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The Digital Frontier

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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.
Featured
A graph depicting a disruptive trajectory path rising sharply above low-end and mainstream lines, intersecting the high-end line. The background features a unicorn image.
Big Tech
The next big tech trend will start out looking like a toy
In “Read, Write, Own: Building The Next Era of the Internet,” investor Chris Dixon explains why the biggest trends often go overlooked.
A person wears a VR headset with "Coming Soon!!!" displayed on the screen, extending one hand with a finger pointing upwards, against a blue sky with clouds background, symbolizing the intersection of technology and social media mental health awareness.
Metaverse
You’re thinking of the metaverse all wrong, says Matthew Ball
Rumors of the metaverse’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
A digital rendering of a judge's gavel striking a sound block against a background of green and black pixelated squares, symbolizing the concept of social media censorship.
Censorship
Constitutional warning shot for social media “deplatforming” laws
Can the government tell private websites what they have to publish?
More
A person’s wrist wearing a smartwatch displaying a high-intensity interval training workout screen. Among smart health devices, this one stands out with its clarity and ease of use. Green exercise mat and white sneakers are visible in the background.
Wearables
How smart devices helped me unlock hidden health wins
By measuring many different body metrics, smart health devices can help support the mental game as much as the physical fitness gains.
A pair of black smart glasses with built-in cameras and sensors, floating against a green and yellow gradient grid background.
AR
What will it take for smart glasses to replace smartphones?
Smart glasses that combine personal computing, AI, and augmented reality could be the next life-changing consumer tech device. Here’s how.
A collage of agricultural elements including a satellite, crop fields, tomatoes, and growth charts illustrating data, boosted breeding techniques, chemical formulas, and a seedling highlights efforts to combat hunger.
Agriculture
Boosted Breeding and beyond: 3 tech trends that could end world hunger
A world without hunger is possible, and the development and deployment of new farming technologies could be one key to manifesting it.
View of a courtroom through parted red curtains, revealing wooden chairs and a judge's bench flanked by large pillars, reminiscent of the grandeur often seen in images of the Supreme Court shared on social media.
Big Tech
The Supreme Court will soon decide the future of social media
Should social media platforms have the right to decide what speech is permitted? Should the government?
A man wearing a gray beanie, white AI glasses, and a green puffer jacket smiles subtly against a light brown background.
AI
How Brilliant Labs CEO is creating a “symbiosis of humanity and artificial intelligence”
CEO Bobak Tavangar discusses the philosophy behind Brilliant’s latest device, Frame, and his vision for the future of AI.
A stylized digital illustration of a hand wearing a futuristic SIMA glove, manipulating a ghostly image of a game controller against a dark, gradient background.
AI
Why AI playing video games is a big deal
Google’s SIMA can follow human instructions to play 3D video games. Researchers hopes the platform can one day help AI navigate real-world environments.
A man in a suit stands next to a robotic arm with computer-brain interfaces on a stage under blue lighting.
Big Tech
In a future with brain-computer interfaces like Elon Musk’s Neuralink, we may need to rethink freedom of thought
In a future with more “mind reading,” thanks to computer-brain interfaces, we may need to rethink freedom of thought.
Abstract digital artwork depicting a data center
AI
OpenAI and Microsoft are reportedly planning a $100B supercomputer
Microsoft is reportedly planning to build a $100 billion data center and supercomputer, called “Stargate,” for OpenAI.
On the right are fingers holding a flat, square device that looks like a magnet with a grid of slits cut into it. On the left is a person holding their hand next to their mouth like they're trying to project their voice.
Wearables
AI-powered wearable “speaks” for people with vocal cord problems
Bioengineers at UCLA are developing an AI-powered wearable that could make it easier for people with vocal cord problems to talk.
a circular device about the size of a half-dollar stuck on the back of a person's upper arm
Wearables
FDA approves first over-the-counter CGM
The FDA-approved Stelo is the first continuous glucose monitor (CGM) available without a prescription in the US.
A man sitting in front of a microphone at the world economic forum.
AI
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.
An image of a musical note on a black background.
VR
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.
a collage of a satellite above earth and pollution
Climate Crisis
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.
A Hyundai logo available for purchase on Amazon.
Cars
This is the year you can finally buy a car on Amazon
A man in a spacesuit with a red helmet designed by Sora.
AI
OpenAI’s text-to-video AI, Sora, is futurism come to life
Sora will let anyone transform their ideas directly into video and the implications are breathtaking.
A woman wearing a VR headset sitting on a couch.
AR
Why Apple won’t call the Vision Pro “virtual reality”
Apple has forbidden developers from using “VR,” “AR,” or “MR” to describe their Vision Pro apps. That’s a mistake.
A seaturle swimming in the ocean created using Google's AI program Lumeire.
AI
Google’s Lumiere has created a new paradigm for text-to-video AI
Google’s new text-to-video model, Lumiere, promises a new architecture that will make video AI models more modern and powerful.
a hand holding a phone with the Gemini logo on the screen
AI
Google’s Gemini Ultra AI has been released
Google just made its most capable generative AI — Gemini Ultra — available to the public, while killing the “Bard” brand.
A hand reaching out to a robotic hand with an AI in the background.
AI
AI is here – and everywhere: 3 AI researchers look to the challenges ahead in 2024
AI scholars look ahead to 2024 and describe the issues developers, regulators, and everyday people are likely to face.
A virtual reality hand with a touch glove.
VR
Tech hacks the nervous system to bring touch to virtual reality
Afference’s Phantom conducts electrical signals through nerves in the fingers to convince your brain it feels objects in virtual spaces.
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