Stories by Larry Greenemeier

Hard to believe that our mundane social media banter could have an impact on the civil war raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo for more than a decade.

After vanquishing humans on Jeopardy!, IBM says its Watson computer is ready to help save human lives. The company on Thursday announced it has created a new business unit specifically to advance Watson and deliver its artificially intelligent wisdom to research organizations, medical institutions and businesses so that they can process big data” for detailed [...]

As the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has grown to mammoth proportions in recent the years, you would be hard-pressed to come up with a technology category that is not represented.

Solar-powered cars have been little more than a novelty to date, experimental vehicles resembling photovoltaic-laden surfboards designed mostly for racing across deserts.

Heads Up—a much hyped new approach to tackling—seeks to avoid the most ferocious helmet-to-helmet collisions of football

SA examines emerging technologies that are almost here: Turn an ordinary table into a touch screen, monitor your kids’ whereabouts and place the power of 3-D printing in the palm of your hand—and there’s more. Read on

Microsoft Research head Peter Lee talks about keeping his team—about 1 percent of the company’s workforce—focused on the big picture

What’s my password again? Image association as a way to memorize dozens of unique security codes

We show you some of our favorite gizmos from the past year

Much of what we buy in the U.S. is not made here, and hasnt been for decades. If 2013 is any indication this could be changing, although the next generation of American manufacturing will differ greatly from its predecessor thanks to advanced technologies that rely on information rather than brawn.

Typically located on low, marshy real estate, these essential transit hubs were already vulnerable to flooding, even before megastorms such as Sandy and Haiyan

Competitions spur creativity and promise tangible results to address some of the world’s biggest problems

Many Filipinos embraced wireless in response to a history of poor landline service, leaving them with few communications options after the superstorm

As a platform to help with decision-making, Watson has a lot to learn—which is exactly the point

In the Star Trek universe, handheld medical tricorders became standard issue for Starfleet vessels as early as the mid-22nd century. Here in a little place we like to call “reality,” a competition seeks to help deliver such all-in-one health analyzers at least 100 years ahead of schedule.

An M.I.T. lab is tweaking the idea of 3-D printing with the help of smart materials that continue to change even after they leave the printer

A robot’s appearance should depend on the work it does but never fall into the “uncanny valley” and come across as creepy

Company cultural anthropologist Genevieve Bell tells us to get ready to take our fondness for smartphones, tablets and other devices to the next level

Antivirus software may not help

Thailand is considering legalizing kratom as a safer alternative for meth addicts, and U.S. researchers are studying its potential to help opiate abusers kick the habit without withdrawal side effects. Is that a good thing?

Geophysicist Enzo Boschi slams the poor communication that could put him behind bars for six years

A Boston-based start-up is exploring the use of rubbery biomedical tools to improve robotic surgery

The spy agency pushed the federal technology standard-bearer NIST to include a flawed, little used algorithm in a 2006 cryptography standard