A partnership between Moderna and OpenAI provides a real-world example of what can happen when a company leans into generative AI. | Continue reading
Researchers have discovered a way to eliminate "forever chemicals," or PFAS, which usually take hundreds or thousands of years to break down. | Continue reading
This is Future Explored, your weekly guide to world-changing technology. You can get stories like these straight to your inbox every week by subscribing here. | Continue reading
Sensors and analytics give oil well operators real-time alerts when things go wrong, so they can respond before they become disasters. | Continue reading
A new type of brain implant technology has given a man with total blindness a kind of “artificial vision.” | Continue reading
OpenAI’s most powerful AI model, GPT-4, outperformed junior doctors in deciding how to treat patients with eye problems. | Continue reading
Here’s how New York City's congestion pricing is expected to improve traffic, air quality, and public transit. | Continue reading
An AI fighter pilot faced off against a human pilot in a “dogfight” using actual planes — a huge milestone in military automation. | Continue reading
Instead of a one-size-fits-all treatment approach, AI could help personalize treatments for each patient to provide the best outcomes. | Continue reading
The Bureau of Land Management is taking steps to make it easier for public lands to be considered for geothermal power systems. | Continue reading
AI music generators — AIs that create new music based on users’ text prompts — are lowering the bar for music creation, for better or worse. | Continue reading
Materials scientists are cooking up environmentally friendly plastics from natural sources like silk, plant fibers and whole algae. | Continue reading
CATL, the world’s biggest battery manufacturer, just unveiled TENER, a new energy storage system for utility companies. | Continue reading
Meta has upgraded its AI assistant, Meta AI, with a new LLM (Llama 3) and made it available in far more places. | Continue reading
Proton irradiation decreases the rate of corrosion in certain metal alloys — potentially good news for promising nuclear power reactors . | Continue reading
Freethink's weekly countdown of the biggest space news, featuring a new kind of military satellite, the solar eclipse, and more. | Continue reading
There are a number of reasons why solar-powered cars aren’t an option for everyday travel, at least not yet. | Continue reading
A day after retiring its hydraulic Atlas robot, Boston Dynamics released a video debuting its all-electric, workplace-ready replacement. | Continue reading
Since AI is chained to linear reasoning, workplaces that embrace it will do well to have neurodivergent colleagues who reason more creatively. | Continue reading
A study of embryo development in mice led to the creation of a mutant mouse fetus with an extra pair of legs in place of genitals. | Continue reading
In a future with more "mind reading," thanks to computer-brain interfaces, we may need to rethink freedom of thought. | Continue reading
Australian scientists used an advanced 3D printing technique to create a super strong, super lightweight new “metamaterial.” | Continue reading
Personalized cancer vaccines were a recurring theme at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in 2024. | Continue reading
Most antibiotics target metabolically active bacteria, but AI can help efficiently screen compounds that are lethal to dormant microbes. | Continue reading
Satellite internet startup Astranis just unveiled Omega, a new, larger satellite that could help it close the digital divide. | Continue reading
Avian flu is infecting cows on US dairy farms, and now a person has caught it — but new research could help us avoid a bird flu pandemic. | Continue reading
Despite all working the same way, batteries are made in different sizes and shapes for reasons of cost and how easy they are to make. | Continue reading
Why do we use steam rather than other gases? Steam has lasted this long because we have an abundance of water, covering 71% of Earth's surface. | Continue reading
How often do you think about death? Spoken word artist Andrea Gibson is teaching us that facing mortality can shift our perspective for the better. | Continue reading
Freethink's weekly countdown of the biggest space news, featuring a new SpaceX service, a request for "moon time," and more. | Continue reading
Microsoft is reportedly planning to build a $100 billion data center and supercomputer, called "Stargate," for OpenAI. | Continue reading
An MIT team is hoping to fortify coastlines with “architected” reefs engineered to mimic the wave-buffering effects of natural reefs. | Continue reading
Meet Kelly and Zach Weinersmith, the self-proclaimed space bastards who are urging us to rethink space colonization. | Continue reading
While denying reports that Tesla won't be making a low-cost EV, CEO Elon Musk announced plans to unveil a “robotaxi” on August 8, 2024. | Continue reading
“Making stuff up” and “being creative” may be two sides of the same coin — but you have to be able to tell the difference. | Continue reading
Who is responsible for copyright violations when they're produced by generative AI? The technology is outpacing the law. | Continue reading
Paxlovid may have underperformed in a new trial, but other promising COVID-19 drugs are being authorized or in the works. | Continue reading
How vulnerable is the electrical grid to a malicious attacker who destroys select substations? Google's Deep Mind can help predict the answer. | Continue reading
A GLP-1 agonist used to treat diabetes appeared to halt the progression of Parkinson’s symptoms in a phase 2 trial. | Continue reading
Scientists have found a large black hole that “hiccups,” giving off plumes of gas, revealing another black hole. | Continue reading
A specially trained “decoder” slashes the time it takes a brain-computer interface (BCI) to read a user’s mind. | Continue reading
At last, neuroscientists are learning how the hormone shapes social behaviors such as pair-bonding and parental care. It’s more complicated than they thought. | Continue reading
The first space-based mission to detect gravitational waves, LISA, could give us a brand new perspective into the universe’s past. | Continue reading
Hotter summers and warmer winters are changing the types of plants we'll be able to successfully grow. Here's how to adapt. | Continue reading
Terraform Industries is using sunlight, water, and air to create synthetic natural gas — and keep methane out of the atmosphere. | Continue reading
Healthy corals could disappear by the 2030s if climate change is not curbed, so scientists are deep freezing specimens. | Continue reading
A special edition of Freethink's weekly countdown of space news, featuring the 10 biggest milestones in humanity's exploration of space. | Continue reading
A gene therapy for wet AMD — the most common cause of severe vision loss in seniors — is now in phase 3 trials. | Continue reading