TechnologyDecember 1, 2013
Supercomputer-Driven Materials Design [Slide Show]
How scientists are using computing power to design new materials from scratch
Stories by Seth Fletcher
Seth Fletcher is director of editorial content at Scientific American. His book Einstein's Shadow (Ecco, 2018), on the Event Horizon Telescope and the quest to take the first picture of a black hole, was excerpted in the New York Times Magazine and named a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice. His book Bottled Lightning (2011) was the first definitive account of the invention of the lithium-ion battery and the 21st-century rebirth of the electric car. His writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the New York Times op-ed page, Popular Science, Fortune, Men's Journal, Outside and other publications. His television and radio appearances have included CBS’s Face the Nation, NPR’s Fresh Air, the BBC World Service, and NPR’s Morning Edition, Science Friday, Marketplace and The Takeaway. He has a master’s degree from the Missouri School of Journalism and a bachelor’s degrees in English and philosophy from the University of Missouri.
November 1, 2013
How to Think about Privacy: An Interview with Jaron Lanier
The virtual reality pioneer talks Facebook, the NSA, the limits of big data and the future of our digital selves
October 8, 2013
40 Years Later: Electric Cars and the OPEC Oil Embargo
The 1973 oil embargo triggered a mad rush of electric-vehicle research. Forty years later, we’re seeing the results
ComputingOctober 1, 2013
How, Exactly, Is Big Data Going to Change the World?
M.I.T. computer scientist Alex Pentland explains
September 30, 2013
Will We Accept Eye-Tracking Gadgets?
It seems like biometric-enabled gadgets should be a hard sell in the post-Snowden marketplace. When Apple announced the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 5s, Twitter lit up with a blaze of NSA jokes.
The SciencesAugust 1, 2013
How Big Data Is Taking Teachers Out of the Lecturing Business
Schools and universities are embracing technology that tailors content to students' abilities and takes teachers out of the lecturing business. But is it an improvement?
August 1, 2013
YouTube Tutor Salman Khan and His Online Academy
Ten questions for hedge-fund-analyst-turned-education-reformer Salman Khan
TechnologyJuly 24, 2013
Introducing Imperceptibly Thin Electronics
EnvironmentApril 23, 2013
Three Thoughts on the Fisker Debacle
April 18, 2013
The Solar Cell That Turns 1 Photon into 2 Electrons
M.I.T. researchers develop an organic solar cell that breaks 100 percent quantum efficiency
March 8, 2013
Yes, Robots Are Coming for Our Jobs--Now What?
Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist Erik Brynjolfsson explains how technology has affected economic growth and productivity--and how human workers can adapt