Type:departments

27 May 23

Wakka Wakka! This Turing Machine Plays Pac-Man

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

As I read the newest papers about DNA-based computing, I had to confront a rather unpleasant truth. Despite being a geneticist who also majored in computer science, I was struggling to bridge two concepts—the universal Turing machine, the very essence of computing, and the von Neumann architecture, the basis of…

13 May 23

A Former Pilot On Why Autonomous Vehicles Are So Risky

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

In October 2021, Missy Cummings left her engineering professorship at Duke University to join the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) in a temporary position as a senior safety advisor. It wasn’t long before Elon Musk tweeted an attack: “Objectively, her track record is extremely biased against Tesla.” He was…

11 May 23

From EE to VC: Eileen Tanghal’s Journey

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Eileen Tanghal, cofounder of the venture capital firm Black Opal Ventures, didn’t set out to be a venture capitalist. The electrical engineer left her job at a semiconductor startup to pursue an MBA so she could better understand the business side of technology. During a summer break, she was chosen…

30 Apr 23

Skylab: The Space Station That Fell on Australia

Aerospace & Aeronautical

Fifty years ago, on 14 May 1973, a modified Saturn V rocket launched from the Kennedy Space Center carrying Skylab, the United States’ first space station. Six years later, in the early hours of 12 July 1979, Skylab reentered Earth’s atmosphere in a fiery blaze, spreading debris across the Indian…

27 Apr 23

Stable Attribution Identifies the Art Behind AI Images

Metallurgy & Material Science

Shortly after their first releases to the public, text-to-image artificial intelligence models like Stable Diffusion and Midjourney also became the focal points in debates around the ethics of their usage. Anton Troynikov is a cofounder of Chroma, a startup working to improve AI interpretability—that is, making what goes on under…

21 Apr 23

This Harvard Law Professor is an Expert on Digital Technology

Metallurgy & Material Science

Jonathan L. Zittrain wears many hats. An expert on the Internet, digital technology, law, and public policy, he regularly contributes to public discussions about what digital tech is doing to us and what we should do about it—most recently around the governance of AI and the incentives that shape major…

22 Mar 23

“Web3 Is Going Just Great” Creator On Why It Isn’t

Computer & Information Technology

In mid-2021, the term “Web3” suddenly exploded into the public consciousness. As people scrambled to figure out what it was—cryptocurrencies? blockchain? nonfungible tokens?—venture capital firms were pouring money into new startups, over US $30 billion before the year was out. Meanwhile, Molly White, a software engineer, started reading up on…

16 Feb 23

Eugene H. Spafford: Malware Nemesis

Computer & Information Technology

During Eugene H. Spafford’s more than three decades as professor of computer sciences at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Ind., he has made groundbreaking contributions to computer and network security. A member of the Cyber Security Hall of Fame, he is considered one of the most influential leaders in information…

31 Dec 22

Always Break Yolks: The Joy of Microwave Cooking

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

As I write this month’s article, my house is a noisy, dusty construction zone. I am renovating my kitchen, which was originally built in 1964. Although I’m happy to be rid of some of the disastrous 1960s design missteps—seriously, only one electrical receptacle in the entire kitchen?—I was sad to…

30 Nov 22

John Bardeen’s Terrific Transistorized Music Box

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Metallurgy & Material Science

On 16 December 1947, after months of work and refinement, the Bell Labs physicists John Bardeen and Walter Brattain completed their critical experiment proving the effectiveness of the point-contact transistor. Six months later, Bell Labs gave a demonstration to officials from the U.S. military, who chose not to classify the…

Wakka Wakka! This Turing Machine Plays Pac-Man

A Former Pilot On Why Autonomous Vehicles Are So Risky

From EE to VC: Eileen Tanghal’s Journey

Skylab: The Space Station That Fell on Australia

Stable Attribution Identifies the Art Behind AI Images

This Harvard Law Professor is an Expert on Digital Technology

“Web3 Is Going Just Great” Creator On Why It Isn’t

Eugene H. Spafford: Malware Nemesis

Always Break Yolks: The Joy of Microwave Cooking

John Bardeen’s Terrific Transistorized Music Box

Robot Passes Turing Test for Polyculture Gardening

The Relay That Changed the Power Industry

Wakka Wakka! This Turing Machine Plays Pac-Man

Want do the EU’s new gender pay gap rules mean for your startup?

Wearable Ultrasound Sees Deep Tissue on the Move