In an ordinary lab at the University of Michigan, Joseph Hamilton, of Flint, does the also-ordinary: He grabs a shiny ball and a bottle; he presses buttons and stacks little cubes; he zips and unzips zippers. Well, it would be ordinary if Hamilton wasn’t an amputee doing this all with a robotic hand—à la Luke…
If you’re in Mountain View and you spot a self-driving car, the smart money says it’s one of Waymo’s modified Chrysler Pacifica minivans. If you see an electric car, it’s most likely a Tesla. But the odds on both are set to change. Waymo is rolling out its new fleet of roboticized, all-electric Jaguar I-Pace…
The modern social web is a place of impermanence. Posting in perpetuity is passé; the fixed feed has mostly given way to ephemeral stories. Snap, Facebook, Instagram, and even LinkedIn have introduced temporary, self-deleting posts. Now Twitter is joining their ranks.“Starting today in Brazil, we’re testing Fleets, a new way to start conversations from your…
It’s always a good idea to maintain good hygiene, but especially so in the midst of the ongoing spread of Covid-19. But while you’re hopefully already washing your hands—and not touching your face—make sure to extend those efforts to the phones, tablets, and laptops you handle every day.The science shows that bacteria are very happy…
When Vincent Desailly walked into the living room, he noticed the two television screens on the wall. One was tuned to Netflix’s Narcos while its counterpart, nearly double in size, displayed six far-reaching views of the surrounding southeast Atlanta neighborhood he was visiting. The CCTVs cycled through images of dirt lawns and driveways infested with…
I have been a professional epidemic watcher for nearly 30 years. I’ve researched seven centuries of pandemics. Yet ever since late January, I have been gobsmacked by the Covid-19 crisis. This surreal disbelief began with the news of China imposing a draconian quarantine on its people—first in Wuhan, where the epidemic began, and then 14…
As cities incorporate digital technologies into their landscapes, they face the challenge of informing people of the many sensors, cameras, and other smart technologies that surround them. Few people have the patience to read through the lengthy privacy notice on a website or smartphone app. So how can a city let them know how they’re…
A virtual private network (VPN) is like a tunnel you can use to pass through a public network, protecting your data from outside eyes. Whether you’re worried about internet service providers selling your data or want to stay safe on public Wi-Fi, a VPN can help protect you.However, while a VPN will keep you safe…
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is 17 years old, legally a minor. Despite her age, in the past week, numerous actual adults have made her the subject of many forms of online harassment. Some say she ought to be “burnt at the stake”; others have circulated images of a sex doll that resembles Thunberg and…
Residents of the San Francisco Bay Area—and anyone who works in tech, really—will get a kick out of the languorous establishing shots and scene-setting of Devs, the new series on Hulu from writer-director Alex Garland, premiering March 5. It’s not just the quiet, empty aerial views of the city, some with roiling summertime fog. It’s…
