Technology


Robot reading book to senior woman sitting on sofa at home

AI ‘companions’ promise to combat loneliness, but history shows the dangers of one-way relationships

Source: The Conversation

At a time when health professionals are warning the public about the effects of loneliness and isolation, can Artificial Intelligence help? The author of this article sees limits to technology’s ability to promote human connection and fulfillment.



Seamstress with arm prosthesis working on sewing machine

A new device let a man sense temperature with his prosthetic hand

Source: ScienceNews

Researchers in Italy and Switzerland have developed a new device that makes it possible for a person with an amputation to sense temperature through their prosthetic hand. The technology is a major step toward prosthetic limbs that could restore a full range of senses, improving both the prosthesis’s usefulness and its acceptance by those who wear them.


NASA patch - Apollo 11 mission

Naming Apollo: Why NASA chooses Greek gods as names

Source: Astronomy.com

In 2019, NASA announced that the agency’s efforts to return to the Moon would be named the Artemis program. The goddess Artemis was heavily associated with the moon, and she’s also the twin of Apollo, whose name graced NASA’s first lunar missions in the 1960s. But why does NASA choose mythological names in the first place?



Robots dressed in a business suits

People Are Increasingly Worried A.I. Will Make Daily Life Worse

Source: Wired

Like it or not, artificial intelligence is here to stay–and it is making its way into every part of our lives. With self-driving cars using A.I. to make split-second steering decisions, A.I. helping to sort job and college applications, and companies using A.I, to sway customer behavior, a lot of people are growing fearful of the technology. People used to fear monsters in the darkness, but in modern times, some of our scariest monsters are lines of code in a machine.


Low Angle view of the Colosseum Amphitheater in Rome against blue sky background.

These Chemists Cracked the Code to Long-Lasting Roman Concrete

Source: ScienceNews

Its formula long forgotten, the mystery of why Roman concrete remained strong over several millennia when more modern versions crumbled much faster has long baffled scientists and engineers. But now the secret of “self-healing” concrete has been rediscovered and it could lead to a construction revolution more than 2,000 years after it was first discovered.