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.
Instead of understanding the meaning of words, large language models break up sentences into words and subwords, assigning each a set of numbers called tokens. Grammar rules are then "learned" by finding associations between these sets of numbers.
For decades, supply chains for critical minerals have grown increasingly vulnerable due to reliance on imports. In 2022, the US Geological Survey expanded the list of critical minerals to 50 to better reflect growing industrial needs, exacerbating this vulnerability.
At level 0, a vehicle cannot intervene on its own, and the driver controls all navigation. At level 3, the car operates autonomously under limited conditions, but a human can still take control. A future level 5 vehicle drives itself and lacks a steering wheel or pedals.
Starting from stone tools millions of years ago and culminating in today's cutting-edge tech, this thorough genealogy lays out how humanity has progressed in its use of tools over thousands of years. See descriptions, links to further info, and how each tech fits in the larger tree.
Nitinol, one such alloy, can bend back into its trained shape if exposed to heat because of a solid-to-solid phase transformation. Some showerheads already use nitinol to regulate hot water and prevent unintentional burns.
The seafloor contains cobalt-rich deposits at underwater ridges and seamounts, as well as nodules—potato-sized deposits of metals—scattered at depths between 4,000 and 6,000 meters. Mining noise, lights, release of toxic elements, and scraping of the seafloor could affect marine organisms.
Unlike older rockets left to sink in the ocean, the first stage was designed to steer itself back for a controlled landing on a sea-based barge. Refurbishment of these components are half the cost of building new.
Large language models are trained on vast amounts of unstructured data, from which they develop parameters for grammar and associations between words. These connections can introduce errors due to inapplicable reasoning when used on new data in unfamiliar contexts.
Bitcoin is a popular cryptocurrency with a finite supply, and the issuance of new bitcoins is currently offered as a reward for verifying the transactions on the blockchain. Experts say the currency won’t reach its limit until the year 2140, and miners may ultimately rely on transaction fees.
Due to their enormous size, turbines are assembled in parts on-site using prefab components, advanced cranes, and vibration-dampening systems to manage the dynamic ocean environment. Three-blade turbines became the norm because even-numbered blades create damaging vibrations.
