Parents worry about a lot of things—like whether their children will get into college, or become drug addicts, or get abducted by strangers. But I spend a lot more time worrying that my children are going to live with us forever because robots have taken all their potential jobs. As somebody who has spent her... Continue Reading →

Jeremy Rifkin’s book, The Zero Marginal Cost Society, is at times thrilling, at times encyclopedic, and at times possibly hyperbolic. It is very well-written, it touches on an incredibly wide variety of modern topics, it builds on an exhaustive set of references, and most importantly it makes you think seriously about the future. You cannot... Continue Reading →

China has some of the worst air pollution in the world. In several cities, thick layers of smog are common, resulting in thousands of deaths every year. According to a 2016 study, the top contributor of air pollution-related deaths in China is the burning of coal. The team of Chinese and American researchers behind the... Continue Reading →

Iceland isn't blessed with much wind or sunlight. Not only does that make vitamin D a commodity, it also means solar and wind power is hard to come by. And yet 100 percent of Iceland's electricity comes from renewables. Not 30 percent by 2025, like the US, or Australia's 23.5 percent by 2020 target. It's... Continue Reading →

Vertical farming has gained a lot of traction over the past few years and is being heralded as the green solution to the growing global food crisis. Consisting of crops stacking in vertical layers, this style of farming can yield more crops per square acre than traditional farming or greenhouses, and also uses less water,... Continue Reading →

Americans overwhelmingly agree: Medicare works. After decades of living with for-profit health insurance or, worse, no health insurance at all, your 65th birthday is eye-opening. That birthday brings Medicare. Once you enroll in Medicare, you generally have no claims to fill out and no insurance companies to contact. Doctors’ offices routinely do the paperwork. It... Continue Reading →

Andrew Yang is an American entrepreneur who will run for president in 2020, a universal basic income for all adult Americans is the main objective of his agenda. Recently, Yang discussed the automation of jobs in swing states that led to Trump’s election. Andrew argues that the districts that swung to Trump most have a direct correlation... Continue Reading →

Tapping into solar energy at home currently means having rooftop solar panels installed, or if Elon Musk gets his way, solar tiles. But Michigan State University (MSU) has other ideas. It wants homes to generate lots of solar energy, but without the rooftop modification. How can you add solar power generation to a building without it... Continue Reading →

Researchers at the University of Warwick have developed two tests that could potentially detect autism in children. Both tests, one blood, and one urine are based on a previously discovered link between damage to proteins in blood plasma and autism. The team believes the tests to be the first of their kind, and hope that... Continue Reading →

I work for a robotics company. I’m sure you can imagine the rush that comes when the latest predictions about the growth of the market peg the opportunity on the fast-track to exponential growth. After all, it’s how I make my living. For collaborative robots (cobots), the news seems to be all good. Last fall,... Continue Reading →