
Social Security Numbers Aren’t Secure: What Should We Use Instead?
The answer is not as simple as replacing each nine-digit number with a longer one

Social Security Numbers Aren’t Secure: What Should We Use Instead?
The answer is not as simple as replacing each nine-digit number with a longer one

Winged Microchips Glide like Tree Seeds
The tiny sensors could gather and transmit environmental data as they drift through the air


Home Seismometers Provide Crucial Data on Haiti’s Quake
A volunteer network helps to monitor aftershocks and illuminate the country’s earthquake hazards

How Olympic Tracking Systems Capture Athletic Performances
The 3-D tracking systems used in Tokyo may one day enable digital twins of athletes

Kilauea Isn't Erupting (at the moment), but the Science Goes On
Once an eruption ends, the science has barely begun

How Does Google Know Everything about Me?
You may wonder how Google knows what you’re typing, where you are or even what you’re thinking—they use your data to do it all.

Dust in the Wind: How Data Visualization Can Help the Environment
The nascent field of sensor journalism helps citizen scientists and journalists fill in the data gaps in environmental monitoring networks

Death by Flatulence and Other Shortcomings of Big Data
Bizarre fatalities and the limitations of the data revolution emerge from a review of CDC records

Is Data Really Changing the Nature of Wearable Technology?
Do you have a FitBit story? Last November, S came home with a Fitbit Flex. For those of you who don’t have one of these increasingly ubiquitous devices, it’s a small, plastic band that you wear on your wrist (there are other tracker options as well).

Green Thumbery: Water, Sunlight, and Data
This article is a part of the Green Thumbery series, where everyday gardening meets history and science.

How Data Beats Intuition at Making Selection Decisions
An algorithm beats the experts at hiring

Green Thumbery: Flower Power
Things have been quiet on the Green Thumbery series because I’ve been watching my plants anxiously. The lengthy winter we experienced has made for a sluggish start and it was touch-and-go for a few weeks.