2026-08-03
Most Americans will have spent the past weekend unaware of what most Europeans could not have failed to notice: the Eurovision song contest, which held its final in Malmö, Sweden. I watched it from Amsterdam, and as an American who last lived in a Europe a decade ago, I’d forgotten how hilarious the contest is, and yet also how much of a sense of connection it can foster. [...]
2026-08-03
It’s summer in the northern hemisphere, and with it comes cool fresh salads, delicious ripe fruit and favorites like corn and other fresh veggies on the grill. But, looking down at your picnic plate, could you tell which produce may be soon picked by non-human hands? Makers of a new class of robotic farm equipment (and some farmers) may be hoping you can’t, or won’t care, as they usher in th [...]
2026-08-03
TaskRabbit announced a new service in late May branded TaskRabbit for Business through which it will broker temporary labor for businesses. Having built a bullpen of what the company claims are over 10,000 vetted individuals available for “temporary jobs that take multiple days, weeks, or even months to complete,” according to the company’s website, TaskRabbit has pivoted from being a match [...]
2026-08-03
While the media focus on the possibility of 3D printing assault rifles, something far more meaningful has been going on in a number of university and commercial labs across the US: research to print human tissue and organs. Though printing every other widget under the sun is happening by leaps and bounds, getting viable organ tissue is moving in baby steps. One week ago, San Diego-based Organovo a [...]
2026-08-03
A collective grumble went around the web in September when Twitter launched its new API, the application programming interface where other apps and web sites talk to Twitter to get its data. The main gripe is that Twitter is accelerating the closing down of channels responsible for its rise in the first place by effectively locking out many of the third-party tools used to access the service. Har [...]
2026-08-03
The disrupterati are bored, and they want to play with your food. Having flattened shopping, unshackled education, hotwired our wheels and loggified our daily lives, they now want to get into our mouths. Engineers-turned-chefs are tinkering with what’s in our food, and bringing technology to bear from other fields to do it in the name of science. However, it isn’t clear that this rush to re-en [...]
2026-08-03
This summer, restaurant chain Taco Bell plans to test a new Protein Power menu in some US stores, as part of its drive to stay within new “nutritional guardrails” and present a healthier face to customers. CEO Greg Creed notes increased consumer interest in protein for “performance,” presumably meaning building muscle, a great fit for its young, male-skewed dining clientele. [...]
2026-08-03
In the aftermath of Edward Snowden’s disclosures about alleged surveillance programs by the National Security Agency, it’s tempting to undertake a wholesale rethink of your online behavior, get a burner phone and install new e-mail tools, or just cut the cord entirely—except even that may not keep away the gaze of surveilling parties. Just living in a modern, equipped home is enough to creat [...]