McLaren Thinks Synthetic Fuel Could Save The Engine As We Know It
McLaren plans to produce a development car that runs on synthetic fuel to showcase the technology’s potential. The company says the fuel would require minimal tweaks to today’s internal combustion engine, and it’d still be much better for the environment from a CO2 standpoint.
The Most Common Airbnb Scams Worldwide
Scammers all over the world have figured how best to game the Airbnb platform: by engaging in bait and switches; charging guests for fake damages; persuading people to pay outside the Airbnb app, and engaging in clumsy or threatening demands for five-star reviews to hide the evidence of what they’ve done.
The High-Tech Vertical Farmer
In the kale-filled facility at vertical farm startup Bowery Farming, it’s a piece of proprietary software that makes most of the critical decisions — like when to harvest and how much to water each plant. But it still takes humans to carry out many tasks around the farm.
The Impossible Architecture Of Dreams
Where do we go when we dream? This surreal territory has proved fertile ground for a new generation of contemporary artists working at the intersection of architecture, interior design, and technology. The dreamscapes of these creations offer an intriguing insight into a new movement in digital art.
Three Years Of Misery Inside Google, The Happiest Company In Tech
In the first days of the Trump era, Google’s leaders were desperate to avoid confrontation with the new regime. The company’s history of close ties to the Obama administration left executives feeling especially vulnerable to the reactionary movement.
Freemium Love: Tech Transforms Dating In San Francisco
Tracking relationships with customer relationship management software. Automating Tinder date-hunting with chatbots. ‘Homeless’ camping dates. Techies are putting their stamp on San Francisco’s dating scene.
Hedy Lamarr Escaped The Nazis And Helped Build Self-Driving Future
She was once billed as “The World’s Most Beautiful Woman,” and that bored her. She wanted to fight Nazis, and to be taken seriously for her technical knowledge and creativity. She wanted control.
Palantir’s Top-Secret User Manual For Cops
Palantir is one of the most significant and secretive companies in big data analysis. The company acts as an information management service for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, corporations like JP Morgan and Airbus, and dozens of other local, state, and federal agencies.
How A Long-lost Indian Disco Record Won Over Crate Diggers And Cracked The YouTube Algorithm
1982’s Disco Jazz has been reissued. “Aaj Shanibar,” one of its four tracks, has also started to spread through the strange rabbithole that is YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. With the benefit of time and technology, “lost” songs reach a new generation of listeners halfway around the world.
Using Artificial Intelligence To Create Art
Artist Refik Anadol doesn’t work with paintbrushes or clay. Instead, he uses large collections of data and machine learning algorithms to create mesmerizing and dynamic installations.
How Shenzhen Is Fueling Ethiopia’s Burgeoning Startup Scene
As Shenzhen companies look to Africa for new consumer markets, African entrepreneurs are turning to Shenzhen for manufacturing partners to turn their ideas into reality. How the movers and shakers in Ethiopia’s burgeoning tech startup scene are tapping into the open source manufacturing ecosystem of China’s most entrepreneurial city.
How All Our Tech Heroes Turned Into Tech Villains
Tech giants and their leaders have come to dominate public discourse in a way that few other industries have. They’ve unleashed products that are basically indispensable in modern life. Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elizabeth Holmes all promised game-changing improvements on American life. What happened?
Playtronica Turns Your Body Into An Instrument
The world we live in is afraid of touch and interaction, so Playtronica decided to highlight it – turn human skin into a musical instrument. Now you can experience the future of human touch and do it with style.
Water-Resistant And Biodegradable Plant-Based Plastic
A group of researchers at Japan’s Osaka University has developed an alternative type of plastic which is not only biodegradable in seawater but is also water-resistant under normal use. The plastic is made from cellulose nanofibers and starch, both of which were extracted from plants.
How A Small Texas City Rewrote The Rules Of Development
Last month, Bastrop, Texas, adopted a new building code, known as Bastrop Building Block, which radically alters how the city will approach development. The new flexible system was designed to address three interrelated issues hitting municipalities across the county: population growth, aging infrastructure, and outdated development patterns.
Tech’s Most Controversial Startup Makes Drone-Killing Robots
Founded by Palmer Luckey and backed by Peter Thiel, Anduril is rekindling the connection between the American military and Silicon Valley. The company’s surveillance technology consists of large towers, packed with sensors, and small surveillance drones that can be set up to guard the perimeter.
How Artificial Intelligence Could Revolutionize Coffee
The coffee supply chain is rife with uncertainty, unfairness, and even corruption. Bext360 wants to change that. This video looks at how they’re using machine vision, artificial intelligence, and blockchain payments to bring the largest un-automated system in the world into the digital age.
Scientists Use Recycled Sewage Water To Grow 500-Acre Forest In The Middle Of Egyptian Desert
Serapium Forest is the most prosperous of Egypt’s 36 tracts of land that make up an ambitious program to combat desertification by creating sustainably managed commercial forests fed entirely by wastewater.
The Data That Turned The World Upside Down
How Cambridge Analytica used your Facebook data to help the Donald Trump campaign in the 2016 election. A then little-known British company sent out a press release: “We are thrilled that our revolutionary approach to data-driven communication has played such an integral part in President-elect Trump’s extraordinary win.”
Before Tinder, There Was Dateline
Operation Match was a computer dating service started at Harvard in 1965 by two undergraduates, that paired students together for dates for $3 a pop. Students filled in questionnaires which were processed by an IBM 1401 before receiving the names and telephone numbers of their matches in the post.
The Lost Art Of Concentration: Being Distracted In A Digital World
We check our phones every 12 minutes, often just after waking up. Always-on behaviour is harmful to long-term mental health, and we need to learn to the hit the pause button. Experts are telling us that these interruptions and distractions have eroded our ability to concentrate.