Innovation

Innovation

The shift from steam to electricity was inevitable — but some foresaw it earlier than others.
cultivated meat
It will be able to produce 22 million pounds of cultivated meat annually.
We might be dining on insect-based Christmas pies with robot-harvested algae on the side.
battery
Lithium-ion batteries pose challenges for our transition toward renewable energy. Sodium-sulfur batteries might be a solution.
Ada Lovelace’s skills with language, music, and needlepoint all contributed to her pioneering work in computing.
Some analysts predict that Amazon's revenue will double over the next five years.
Million Stories
Even lifelong technologists and AI researchers like myself were genuinely surprised by the speed and impact of generative AI.
Once water gets more than about 200 feet deep, building on the sea floor is out of the question.
It’s like radar, but with light. Distributed acoustic sensing — DAS — picks up tremors from volcanoes, quaking ice and deep-sea faults, as well as traffic rumbles and whale calls.
A 3D illustration of a typhoon as seen from orbit.
Retired astronaut Ron Garan believes that before we can begin solving our problems, we must understand our interrelatedness through the "orbital perspective."
nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion has long been seen as the future of energy. As the NIF now passes the breakeven point, how close are we to our ultimate goal?
The most important events in history have nothing to do with politics or wars.
The AI is helping Twitter users plot movies, design meal plans, and more.
For decades, cinemas have earned more from concessions than ticket sales. But can their current business model survive in the streaming age?
Million Stories
playpump
Wizbang innovations capture the public’s imagination, but thoughtful, incremental development is often more valuable to those in need.
A group of prominent scientists shares how research has changed them.
superabundance
Inequality should be measured in terms of the time it takes for us to earn the money to buy the things we need. And everyone is getting wealthier.
Historical analyses reveal that crises almost always yield surprising benefits.
You don't have to be an emperor to apply these rules to daily living.
In the future, driving an app across a bridge could let engineers know how safe it is.
molten salt reactor
They are expected to be cheaper to build and even more reliable than today’s nuclear plants.
Astronomers have been looking for radio waves sent by a distant civilization for more than 60 years.
space ads
A space ad could pay for itself after one month.
good night oppy
Thanks to a couple of rovers, we know Mars was once blue.
Using physics, Ross Chastain floored it during the final turn, scraping the wall and passing 5 cars to advance to the NASCAR championship.