As machines get ever more complex as we strive to make them complete more complex tasks, it’s time to ask again: will they ever be able to think? But what is thinking anyway?
It’s a lot for a person to puzzle out… call in the computers!
Shaury Nash
Modern biological research relies on big data analytics. Vast reservoirs of memory and powerful computing ability mean machines find patterns and make meta-analyses and even predictions for scientists.
Technology can be so frustrating at times, so what if it could understand your emotions?
Shutterstock/Kues
How often do you get angry or frustrated with a machine or some piece of technology? Well what if a machine could sense our emotion and then change its behaviour to suit?
Virtually every researcher relies on computers to collect or analyze data. But when computers are opaque black boxes that manipulate data, it’s impossible to replicate studies – a core value for science.
The dreaded blue screen of death has become so ubiquitous it’s now fodder for comedy.
Tony Webster/Flickr
It may have been big, slow and lacking in much memory but almost seven decades on we have a lot to thank the creators of Australia’s first programmable computing machine.
People throughout Africa can play a part in the work of the Square Kilometre Array even if they are not scientists.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
Citizen science will ensure that the skies have no limit when it comes to research, as ordinary people are encouraged to take part in simple acts of exploration.
Silicon isn’t the perfect semiconductor, it’s just the one we’re using. How can we ensure our electronics keep get getting faster in the face of silicon’s natural physical limits?
Then CEO Bill Gates at the Microsoft campus in the US, a day ahead of the launch of Windows 95 on August 24, 1995.
Reuters/Jeff Vinnick
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Windows 95 operating system. What was it that made the operating system so special, and why all the upgrades over the years?
Which operating system is safer from a hack attack?
Flickr/Chaos
The argument has been raging for years: which operating system is the safest when it comes to security. Has the latest software upgrades from the tech giants changed anything?
Microsoft’s CEO hopes Windows 10 is his hero moment.
Reuters
The rapid advancement of computing power has followed an unusual law that was first mooted a half century ago. But are there signs things could be slowing down?
Need a computer doctor? Dial 100110011001.
agsandrew
It’s official. In 2015, the keyboard has began to genuinely challenge the pen for dominance in the classroom. With Finland having decided that it will no longer teach cursive handwriting in primary school…
Typing on a computer keypad could be a thing of the past as voice recognition takes over.
Flickr/Brad Wilmot
With the recent acquisition by Facebook of voice-recognition company Wit.ai, all four major players in the post-PC market (Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook) now have a significant infrastructure for…
For Google, the map is not the end product.
Lee Bennett/Flickr
Google has managed to map most of the world. Recently, the company offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how it’s built the Google Maps application using a combination of technology (the Google Street…
What does it take for a computer to show artificial intelligence?
Flickr/Nebraska Oddfish
The Turing Test has been passed, the headlines report this week, after a computer program mimicked a 13-year-old Ukrainian boy called Eugene Goostman, fooling 33% of its interrogators into believing it…