The Internet of Things connects everyday objects to the internet

The Internet of Things refers to the connection of all devices to the cloud

These connections between everyday objects, each other, and data processing centers enable devices to adapt to user needs and improve their ability to respond to real-time data. IoT networks are designed to enhance the efficiency of homes, cities, and industries.

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.

Smart cities without strong cybersecurity can leave utilities extremely vulnerable

Insecure devices connected to the Internet of Things pose risks to the entire network, which cybercriminals can hijack to compromise infrastructure and private resident data. Poorly secured systems that become inoperable can undermine the promise of smart cities by worsening the quality of life.

As of 2025, the internet is entering its fourth phase, with three more to go

Since the inception of the internet as a tool for connecting teams of researchers, technological and infrastructure advancements have progressively increased connectivity. Connections between computers, mobile devices, all devices, and now AI agents will be succeeded by an internet that integrates perception and the senses toward an eventual quantum internet.

Infrared light is most often associated with thermal radiation and cooking food

Although extensively used in remote controls for electronics, where LED lights send signals wirelessly, infrared cameras allow for night vision and thermography—imaging of heat patterns in the body to non-invasively reveal blood flow for supplementary diagnostics. Infrared radiation also provides heat in toasters, saunas, and other technologies.

Ten everyday NASA inventions (likely) in your home

As a public agency, NASA's goals aren't just in space, but for life on Earth, too. That's why so many everyday objects including memory foam, cordless tools, and golf balls are rooted in research first developed by space-faring engineers and scientists. Peruse this quirky list of some of those everyday objects destined for space that are also probably somewhere inside your home.

In the V2X framework, vehicles are wireless connected to each other

Vehicle-to-everything systems would also connect cars to traffic infrastructure and pedestrians, enabling safer, quicker, and more efficient road transportation. Tests have been conducted to demonstrate the viability of this technology with both WiFi-based and cellular network-based systems.

Integrated circuits come in digital, analog, or mixed types

Each type can be further divided based on application, technology, and integration level. Digital ICs are used in computer memories and microprocessors, while analog ICs process continuous signals within sensors, including temperature, light, and sound.

Learn about the protocols that make navigating the internet possible

While TCP/IP sends data in packets to the correct destination and checks for errors, UDP omits such safety features to speed up data transfer for real-time communication and streaming. Software rules such as HTTP and HTTPS enable the transfer of content on the World Wide Web, while SMTP handles email messages between servers.

Two main types of inflight WiFi connections are air-to-ground and satellite-based

ATG systems rely on aircraft antennae to catch signals from cellphone towers, while the latter uses a network of satellites transmitting data from space. As of 2022, airlines like Delta and United hosted over 1.5 million monthly WiFi sessions.

A detailed interactive timeline of technology since 1500

Tech devices are heirs to a complex history of both technological invention and social history. What if you could visualize how radio, TVs, and other devices are connected to the past and each other? Trace the elaborate genealogies of your phone and computer with this interactive timeline showing tech inventions since 1500.

How the five senses share information with each other

The human body depends on information from the five sensory organs—the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin—to react to the world around it. Each of these organs, in its own way, relies on complex circuitry to send signals back to the central nervous system.

As much as 10% of home energy use comes from unused, plugged in devices

Vampire or phantom energy includes smart features that keep devices connected to the internet and standby modes that allow quick wake-ups. Turning off these background features or unplugging devices from outlets can help reduce emissions by as much as 20%.

Do wearables help those with chronic disease?

The integration of wearable technology in healthcare has promised significant benefits for chronic disease management, yet the actual impact remains underexplored. This systematic review published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research...

Brain-computer interfaces create a direct link between the brain and external devices

The technology enables users to control prosthetics, computers, or even games using only their thoughts. In 2021, a monkey played table tennis using only its brain, thanks to a Neuralink device, marking a major milestone before human trials began in 2024.

A basement of mechanical systems—collectively called the technosphere—supports B2

Twenty-six underground air handlers heat, cool, filter and manage the humidity of the air across the biomes of Biosphere 2. The above-ground Energy Center complex provides continuous power to these and other systems, including heating and cooling water for laboratory experiments and personal use.

Explore IFA Berlin 2025 exhibits and navigate the world’s largest consumer tech floor

The IFA Berlin official site showcases standout moments from the 2025 event, including cutting-edge product debuts and its floor plan, which covers thousands of square meters of smart home, audio, and lifestyle tech.

View major global infrastructure, including power plants, fuel lines, and water pumping stations

The Open Infrastructure Map displays data from the OpenStreetMap database, which aggregates information from freely licensed geodata sources, surveys, and photographic and satellite imagery. It also displays power lines, generators, substations, various chemical pipelines, telecommunications towers, data centers, and more in daytime and nighttime maps.

Why scientists are making robot insects

Insects have much to teach us about flying, jumping, moving quickly, and more. So, roboticists are studying how insects do the ridiculous things they do, like walk on water or jump fifty times their body height, to inform their design and engineering of a new slate of robots: tiny ones. Learn the future of this type of robot with this fascinating video with insights into both insects and robots.

The gig economy is a labor market in which workers earn money through on-demand jobs

These “gigs” are often temporary or flexible tasks, such as driving for Uber. Colloquially, the term “gig economy” usually refers to people doing jobs where they connect with people who request their services through an app.

The Internet Archive is a nonprofit digital library of the Web

Founded in 1996, the Archive promotes open access and the digital preservation of online information and, as of 2026, contains more than 200 petabytes of content, including over one trillion web pages, 56 million books and texts, 13 million audio recordings, 1.3 million software programs, and other digital content.

How TikTok ate the internet

TikTok is now deeply integrated into American culture, thanks to the app’s powerful algorithm and focus on entertainment which have influenced popular trends and social media content consumption in the US. This immersive piece highlights TikTok’s role in helping shape everything from music to fashion and even politics in the US—while its connection to China has also drawn scrutiny and raised national security concerns.

Personal computers became more common in the late 1970s, making working from home more viable

As the internet and email became more popular in the 1990s, more infrastructure that would eventually support remote work was created. But the practice was still relatively uncommon until the COVID-19 pandemic, when white-collar workers first took to working from home en masse.

OSINT: How hackers find their marks

What is OSINT? How do hackers gather intel about targets? Just how much can they learn about you? Learn more as we dig in to the world of OSINT.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

An overview of Linux, from the foundational program to its related operating systems

The Linux kernel, which bridges hardware and software, serves as the basis for many fully customizable operating systems, whose components can be modified or removed to optimize performance or reduce bloat on devices with limited resources. This has made these OSes useful for low-power devices like smart thermostats, as well as for powerful supercomputers that require computational efficiency.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

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

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

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

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

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

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

Shooting stars, or meteors, are fragments of asteroids and comets that burn up as they enter Earth's atmosphere, creating streaks in the sky called meteor showers.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

Corals are themselves not coral reefs—the term refers to the tiny marine invertebrates that build the rigid reef.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

Explore what it's like inside a patient isolation unit, used in situations such as treating a patient or suspected patient with Ebola.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

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.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.