
Antipoaching Tech Tracks COVID-19 Flare-Ups in South Africa
Coming out of lockdown, the country is relying on thousands of local case trackers and on software, once used to protect rhinoceroses, for disease surveillance

Antipoaching Tech Tracks COVID-19 Flare-Ups in South Africa
Coming out of lockdown, the country is relying on thousands of local case trackers and on software, once used to protect rhinoceroses, for disease surveillance

Don’t Regulate Artificial Intelligence: Starve It
The potential dangers of this technology are great enough that we need to be very careful about how powerful we allow it to be


A Shiny Snack Bag’s Reflections Can Reconstruct the Room around It
Researchers used the light reflecting off the wrapper to build an image of its surroundings

When Will Speech-Recognition Software Finally Be Good Enough?
Think how much time we’d save if voice assistants always understood commands or questions the first time

Facial-Recognition Technology Needs More Regulation
Algorithms that can recognize people are too often biased or inaccurate—and they can easily invade our privacy

Footstep Sensors Identify People by Gait
A supersensitive detector system can also glean clues about health

AI Will Help Scientists Ask More Powerful Questions
Self-learning systems can discover hidden patterns in immense data sets, transcending what humans could ever find on their own

High-Tech Ghost Ships Will Set Sail sans Sailors
Maritime technology groups are building robotic vessels to cross the oceans

Winged “PigeonBot” Flies with Real Feathers
A flying robot reveals how birds stay aloft and could inspire next-generation drones

Empathy Machine: Humans Communicate Better after Robots Show Their Vulnerable Side
The behavior of such machines influences how people treat one another

Amino Acid Rock Music Helps Build New Proteins
Some scientists teach computers to “see” proteins. Markus Buehler is teaching them to hear the compounds instead

Ultrasonic Attack Device Hacks Phones through Solid Objects
Hackers could trick voice assistants to make calls or compromise texts