The Digital Frontier
Advancements in 20th century medicine reshaped society and made good health an expectation, not an exception. Now, 21st century breakthroughs may end disease, reverse aging, and restore sight and hearing — perhaps sooner than we think.
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The West needs more water. This Nobel winner may have the answer.
Paul Migrom has an Emmy, a Nobel, and a successful company. There’s one more big problem on the to-do list.
Police spend 40% of their time on paperwork. Can AI help?
Axon’s AI innovations promise to free officers from desks, but not without questions of ethics. CEO Rick Smith addresses concerns and community trust:
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Doomerism’s “tipping point” and why existentialism isn’t the solution to the climate crisis
We can’t afford to lose optimism over averting the worst consequences of this crisis; without it, we’re trapped in a response of inaction.
The 3 myths of mindfulness
Mindfulness is hugely popular today, but one philosopher has argued that certain unchecked types of mindfulness are deeply flawed.
T-Minus: An extended asteroid mission, a high-stress moon landing, and more
Freethink’s weekly countdown of the biggest space news, featuring SLIM’s reawakening, a historic moon landing, and more.
New “spiral” contact lenses let you see up close and far away
New spiral-shaped multifocal lenses bend light in a way that corrects problems seeing up close and far away, even in poor lighting.
How potatoes can keep an eye on nuclear radiation
Plants scientists are researching how fields of genetically modified potato plants could detect radiation.
Watch: Figure’s humanoid robot just learned something new
Robotics startup Figure AI just shared a video showing its humanoid robot completing a fully autonomous “real world task.”
Sam Altman on the future of AI
In the Davos session, “Technology in a Turbulent World,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman explained where he sees AI heading.
How the “powerhouse of the cell” could be cancer’s Achilles heel
Salk Institute researchers have found that rewiring mitochondria could make cancer cells visible to the immune system.
AI for agriculture: How Indian farmers are harvesting innovation
India’s farmers combat climate change, pestilence, and financial burdens, with AI-driven initiatives offering transformative solutions.
Fusion startup plans to shoot space junk with lasers
Japanese startup EX-Fusion plans to test whether lasers it is developing for nuclear fusion can remove space junk from orbit.
4 core strategies as AI changes the “meaning of work”
A 2021 study in Germany revealed that automation can have a serious effect on our sense of meaning at work.
CRISPR could eradicate horrific parasite that’s killing cattle
Uruguay is developing a CRISPR gene drive to eradicate the New World screwworm fly, a horrific agricultural pest.
OpenBCI’s new VR headset reacts to your brain and body
OpenBCI is reshaping the relationship between humans and the virtual world with Galea Beta, a headset that measures the body and brain.
Study: one in five workers would sacrifice 16% to 33% of salary to work from home
Would you give up some of your pay check to be able to work from home? People value working from home more than you’d think.
AI startup Magic is building a “superhuman software engineer”
Magic AI is developing an advanced AI software engineer it sees as a milestone along the path to artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Google AI is searching the world for methane leaks from space
Google will provide computing resources to MethaneSAT, a project to identify climate-harming methane leaks from space.
US startup makes history with stressful, landmark moon landing
Intuitive Machines just made history with the first private moon landing — and the mission was a nailbiter.
Students use calculators to do math. Let them use ChatGPT to write.
Researchers tasked teachers with rating hundreds of essays, some written by students and others written by ChatGPT. Here’s what they found.
T-Minus: Water discovered on asteroids, first space factory comes home, and more
Freethink’s weekly countdown of the biggest space news, featuring the return of Varda’s space factory, a Russian space weapon, and more.
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