The scientific body established by a law signed by President Lincoln released two groundbreaking reports today on geoengineering. The reports raise fundamental questions regarding efficacy, safety, economy and governance.
Last year, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' Science and Security Board concluded, "We can manage our technology, or become victims of it. The choice is ours, and the [Doomsday] Clock is ticking." This year, the board moved the Doomsday Clock to three minutes to midnight and added, "The probability of global catastrophe is very high, and the actions needed to reduce the risks of disaster must be taken very soon."
You Don't Own Me (music video). Vaccine Delivery: The Last Mile. Behind the Scenes: Big Beverage. "We Want a Co-op!" Google VP Leaps From Stratosphere.
Alan Eustace, a senior vice president at Google, set a new world record today by completing the highest-altitude free fall yet--parachuting from 135,908 feet (or 25 miles) above Earth.
The record was previously held by daredevil skydiver Felix Baumgartner, who leaped from 24 miles above Earth in October 2012.
To put that in perspective, scientists say you officially enter space at 73 miles above Earth's surface. Eustace largely self-funded the project on the cheap, with a minimalist approach to technology.
Katrina vanden Heuvel and Stephen F. Cohen of The Nation offer a peek at their recent interview with Edward Snowden. Spencer Ackerman of The Guardian reviews Citizenfour, Laura Poitras' new documentary on Snowden.
MIT roboticist Cynthia Breazeal introduces her latest creation, Jibo, a social robot for the home that is now available for pre-order. Learn more.
A new system would allow individuals to pick and choose what data to share with websites and mobile apps.
Different music encourages different frames of mind. That music can move us is no surprise; it's the point of the art form, after all. What's new here is the manner in which the researchers have quantified in fine-grained detail the cognitive ramifications of unpacked melodic compounds. This investigation of music's building blocks may be more relevant than you suppose.
Driverless cars are safer than human-driven ones. Computers can predict Supreme Court decisions better than legal scholars. What’s next?
NSA collects faces; SCOTUS refuses Risen; Data brokering; EU refuses Google; Dissent's media roundtable
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