Ada Lovelace said computers could not invent. But a century later, Alan Turing pointed out inventiveness in machines could be found in their capacity to produce surprising and innovative results.
Although female inventorship has grown over the years, 15 years’ worth of patent outcomes from IP Australia suggests inventing is still a luxury for women.
Technology innovation is one of the Biden administration’s most powerful tools for accelerating progress on climate change. Recent successes in renewable energy and batteries show how this can work.
Engineering students in Malawi and Tanzania have used the materials and tools available to them to build ventilators, personal protective equipment and UV disinfection systems.
The coronavirus pandemic has driven a lot of scientific progress in the past year. But just as some of the social changes are likely here to stay, so are some medical innovations.
Researchers are developing ways to lock captured CO2 into cement. It could help rebuild America’s crumbling infrastructure and deal with climate change at the same time.
De-icing salts help us get around in winter, but they corrode cars, crack roads and contaminate rivers and lakes. Scientists are working to develop better options by imitating natural antifreezes.
The recent arrest of a Chinese-born scientist at MIT raises questions about the value of international science collaboration and its impact on the American innovation system.
From designing vaccine supply chains to improving PPE to rebuilding trust, systematically bringing engineering knowhow to public health problems could make a huge difference.
AI algorithms can solve hard problems and learn incredible tasks, but they can’t explain how they do these things. If researchers can build explainable AI, it could lead to a flood of new knowledge.
Consumers can turn plastic waste into valuable products at minimal cost using the open source technologies associated with DRAM – distributed recycling and additive manufacturing.
Coping with racial stereotypes that permeate STEM culture is like having another full-time job, argues a researcher who studies racism in these fields.
Professor and Director of Quantitative Biosciences Institute & Senior Investigator at the Gladstone Institutes, University of California, San Francisco