There are a lot of giant asteroids out in space, and it’s just a matter of time before another one finds a bullseye on Earth. What can we do about it? — On September 2, 2022, NASA crashed its DART probe into the small moon of an asteroid named Didymos, deflecting its orbit in a successful test of one strategy we can use to defend the earth from celestial threats. Not long ago, and with no fanfare, we came into sudden…

Twenty years ago, who would have guessed that a car manufacturer would be leading the way in a consumer robot revolution? — In recent years, Tesla has made a name for itself as a company at the forefront of the autonomous car movement. With its suite of semi-autonomous features, Tesla has been able to bring the car of the future one step closer to reality. But Tesla’s plans for the future don’t…

LED lighting’s astounding innovation has changed the world, with more changes to come. Learn more in this exclusive interview with three engineers behind the development of LEDs. — On February 2nd, 2021, the 2021 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (QEPrize) was given to five engineers who were critical to the invention and ensuing development of what would become the keystone of solid-state lighting technology: LEDs. Light-emitting diodes are a semiconductor that produces high-efficiency bright light with lower energy…

Even in a universe as big as ours appears to be, is there is a chance we are the only advanced intelligent species alive at this time? — The Earth is some kind of rare in the Milky Way galaxy. No matter how scientists slice it, our planet is special. And this isn’t the anthropocentrist in me making a statement. The Earth settled into just the right orbit and had just the right combination of elements, and just…

If we can all agree on who owns which data, maybe we can all be happy — government, corporations, and private citizens. — When two of the biggest behemoths of Big Data — Google and Meta/Facebook — joined forces to help with the effort of contact-tracing people who may have, or may have been exposed to, COVID-19 (SARS-Cov-19), many people were on edge about the potential invasion of their private lives. …

Understanding and communicating with otherworldly beings — If, and when, we make first contact with an intelligent alien species, we may find ourselves faced with the daunting task of trying to communicate with beings so perfectly strange in relation to ourselves that it’s nearly impossible. …

The possibilities are tantalizing when we consider the power of evolution. — Dragons are the single most ubiquitous and recognizable mythological creature ever dreamed up by the human consciousness. They crop up in hundreds of cultures around the world, from China and Hawaii to New Zealand and Iceland. These mighty, fantastical beasts hold a special place in our tales, from Smaug to…

How some life on Earth achieves near-immortality, and how we might someday in the future — The year is 2573: Lilara’s laughter fades into awed silence as the autocab drifts to a stop. It was a long ride from the Johannesburg spaceport, but finally, the family had arrived at their destination: Lilara’s mother’s old family estate. Her mom met her father there when he was just a 24-year-old graduate student…

How AI and machine learning helps prevent terror attacks now and in the future — Most people over the age of 25 in the United States today remember with vivid detail where they were and what they were doing on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. I was in the waiting room of our pediatrician’s office with my wife and 7-month old daughter as…