Science and Technology

Are we too reliant on phone apps?

Robots that clean the bathroom, cars that drive themselves, computers that diagnose disease. They may sound appealing, but technology writer Nicholas Carr warns that the new age of automation could mean we'll lose basic life skills.More

Jaquet Droz automatons

Androids may seem like a modern idea, but there were life-size androids in the 18th century — beautiful robot women who could look around and even play the harpsichord. Historian Heidi Voskuhl tells this remarkable story.More

the next great novel

Will a computer ever write a great novel? Absolutely, says the pioneering software developer Stephen Wolfram. He believes there's no limit to computer creativity.More

A light in the dark (from a phone)

Filmmaker Astra Taylor wants to reclaim the democratic potential of personal technology.More

Traveling into the phone

Doug Rushkoff believes personal technology is having an insidious effect on our relationship with time. He calls it “present shock.”More

Targeted person

Cathy O'Neil, data scientist and author of the blog mathbabe.org, warns that politicians are perilously close to being able to tell voters only what they want to hear.More

Searching the stars

For more than 30 years, the scientists at the SETI Institute have been looking and listening for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. And recently, some of them decided to get a bit more proactive. To find out how, Doug Gordon tracked down SETI’s senior astronomer, Seth Shostak.  More

Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson makes the case for why constantly searching for answers doesn't have to dispel our sense of awe and wonder faced with the seemingly unknowable universe.More

against nature

How do you go from producing riveting stories about real people for "This American Life" to writing surreal short stories? Diane Cook is the person to ask.More

ruined boats

There’s a lot of scientific debate about the future of climate change. But have you ever considered the worst case scenario? David Wallace-Wells gives us one terrifying glimpse into the future.More

Anne interviews Rick McIntyre during a wolf watching session.

Wolf biologist Rick McIntyre took a moment from his own wolf watching to explain the lives of Yellowstone wolves, one he's observed first hand almost every day for 22 years.More

The thoroughly domesticated dog

Merrill Markoe loves dogs. She’s written two novels and many comic essays about our furry friends. Doug Gordon sat down to talk with her about how dogs became our besties.  More

Twins

Bioethicist Julian Savulescu says we have a moral obligation to use new technology to create the best possible children.

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Rock climber Alex Honnold burst onto the scene a few years ago with some breathtaking solo climbs in Zion and Yosemite, and he’s pushed the limits for what climbers thought possible.More

Twitterstorm of bots

Computer scientist Filippo Menczer has evidence of a bot campaign targeting one of Twitter's biggest power users: President Trump.More

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

2016 marked the 100th anniversary of America’s beloved National Park system. I could think of no one better to reflect on the importance...More

steady state economics

Writer Benjamin Kunkel bookmarks Herman Daly's "Steady-State Economics."More

basketball

Neuroscientist John Krakauer blasts the “dumb jock” stereotype with research on the cognitive brilliance of athletes.More

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