A study published this week in the journal Plos One showed that plants communicate with each other in a new unique way. The paper, entitled “Aboveground mechanical stimuli affect belowground plant-plant communication,” illustrates that plants use their roots to prompt their neighbors to grow, when in crowded competitive environments, by secreting chemicals. “If we have a... Continue Reading →

A new study from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Beer-Sheva, Israel, published in Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, illustrates for the first time a robotic system that can help patients with rehabilitation. The system, that plays Tic Tac Toe with patients, was successful in improving real-life task performance. “Effective human-robot interactions in rehabilitation... Continue Reading →

Autonomous cars are much in the news, mostly because of the collisions that are bound to happen as we mix human and robot drivers. These raise obvious questions — who pays when a robocar kills? — but the uproar over safety overlooks the fact that autonomous technology will take over commercial trucking long before the average person has... Continue Reading →

They call it “the hive,” or “the grid.” Or sometimes just: “the machine.” It’s a huge structure that fills a warehouse on the outskirts of Andover, a small and quiet town in southeast England. It’s impossible to take in at a single glance, but standing on a maintenance walkway near the building’s rafters, you look... Continue Reading →

The U.S. is embroiled in several technological races, including one to capitalize on the artificial intelligence market. And in an effort to win, the White House is meeting with industry leaders to see what they can do to better implement AI into the U.S. workforce. The U.S. is currently considered the leader of the pack in AI because it has the most... Continue Reading →

When Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before House and Senate panels earlier this month, he explained how his company uses the data of millions of Americans. This particular set of hearings was urgent because our elected leaders have realized the power that lies in Facebook’s hidden trove of networked knowledge — its potential... Continue Reading →

Minimum wage increases are sending shock waves across the fast-food industry. On Tuesday, Jack in the Box's CEO said the fast-food chain is considering swapping some cashiers with robots as the minimum wage rises in California. "As we see the rising costs of labor, it just makes sense" to consider adding new automated technology, CEO... Continue Reading →

The University of Everywhere is on the horizon. It’s going to emerge while the current generation of young people mature into adulthood. This is what it will look like and what attending it will mean: Organizations such as edX, Coursera, Udacity, Saylor, OLI and a range of others like the United Kingdom’s long-established Open University... Continue Reading →

Major chains can’t get enough of the sales-boosting devices

The marijuana industry is growing so fast that if the government legalized it nationally it would outsell ice cream. A new report from Marijuana Business Daily estimates that the total demand for marijuana, including the black market, is $45-$50 billion. Annual ice cream sales are only $5.1 billion. Total recreational cannabis sales in the U.S. at... Continue Reading →