Read the latest articles from Futurism (Page 964)

An MIT scientist asks whether we're protagonists in a simulated reality or so-called NPCs who exist to round out a player character's experience. 
Future Society

MIT Prof: If We Live in a Simulation, Are We Players or NPCs?

"The question is, are all of us NPCs in a simulation, and what is the purpose of that simulation?"

By Jon Christian

The black hole that scientists imaged is a stellar giant. It would take millions of Earths lined up side-by-side to span its length.
Science & Energy

Here’s How Big the M87 Black Hole Is Compared to the Earth

Spoiler: Enormous.

By Dan Robitzski

A new Bloomberg piece shared the experiences of Amazon workers tasked with listening to Alexa recordings, and what they hear isn't always mundane.
Future Society

Amazon Workers Listen to Your Alexa Conversations, Then Mock Them

They use internal chat rooms to discuss clips they find amusing or disturbing.

By Kristin Houser

The first-ever black hole image is a blurry orange ring. During the announcement, scientists described how they're working to improve the resolution.
Black Holes

Scientists: Next Black Hole Image Will Be Way Clearer

Today's black hole photo is fuzzy, but astronomers promise the next one will be crisper.

By Dan Robitzski

A new type of quantum material can directly measure neural activity and translate it into electrical signals for a computer.
Brain

Scientists Say New Quantum Material Could “‘Download’ Your Brain”

The material is meant to be a bridge between how brains and computers think.

By Dan Robitzski

A new technique for nuclear fusion can generate plasma without requiring as much space-consuming equipment within a reactor.
Energy

Scientists Find a New Way to Kickstart Stable Fusion Reactions

The technique lets scientists do away with a reactor's central magnet.

By Dan Robitzski

SpaceIL's Moon lander, Beresheet, is expected to touch down on the lunar surface on Thursday, landing Israeli a place in the history books.
Moon

The Israeli Moon Lander Is About to Touch Down

Beresheet is headed for the lunar surface.

By Kristin Houser

Some people are adept at forecasting, predicting the likelihood of future events, and a new contest aims to suss them out.
Future Society

Some People Are Exceptionally Good at Predicting the Future

This contest aims to find them.

By Kristin Houser

Amazon and a coalition of nations in South America are duking it out over who gets the coveted ".amazon" domain. The deadline passed with no detente.
Future Society

Amazon Is Fighting South American Govs to Control “.Amazon” Domains

The deadline to reach an agreement on the seven-year battle passed on Sunday.

By Dan Robitzski

A new story reveals how Chinese live-streaming company Inke uses a combination of human moderators and AI to facilitate government censorship.
Future Society

China Is Trying to Scrub Bikinis and Smoking From the Internet

Here's how China's private sector is helping facilitate government censorship.

By Kristin Houser

Scientists have released the first image of a black hole, and it looks like they expected based on Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.
Science & Energy

The World’s First Black Hole Image Vindicates Einstein’s Theory

Einstein's predictions hold up in one of the universe's most extreme environments.

By Kristin Houser

Australian scientists are preparing to deliver millions of coral larvae to the Great Barrier Reef using an autonomous drone called "Larvalbot"
Robotics

Undersea Robots Are Helping Save the Great Barrier Reef

Larvalbot helps shuttle lab-bred coral larvae back into the reef.

By Dan Robitzski

Walmart is sending autonomous custodial robots to 1,500 stores in a play to cut down on the tasks human employees have to face.
Robotics

Walmart Is Rolling Out Floor-Cleaning Robots in 1,500 Stores

Bring on the drones!

By Dan Robitzski

An asrtist's rendering of NASA's Phoenix lander flexing its robotic arm.
NASA

Here’s How NASA Dreams up Robotic Arms for Landers

When the closest repair shop is tens of millions of miles away, function is critical.

By Victor Tangermann

Electrically stimulating the brains of people in their 60s and 70s allowed them to perform as well on working memory tasks as 20-somethings.
Brain

Zapping Elderly People’s Brains Supercharges Their Working Memory

Brain stimulation gave 70-year-olds the working memories of 20-somethings.

By Kristin Houser

A new Tesla safety report reveals an increase in Tesla crashes, but engaging Autopilot cuts the likelihood of a fender bender.
Tesla

Tesla Says Autopilot Is Statistically Safer Than a Human Driver

And Teslas driven by humans are still safer than other cars.

By Kristin Houser

Chinese scientists figured out that they could enhance a monkey's intelligence by introducing a single human gene linked to brain development.
Neuroscience and Brain

Chinese Scientists Gene-Hacked Super Smart Human-Monkey Hybrids

Macaques monkeys with human brain genes are superintelligent compared to their peers.

By Dan Robitzski

Cannabis legalization is picking up steam across the nation. Here are seven ways the future stands to benefit from ending the war on weed.
Future Society

Seven Ways Cannabis Legalization Will Make the Future Better

Everything from the environment to the economy benefits from legal weed.

By Kristin Houser

Scientists Just Released the First-Ever Image of a Black Hole
Black Holes

Scientists Just Released the First-Ever Image of a Black Hole

No one has ever directly observed an event horizon before.

By Dan Robitzski

The academic publisher Springer Nature just released a book summarizing lithium-ion battery research that was written by an AI algorithm.
Machine Learning

A Prominent Publisher Used Machine Learning to Write a Textbook

Is this going to be on the test?

By Dan Robitzski