
Technologies That Shape the World: 2018 Edition

Technologies That Shape the World: 2018 Edition

Venice Anti-Flood Gates Could Wreck Lagoon Ecosystem
Instead, researchers suggest injecting fluid cement or water below ground to lift the entire city


Silent and Simple Ion Engine Powers a Plane with No Moving Parts
Researchers fly the first atmospheric aircraft to use space-proven ionic thrust technology

Transforming Robot Changes Shape at Will
Researchers have created a 'modular' robot which can analyze its environment and reconfigure itself to overcome obstacles and achieve tasks.
This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on October 31, 2018. It is a Nature Video production.

A New Supercomputer Is the World’s Fastest Brain-Mimicking Machine
The computer has one million processors and 1,200 interconnected circuit boards

The Harm That Data Do
Paying attention to how algorithmic systems impact marginalized people worldwide is key to a just and equitable future

Artificial Intelligence Is Learning to Keep Learning
A new machine-learning technique mimics the brain’s ability to adapt to new circumstances

Scientists Create Artificial Wood That Is Water- and Fire-Resistant
The synthetic material is faster to make than natural wood

Algorithms Designed to Fight Poverty Can Actually Make It Worse
How algorithms designed to alleviate poverty can perpetuate it instead

Falling Walls: New Materials for a New Age
You probably haven’t heard of “multiferroics,” but they could lead to entirely new ways of designing technologies, some of which we are only just starting to imagine

Survey Polls the World: Should a Self-Driving Car Save Passengers, or Kids in the Road?
More than two million internet respondents pondered dilemmas to consider in letting vehicles make moral choices

You've Probably Never Heard of MOFs, but...
They could be as important to the 21st century as plastics were to the 20th