Technology


Two teenage girls giving a bank card to a cashier in a store

How Retailers Are Using AI To Manipulate Consumer Shopping

Source: Forbes

Have you ever wondered why some products appear at the top or bottom of online shopping search pages? Or why some items appear twice? Or why you may see identical items with different prices? Artificial Intelligence is powering more and more online and it has a growing ability to influence consumer decisions—and to do so in ways the consumer is unaware of.




Grassy area with a castle perched on a large ceramic urn

The Visual Illusions that Reveal How Our Minds Work

Source: Psychology Today

Disney is known for creating magical effects on-screen, but did you know they also use tricks and deception in their theme parks, too? This article discusses a few of the ways Disney–and other theme parks and entertainment venues–use optical illusions to create magical effects in real life.


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.