtual assistants will also give tech companies valuable new insights into our lives.

New advances in biotechnology could keep your flowers in bloom longer.

New approaches to generating crop varieties are making it hard for policymakers to know what to regulate.

Printing genomes on demand could mean custom-built organisms, difficult ethical questions, and profits for a handful of companies.

Printing genomes on demand could mean custom-built organisms, difficult ethical questions, and profits for a handful of companies.

Even as Germany adds lots of wind and solar power to the electric grid, the country’s carbon emissions are rising. Will the rest of the world learn from its lesson?

In Vietnam climate change has scrambled the seasonal monsoons, leaving farmers struggling.

Most have yet to incorporate climate change into their business plans, but a few are finding a way.

A startup in California has raised $500 million to chase the elusive dream of fusion power. Is this crazy, or is the company on to something?

By reinventing the neural network, the company hopes to help computers make the leap from processing words and symbols to comprehending the real world.

For the Dutch masters of water management, climate change is a boon.

If robots can learn to respect human social norms, they will become much better at navigating busy spaces like airports, malls, or city sidewalks.

The Supreme Court shut down his last venture, Aereo, after it riled TV broadcasters. Now Chet Kanojia wants to overturn how broadband is delivered.

Shrinking transistors have powered 50 years of advances in computing—but now other ways must be found to make computers more capable.

Solar-powered desalination is ideal—if only the cost comes down.

There’s a chance to use cutting-edge technology to save native Hawaiian birds from the mosquitoes that are driving them to extinction.

Startup Hyperloop Technologies has started shooting magnetically levitated capsules along a track in Las Vegas to show off a radical idea for the future of freight and mass transit.

Starbucks’s efforts to head off climate change and its impact on coffee bend to business realities.

A gene therapy for an inherited immune disease completes a 27-year journey.

Oculus’s VR headset can be thrilling, but will you buy it if some experiences make you sick and it’s hard to use for more than 20 minutes?

The first gene therapy approved in the Western world costs $1 million and has been used just once. The doctor who tried it says the price is “absolutely too high.”

New software spots anomalies in modified or hacked cars.

Feeling distracted and exhausted by constant connectivity? Maybe you need one more gadget.

Siemens is testing teams of creepy-crawly 3-D-printing robots. Their descendants might make manufacturing lines far more efficient.

Twitter has been developing technology that automatically recognizes what’s happening in live video, a step toward sophisticated recommendations.

Customized, printed orthopedic implants could be the future. In the meantime, the new manufacturing method is helping companies cut costs.

Customized, printed orthopedic implants could be the future. In the meantime, the new manufacturing method is helping companies cut costs.

Can China reboot its manufacturing industry—and the global economy—by replacing millions of workers with machines?

This water bottle filter, made from nanofibers, can reduce water-borne diseases.

Study of exceptionally healthy old people fails to trace their well-being to specific genes.

Study of exceptionally healthy old people fails to trace their well-being to specific genes.

Why we still haven’t found a fountain of youth in our DNA.

Uncertainty about future regulations clouds the future of agricultural biotechnology in the U.S.

Data shows that even a short commute can change dramatically over a year. Sharing such information could help self-driving cars hit the roads sooner.

The Arizona company is betting that cadmium telluride solar cells could leave silicon in the dust.

A new way of making these tough materials could be a key step in producing better airplane engines and long-lasting machine parts.