What makes your neighborhood, a neighborhood? Some might say simple geography. Others would point to the demographics of the residents, or the particular kinds of homes and businesses you can find there. These factors are all important. But remember, a neighborhood isn’t just a collection of people and buildings. If you and your neighbors didn’t … Continue reading
Today, I’m dusting off two quickie-but-goodie items from my accumulated stash of articles. They’re two different perspectives on the same question, a question that lies at the very heart of this blog: Can we ever know what the future holds? Continue reading
Ever received an email from your toaster? Neither have I, but in a future featuring the Internet of Things, it could become commonplace. What is the Internet of Things? Like the internet itself, it’s about connections. Way back in the ’70’s, ARPANET connected a handful of university mainframes. The internet it grew into connected individual … Continue reading
Step aside, Sherlock: there’s another big brain on the scene. He’s got deep knowledge, pieces together abstract concepts on the fly, and shares a name with your erstwhile partner. Meet Watson. If you watched Jeopardy last February, you got to witness the unusual intersection of cutting-edge intelligence research and popular game shows. In a handful … Continue reading
We’ve come a long way since the turn of the millennium, no doubt about it, and our technology is the niftiest it’s ever been. But there are some stubborn vestiges of the previous century that have overstayed their welcome. They stick around like your in-laws after Christmas, using up money, resources or time, and just … Continue reading
We’re discussing the world-changing potential of effectively infinite data storage. If you’re just joining us, start with Part 1 to see how we got here. Here’s the question: Supposing we have a hard drive with enough capacity for anything we can imagine – what should we plug it into? There are many incredible possibilities; here … Continue reading
My proverbial file drawer is bursting with revolutions to write about: artificial intelligence, thought-driven cars, and genetic monsters, to name a few. But where to begin? It seems inauspicious to inaugurate this blog with a downer like climate change, and as much as I’d like to lead off with an article about monkeys in space, … Continue reading
Cosmic Revolutions 