In The News

Growing Chorus of Experts Raising Ethical Questions About the Future of Robotics

Ian Munroe February 25, 2016
Japan, struggling with a labor shortage, leads in developing robotic technology. Robot development is underway in the defense, health care, transportation and other sectors, and as many as half of Japan’s workers could be replaced by robots by 2035, notes one research firm. “Japan remains one of the largest markets in the world for automated industrial machines, and the government is keen to stay...

Why More Defense Spending Could Slow Technology Growth

Satyajit Das February 24, 2016
Scientific research in any sector introduces innovations that deliver new products and jobs for society. The science during periods of peace may produce more innovations than the science of war, and Satyajit Das, writing for MarketWatch, points to the end of the Cold War as an example: “scientific and mathematical resources previously employed in the defense-industrial infrastructure were...

How Technology Could Unwind a Decade-Long Trend in Global Trade

Luke Kawa February 24, 2016
Globalization pushes production and jobs to emerging economies while automation in technology has reduced jobs in the developed economies, explains Luke Kawa for Bloomberg Business. The article is based on a note to clients from analysts at the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. led by Senior Asia Economist Goohoon Kwon. As robots become less costly, companies will move production closer to customer bases...

Study Reveals Stunning Acceleration of Sea Level Rise

John Upton February 23, 2016
The 20st century stands out for sudden rising sea levels, much more than any of the previous 27 centuries. “The new study, the culmination of a decade of work by three teams of farflung scientists, has charted what they called an ‘acceleration’ in sea level rise that’s triggering and worsening flooding in coastlines around the world,” reports John Upton for Climate Central. “The findings also...

Scientists Are Floored by What’s Happening in the Arctic Right Now

Chris Mooney February 19, 2016
The data from NASA is ominous: January is reported as the ninth straight month of record-breaking global warmth. The warmth is not evenly distributed around the globe though, but concentrated in the Arctic. “Global warming has long been known to be particularly intense in the Arctic – a phenomenon known as ‘Arctic amplification’ – but even so, lately the phenomenon has been extremely pronounced...

Your Job Is About to Get “Taskified”

Mary L. Gray February 18, 2016
Many in the digital industry are auditing jobs and identifying each task to increase productivity and give more assignments to temporary workers. “Corporations, from the smallest start-ups to the largest firms, can now ‘taskify’ everything from scheduling meetings and debugging websites, to finding sales leads and managing fulltime employees' HR files,” explains Mary L. Gray for the Los...

However Annoying, Failure to Engage Russia Is Not an Option

Jochen Prantl February 16, 2016
Negotiations to end civil war in Syria, which has left 250,000 dead, and forced more than 10 million to flee their homes, are set to resume February 25. Syrian troops, aided by Russian airstrikes, are gradually retaking territory held by the rebels. “Russia needs to be convinced that an immediate ceasefire rather than the continuation of war serves its long-term interests,” argues Jochen Prantl,...