MIT Technology Review

Industrial machines could be trained to be less clumsy if we gave them a sense of touch and a better sense of real-world physics.

Three new studies propose ways to make algorithms better at identifying people in different demographic groups. But without regulation, that won’t curb the technology’s potential for abuse.

Our study of 25 years of artificial-intelligence research suggests the era of deep learning is coming to an end.

Swedish startup Mapillary is compiling a huge database of roadside objects such as signs and markings to help driverless vehicles get around.

The world’s largest experiment in using blockchain-based networks to pay for things is about to begin.

Advocates hope the proposal will inspire voters, but that’s no reason it has to ignore the latest research.

Algorithms are best at pursuing a single mathematical objective—but humans often want multiple incompatible things.

Nvidia’s new robotics lab will see if robots can learn to fetch the ketchup, load the dishwasher, and—eventually—make a cake.

New research finds we’d need to immediately stop building fossil-fuel-burning vehicles, planes, and factories.

Mainstream online legal services are getting serious about using crypto to automate bits of what they do—and lower the bar to entry for us all.

Generative adversarial networks are not just good for causing mischief. They can also show us how AI algorithms “think.”

Cities sometimes fail to make sure the technologies they adopt are accessible to everyone. Activists and startups are working to change that.

Global companies trying to tap into Tel Aviv’s unique innovation ecosystem are threatening to destroy the very thing they came for.

Last year a string of controversies revealed a darker (and dumber) side to artificial intelligence.

Radar that can spot stealth aircraft and other quantum innovations could give their militaries a strategic edge.

From moon missions to crewed launches, it’s going to be an eventful year for space exploration. Strap yourself in.

After the Great Crypto Bull Run of 2017 and the monumental crash of 2018, blockchain technology won’t make as much noise in 2019. But it will become more useful.

2018 was a no good, very bad year for Silicon Valley. Here’s some of the things tech giants should commit to do next year to avoid a repeat performance.

Gene information on millions of people is revolutionizing how we predict disease, catch criminals, and find new drugs.

From gene-edited babies to guaranteed-fatal brain uploads, it was a bumper year for technology misfires and misuses.

A year ago, Bitcoin and its brethren were headed to the moon. These days they’re much more grounded.

Every one of us will have a moment when global warming gets personal.

Three generations of personal and political history show the tensions between the Communist Party’s need for knowledge and its need for ideological control.

An interview with Yasheng Huang, MIT professor and expert on entrepreneurship in China.

And in the next few years it plans to launch the world’s biggest space telescope, the world’s heaviest rocket, and a space station to rival the ISS.

It used to be that while Google wanted China, China really needed Google. Not any more.

Payment apps like Alipay and WeChat transformed daily life in China. The West won’t see a similar payments revolution—and that might even be a good thing.

Shenzhen flooded the world with cheap gadgets. Can it now become what Silicon Valley never did—a global hub of innovation, entrepreneurship, and manufacturing?

The next generation of wireless technology promises much faster speeds while using less power. No wonder Beijing is throwing everything at getting there first.

China was no good at cars. Then EVs came along.

24M is reducing manufacturing costs by stripping out extraneous materials – and just got $22 million to begin building its first commercial factory.

The country has struggled for decades to build a competitive semiconductor industry. In making specialized AI chips, though, it’s got a head start.

The blockchain system has daunting technical problems to fix. But first, its disciples need to figure out how to govern themselves.

Once nuclear’s strongest booster, China is growing wary about its cost and safety.

In 2015, an unknown Chinese scientist edited the DNA of human embryos. It was a step on an inexorable path to designer babies.

7 questions for Andrew Yang, the 2020 US presidential candidate pushing for basic income.

The biggest fear is that China could exploit the telecom giant’s gear to wreak havoc in a crisis.

The research institute AI Now has identified facial recognition as a key challenge for society and policymakers—but is it too late?

The coming rise in private spaceflight is prompting growth in space companies that give citizen astronauts the know-how they need to fly.

Some US experts think it could take at least 20 years to get quantum-proof encryption widely deployed.

Smartphones that are used to track our faces and voices could also help lower the barrier to mental-health diagnosis and treatment.

Creating a lifelike digital scene normally requires skill, creativity, and patience. Now we can just offload the work to an AI algorithm.

Generative adversarial networks, or GANs, are fueling creativity—and controversy. Here’s how they work.

The maker community helped me create everything from my bouquet to my cake toppers—and gave me an insight into the technology’s possibilities.

Optical chips have been tried before—but the rise of deep learning may offer an opportunity to succeed where others have failed.

The US economy could lose $221 billion annually by 2090 as people stop working as much or as hard.

And that’s just in the United States.

He Jiankui says he created twin girls whose genes were edited to make them resistant to HIV. Was that ethical? Or even legal?

A daring effort is under way to create the first children whose DNA has been tailored using gene editing.

A diet supplemented with red algae could lessen the huge amounts of greenhouse gases emitted by cows and sheep, if we can just figure out how to grow enough.