Emerging Tech

The Hazard of Tesla’s Approach to Driverless Cars

A fatal crash calls into question the car company’s approach to building autonomous vehicles—and underscores the stark contrast between its strategy and Google’s.

Digital Government

A Tesla Fatality and the Future of Self-Driving Cars

The Model S’s Autopilot isn’t technically a driverless feature, but the federal investigation into why a driver using it was killed will still influence the future of driverless vehicles.

Digital Government

The Ultimate Facial-Recognition Algorithm

New research finds that machines designed to identify people still have difficulty with accuracy as datasets grow.

Emerging Tech

Sending an Armored Tank to Outer Space

The spacecraft Juno was designed to make it all the way to Jupiter, then orbit the planet without getting destroyed in the process

Digital Government

Welcome to the Internet of Things: Your Toaster is Watching You

Get ready for home appliances that track your movements and know what you want before you do.

Emerging Tech

Where Google’s Driverless Cars Should Wind Up Next

If the company’s not ready for snow, it should head to a sunny place where traffic problems and road safety are particularly bad.

Artificial Intelligence

A Computer Tried (and Failed) to Write This Article

For now, machine journalists should probably stick to box scores and basic weather reports.

Digital Government

Your Spare Computing Power Could Help Fight Zika

Scientists are using a network called the World Community Grid to process huge amounts of data in an attempt to understand how to tackle the virus.

Modernization

Smartphones Rule the Internet

Among the world’s most popular websites, most traffic comes from mobile devices.

Modernization

The Internet’s Favorite Website

As Web traffic shifts toward mobile, a new study finds Wikipedia remains the most popular informational site around.

Emerging Tech

These Robots Act Differently When You're Around

The machines of the future will tailor their behavior to humans—and even individual personalities.

Emerging Tech

Should We Feed the Trolls?

When it comes to reducing online harassment, deeper social change could have a bigger impact than fighting back one jerk at a time.

Digital Government

The People Who Built the Atomic Bomb

A new website assembles thousands of biographies and oral histories from the Manhattan Project.

Emerging Tech

Why the Future Needs Huggable Robots

The distance between people and machines—the fact that robots aren’t more snuggly—poses a real problem for the future of robotics.

Digital Government

Driverless-Car Makers on Privacy: Just Trust Us

Members of Congress are calling for new rules that determine how companies can use personal data collected by autonomous vehicles.

Artificial Intelligence

What Exactly is a Robot?

This has become an increasingly difficult question to answer, yet it’s a crucial one.

Digital Government

Self-Driving Cars and the Looming Privacy Apocalypse

Driverless vehicles will learn everything about you, and influence your behavior in ways you won’t even realize.