Life / Culture

Wearables are on the rise, including a new category: neurotechnology. A headband that can track your brain activity sounds fun, but the data it collects should be stringently protected. …

Organisms that produce synthetic fuel and suck carbon out of the air are just some of the possibilities of ‘engineering biology’ – if policymakers can shepherd the industry towards success. …

AI chatbots offer unconditional support, but this could lead users to develop an inflated self image – and impede their chances of positive social interactions with real people. …

Our modern lives are influenced by algorithms at every step. We can trace this influence back more than 1,200 years ago – to a Muslim mathematician. …

When rocks from space fall towards Earth, they usually don’t do any damage – here’s why. …

Human staff accumulate data as ‘expertise’ instead of giving it to their employers. For profit-chasing retailers, that’s a problem AI can eliminate. …

China’s Change’6 is going to explore the Moon’s far side and bring back precious lunar soil for scientists to study. …

‘Uncanny’ AI music generators blur the line between creators and consumers. Will they turn music from high art to an everyday language? Listen to these AI-generated tracks and judge for yourself. …

The Australian government will test tools to shield kids from inappropriate material online. Even though there’s no one easy fix, these checks could help. …

When landslides or glaciers bring rocks to the surface, cosmic rays bombard them, smashing common atoms into rarer forms and acting as a chronometer of the changing Earth. …