Electronics1798 articles archived since 1845

Your Mobile Phone Can Give Away Your Location, Even If You Tell It Not To

Most people expect that turning their phone’s location services off disables mobile surveillance, but there are ways apps can avoid or escape those restrictions

Are Smartphones Really Destroying the Lives of Teenagers?

Recent headlines would have us believe that device-hooked teens are mentally and socially doomed. The reality isn't so simple

Are Autonomous Cars Really Safer Than Human Drivers?

Most comparisons between human drivers and automated vehicles have been at best uneven—and at worst unfair

Strava Storm: Why Everyone Should Check Their Smart Gear Security Settings before Going for a Jog

A fitness-tracking app’s ability to reveal supposedly clandestine locations is a reality check for people lax about protecting their security and privacy

Protecting Cassava from Disease? There’s an App for That

An image-recognition smartphone app uses AI to help farmers in sub-Saharan Africa identify up to five different diseases

Trump Administration Idea for Nationalized 5G Falls Flat

Critics pan National Security Council call for the government to build its own high-speed wireless network...

A Future for American Energy

At the first Science Meets Congress event, Energy Solutions for a Sustainable Future, energy and innovation experts from academia, government and the private sector talked with Scientific American Editor in Chief Mariette DiChristina about American's energy future...

How Secure Is Your Data When It’s Stored in the Cloud?

As cloud storage becomes more common, data security is an increasing concern

How Good Is Star Trek's Record at Predicting the Future of Tech?

How Robot Math and Smartphones Led Researchers to a Drug Discovery Breakthrough

An algorithm originally designed to help robots move was useful in tackling an entirely different problem

Hawaii's Missile Alert Gaffe: Why Good Human–Machine Design Is Critical

Poor interface design clearly fails to address human errors

Alexa, What Are You Doing with My Family's Personal Info?

Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and several smart-home technologies that debuted at last week’s CES add convenience but also raise privacy concerns

Connecting Kindergartners and Coding without a Screen in the World of Unstructured Play

The KIBO robot tries to balance the huge potential young children have for learning with the physical realities of how they like to play.

Does Apple Have an Obligation to Make the iPhone Safer for Kids?

The psychologist who helped draft a complaint letter to Apple weighs in with her opinion about phones and children

Meltdown and Spectre Expose the Dark Side of Superfast Computers

As CES gets into full swing in Las Vegas, one of the researchers responsible for part of last week’s security bombshell weighs in on the possible consequences

Trust in Digital Technology Will Be the Internet’s Next Frontier, for 2018 and Beyond

Around the world people are both increasingly dependent on, and distrustful of, digital technology

Is Your Computer Secretly Mining Bitcoin Alternatives? A Guide to “Cryptojacking”

Some web sites and apps that don’t charge you for their services have found a new way to make money from you: using your computer to generate virtual currencies

Secret to Porpoise Sonar Revealed

The animals can adjust structures in their foreheads to change the echolocation signals they emit

How Many Gigs Are You Wearing?

Magnetic clothing could be used to store passwords and other data

Dark Fiber Networks Can Sense Seismicity

Scientists are exploring the use of fiber-optic cables—like the ones that form the backbone of the internet—to monitor earthquakes. Julia Rosen reports.