A Guide to the World Bitcoin Created
The first big digital currency gave us a glimpse of a new economic order—one that raises more questions than answers
Stories by John Pavlus
New Books about Motivation, Memory, Happiness and More Relaxed Parenting
Scientific American Mind weighs in on recent titles from neuroscience and psychology
Computers Now Recognize Patterns Better Than Humans Can
An approach to artificial intelligence that enables computers to recognize visual patterns better than humans are able to do
Quantum Satellites Are a Big Step toward the Unhackable Internet
Space-based transmission of quantum cryptographic keys could make the “unhackable” Internet a reality
Ingestible Robots Perform Surgery from Inside the Body
Remote-controlled origami robots can perform medical procedures from the inside out
“Supermolecules” Could Yield Materials the Periodic Table Won’t Allow
A way to design new molecules and materials that the periodic table does not allow
New Books Explore Puzzles of Taste, Gender and Addiction
Scientific American Mind weighs in on recent titles from neuroscience and psychology
What NASA Could Teach Tesla about Autopilot's Limits
Decades of research have warned about the human attention span in automated cockpits
The Clumsy Quest to Perfect the Walking Robot
Why is it so hard to build a walking robot?
Inspired by Genius: How a Mathematician Found His Way
The mathematician Ken Ono believes that the story of Srinivasa Ramanujan—mathematical savant and two-time college dropout—holds valuable lessons for how we find and reward hidden genius
Why We Love the Games That Enrage Us Most
The psychology of intrinsic motivation and “hard fun” could improve education and, naturally, the next generation of video games
On the Horizon: Lab-Grown Spare Parts for Brains
Researchers have figured out how to coax stem cells into becoming organized clusters of neurons
How to Be a Better Sleeper
Expert advice on lighting, timing and hacking your dreams
The Billion-Dollar Race to Reinvent the Computer Chip
With the end of Moore's law in sight, chip manufacturers are spending billions to develop novel computing technologies
Placebos Work Better for Nice People
Agreeable personalities produce more of the brain's natural painkillers
Searching for Easy Answers to Hard Computational Questions
Whether or not machines can quickly answer yes-or-no questions could affect everything from national security to the limits of human knowledge
World Changing Ideas 2010
Ten thoughts, trends and technologies that have the power to transform our lives
Borrowing Nature's Code
Algorithms inspired by Mother Nature help us run our vast digital biosphere
Human Number Crunchers
When research is like a video game, computers finish second
A Wandering, Plant-Eating Robot
It gobbles up wood chips, leaves and other “biomass” and generates electricity