Articles by Technology Review from April 2015

A new superconducting chip made by IBM demonstrates a technique crucial to the development of quantum computers.A superconducting chip developed at IBM demonstrates an important step needed for the cr...

Researchers are investigating whether recalling text messages, calls, and Facebook likes could be a useful log-in strategy.Before you read this story, try to answer the following question: Who was the...

A company that makes robots designed to work closely with humans has a new version that addresses the limitations of its first effort.In a workshop at the Boston headquarters of Rethink Robotics, engi...

To rescue its struggling business, Hewlett-Packard is making a long-shot bid to change the fundamentals of how computers work.There is a shrine inside Hewlett-Packards headquarters in Palo Alto, in th...

Neural probes that combine optics, electronics, and drugs could help unlock the secrets of the brain.Various powerful new tools for exploring and manipulating the brain have been developed over the la...

To rescue its struggling business, Hewlett-Packard is making a long-shot bid to change the fundamentals of how computers work.There is a shrine inside Hewlett-Packards headquarters in Palo Alto, in th...

Neural probes that combine optics, electronics, and drugs could help unlock the secrets of the brain.Various powerful new tools for exploring and manipulating the brain have been developed over the la...

Plant scientists can swiftly modify crops in ways that would take years with conventional breeding.Dan Voytas is a plant geneticist at the University of Minnesota. But two days a week he stops studyin...

A startup called Light uses a cluster of small camera modules to create top-notch photos. First stop: Your smartphone.Most digital cameras are limited by a key aspect of their design: they have one le...

In a first-of-its-kind endeavor, electricity-starved Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are trying to get power from a lakeand avert catastrophe.Its a Friday afternoon on the Rwandan side of ...

Kentaro Toyama went to India with noble intentions for using technology to improve peoples lives. Now hes wrestling with why the impact was so small....

A system that keeps data on corporate computers and mobile devices encrypted until it is viewed may help prevent breaches.Social-security and credit-card numbers frequently leak or are stolen from cor...

Deep brain stimulation could lead to a more effective, self-tuning device for Parkinsons.Sending pulses of electricity through the brain via implanted electrodesa procedure known as deep brain stimula...

IBM researchers are exploring Watsons abilities to answer museumgoers questions.IBMs Watson, the machine-learning computer that won Jeopardy! in 2011 and has found work searching medical and scientifi...

We have the technology to dramatically increase the independence of people with spinal-cord injuries. The problem is bringing it to market and keeping it there.One night in 1982, John Mumford was work...

Philosopher Nick Bostrom says major tech companies are listening to his warnings about investing in AI safety research.Over the past year, Oxford University philosophy professor Nick Bostrom has gaine...

AltspaceVR is building virtual hangouts that it hopes youll use to watch a movie with friends or play a game of life-size chess.We know what social networks are like on the Web and in apps, but what w...

Can deep brain stimulation affect how well and what we remember?For some of the approximately 10 million people worldwide with traumatic brain injury (TBI), forming and holding onto new memories can b...

Programming languages shape the way their users thinkwhich helps explain how tech startups work and why they are able to reinvent themselves.When the Japanese computer scientist Yukihiro Matsumoto dec...

A startup is borrowing techniques used in high-frequency trading to make virtual worlds more realistic.What new possibilities might open up in video game designand beyondwhen an unlimited number of pe...

It might be possible to create a burger that helps the environment and improves your health. But will it taste good enough to win over the masses?People want burgers. It seems hardwired. You can read ...