Since the time our ancient human relatives began using stone tools to perform tasks, humans have harnessed new technology to advance our ability to feed ourselves, increase our health, expand the boundaries of our knowledge, and much more. From artificial intelligence and quantum computing, to optimizing the human body in pursuit of a long and healthy life, and much more—learn about these topics and more with our smart-but-digestible overviews and expert-curated resources.
Hours of research by our editors, distilled into minutes of clarity.
Suno, a web-based, text-to-music generator, takes a prompt—such as a music style, along with a general lyric idea—and can produce a highly polished, realistic-sounding tune in a matter of seconds.
In IBM’s quantum lab, quantum processors are kept at a temperature of 15 millikelvin using dilution refrigerators. These refrigerators use nested thermal layers, cryogens like liquid nitrogen and helium, and powerful compressors to maintain the ultra-cold temperatures required for qubit stability and performance.
If a tree frog was injected with a DNA mixture containing follistatin, a gene that may influence muscle growth, would it become buff? Josiah Zayner hopes so. By learning how to biohack animals, he hopes people are one step closer to feeling more comfortable "whipping up DIY gene therapy."
Unlike traditional prosthetics that rely on surface electrodes or mechanical parts, this system uses implanted titanium and nerve-connected electrodes to enable a seamless brain-to-arm connection. Patients train in virtual reality with their implanted signals before using the physical prosthesis.
Tom Cruise isn’t on TikTok. But you might think that he actually does have an account on the service if you came across the TikTok deepfakes of the actor that have gone viral. They’re the work of a visual and AI effects artist named Chris Umé and a Cruise stand-in, actor Miles Fisher, who already bears a vague resemblance to the actor. Watch what happens after Cruise’s face is superimposed onto Fisher’s.
Unlike the sounds made by combustion engines in gas-powered vehicles, electric cars produce no motor sounds. The company's acoustics team worked with composer Rudolf Helpmier to craft an electric-inspired revving sound for its R8 e-tron supercar.
COVID-19 spreading around the same time as the rollout of 5G sparked conspiracy theories and outrage that the new wireless technology was harming people and the environment. (Some users may experience a paywall.)
More brands are investing their marketing budgets into Augmented Reality Advertising (AR) - find out why AR Marketing continues to grow.
Officially launched in 2015 to a few hundred users, gaming chat platform Discord now boasts over 20 million daily active users. The original team pivoted from game development to the creation of gamer-friendly alternative to Skype.
Some vaccines, like those for measles, rely on weakened versions of a virus. These weakened pathogens are introduced into the body, triggering an immune response and helping the immune system learn to protect itself against stronger versions of the virus. (This also explains why some vaccines make you feel under the weather.)