Read a book making the case for 'smart enough' cities

Will smart cities widen the divide between rich and poor?

Author of the book "Uneven Innovation" talks about the need for intention when planning smart cities to avoid unintentionally creating inequality. This hour-long podcast delves into the impact of privatizing public services, community engagement,...

Many issues facing urban environments cannot be solved by smart technologies

Although connecting systems to the Internet of Things can provide improved efficiency in municipal systems, problems such as limited affordable housing are driven by larger socioeconomic factors. Some experts suggest that local governments should focus resources on practical solutions to these issues rather than investing in smart technologies.

Smart cities have been more successful when upgrading existing infrastructure

Building urban landscapes with smart technologies from scratch has sometimes produced futuristic-looking yet sterile environments that struggle to attract residents and justify high costs. Enhancing existing areas while retaining their historical and cultural touchstones has proven more appealing in many cities.

Artificial intelligence may further enhance smart city data analysis

Identifying patterns within systems in the Internet of Things may enable AI tools to make informed decisions regarding transportation, safety, and sustainability without human intervention. However, such tools will also need to successfully address concerns about privacy, digital equity, and algorithmic bias.

Evaluating the world’s 'smartest' cities

A ranking of "smart cities" analyzes cities by economical and technological aspects as well as quality of life, inclusiveness, and care to the environment.

What is a smart city?

The internet of things and automation are two of the technologies used in smart cities. Learn about the technologies making cities more human-centric in this three-minute read.

Average citizens may be the greatest liability to smart cities

Smart cities utilize massive datasets to enhance mobility, resource utilization, and public safety. However, this data can also be compromised if mishandled by residents, making citizen awareness of risks a key component of cybersecurity efforts.

Explore plans for smart cities expected to be built by 2050

Locations such as Net City in China, Woven City in Japan, and NEOM in Saudi Arabia are expected to incorporate green energy, AI, and advanced transportation system technologies to enhance air quality, reduce congestion, and minimize pollution by significantly reducing personal car use.

A sociologist makes the case for libraries and parks as essential public infrastructure

Eric Klinenberg argues that social infrastructure that brings people together is as vital to a community as roads or power grids. He contends that when communities invest in these spaces, residents grow more connected, and when they are neglected, isolation follows.

The case for optimism

Author, editor, and thinker Kevin Kelly makes an argument for optimism. Not only as a personal philosophy, but as a moral obligation, focusing on the need for optimism in overcoming challenges. Drawing examples ranging back to the Wright brothers,...

Critic Neil Postman argued modern technology is dystopian

Cultural critic Neil Postman argued in 1985's "Amusing Ourselves to Death" that mass media had made the dystopia of Huxley's "Brave New World" a reality. In 1992, he published "Technopoly," a wider critique of the utopian visions of technology or, as Postman calls it, "all of the machinery that takes people out of public arenas and keeps them fixed in their homes."

How to prevent a worst-case scenario with synbio

Author and entrepreneur Rob Reid reviews the risks of a world where more and more people have access to the technology needed to create a doomsday bug that could wipe out humanity.

Self-driving vehicles have the potential to cut ride costs by 40-50% and eliminate thousands of road deaths

Author Andrew Miller argues that widespread adoption of self-driving vehicles is no longer a distant promise, as Waymo expands into over 15 cities. However, he warns the technology's biggest remaining hurdles are political: liability, labor, and whether cities embrace or resist the shift.

Research suggests using AI for schoolwork may harm critical thinking skills

An MIT study finds lower brain engagement in students who used ChatGPT, resulting in consistent underperformance in neural, linguistic and behavioral levels. AI users struggled to recall their own essays, while the brain-only group showed the highest neural connectivity and satisfaction.

Balancing natural resource use: A look at sustainable governance

In an age of escalating environmental crises and increasing inequality, the governance of natural resources is critical to both human well-being and the health of our planet. This article published by the International Institute for Sustainable...

'Slow productivity' as a humane approach to work

Work is increasingly encroaching on every part of our lives, while digital technologies enable supervisors to micromanage every part of an employee’s day. “Slow productivity” is a movement to alter the pace and quality of one’s work to avoid burnout and provide a more humane approach to work.

Some educators argue society's obsession with colleges at the top of rankings has hurt the US higher education ecosystem

Why are "good colleges" often the ones that accept the fewest students? Speaker Cecilia Orphan argues that society's obsession with colleges that are often private, expensive, and that reject applicants with high frequency has done harm. Instead, she argues, we should focus on regional public universities that meet the needs of students in a cost-achievable manner.

A comic book-style review of attending a biohacking conference

When Andrew Greenstone attended a biohacking conference in Austin, Texas, he didn't expect to walk away a newly implanted member of the techy cadre. Partway through the event, he paid $150 to have an NFC chip inserted into his right hand.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

'Moneyball' author Michael Lewis believes sports betting is a problem for young men

The noted journalist and author of "Moneyball," "The Big Short," and "The Blind Side" has now fixed his discerning eye on the sports-betting industry. In this interview, he explains why he sees sports betting as a problem for American society, especially boys and young men, and why he believes the government needs to regulate the nascent industry more seriously.

Social work pioneer Jane Addams (1860 - 1935) on civilization

"Civilization is a method of living, an attitude of equal respect for all men."

This online magazine runs on a solar panel, sometimes going offline

The publication's solar-powered server in Barcelona means the site goes dark when clouds roll in. It's designed as an intentional statement about energy and digital infrastructure. The magazine features essays advocating for the adoption of pre-industrial or low-energy solutions to modern problems.

One 'Harry Potter' fan fiction deals with cognitive science and philosophy

Eliezer Yudkowsky's "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality" is not your typical fan fiction: It uses JK Rowling's fictional universe to wrestle with rationalist philosophy and the physics behind the magic taught at Hogwarts. The book went on to become popular in Silicon Valley, especially in the effective altruism movement.

Grace Hopper warned against prioritizing hardware purchases in future computing

Foreseeing the rising volume of data and the increasing demand for its processing and access, she advocated that organizations first map the total flow of information they require and then choose infrastructure to support it, rather than wastefully spending on the fastest computing technology and forcing software to compensate for unnecessary hardware or incorrect data.

Elon Musk follows a five-step decision-making process when simplifying technology

He begins by determining whether how something has been previously done is—in his words—"dumb," or if a certain feature should even exist, let alone be optimized. This first principles method has helped him develop some of the most valuable companies in the world.

Bill Nye believes a World War II-level mobilization is needed to end climate change

As part of his science advocacy efforts, Nye has argued that existing technologies, including electric vehicles and renewable energy, can already significantly reduce emissions. However, switching to these technologies requires a more expansive awareness of the problem and a greater sociopolitical willingness by policymakers and the general public.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Watch how algorithms can be designed to train themselves and self-improve without human input, to the point where the optimized code is too complex for programmers to understand.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

How the most famous Ebola book, The Hot Zone, which sold 3.5 million copies and was translated into 30 languages, got aspects of the disease so wrong.

The first robot in literature may have been a 'mechanical man' in 1907's 'Ozma of Oz,' a book in L Frank Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' series.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.