The gig workers who are training humanoid robots at home
People in Nigeria and India are strapping iPhones onto their heads and recording themselves doing chores. This story was written by Michelle Kim and ...
Can quantum computers now solve health care problems? We’ll soon find out.
After 30 months of fast-paced innovation in quantum algorithms, six research groups are hoping to hit paydirt. But there can be only one big winner—if...
How Pokémon Go is giving delivery robots an inch-perfect view of the world
Niantic's AI spinout is training a new world model using 30 billion images of urban landmarks crowdsourced from players. This story was written by Wi...
How uncrewed narco subs could transform the Colombian drug trade
Fast, stealthy, and cheap—autonomous, semisubmersible drone boats carrying tons of cocaine could be international law enforcement’s nightmare scenario...
America was winning the race to find Martian life. Then China jumped in.
The Mars Sample Return mission got off to a promising start, hunting for potentially humanity-changing space rocks. How did it fall off the rails? ...
The curious case of the disappearing Lamborghinis
A new wave of theft is rocking the luxury car industry—mixing high tech with old-school chop-shop techniques to snag vehicles while they’re in transpo...
Hackers made death threats against this security researcher. Big mistake.
Allison Nixon had helped arrest dozens of members of the Com, a loose affiliation of online groups responsible for violence and hacking campaigns. The...
Stratospheric internet could finally start taking off this year
High-altitude platforms could help connect over 2 billion people around the world who are still offline. This story was written by Tereza Pultarova...
How next-generation nuclear reactors break out of the 20th-century blueprint
From molten salt to TRISO fuel, here’s how technological advancements could upend an old power technology. This story was written by Casey Crownhar...
China figured out how to sell EVs. Now it has to deal with their aging batteries.
As early electric cars age out, hundreds of thousands of used batteries are flooding the market, fueling a gray recycling economy even as Beijing and ...