Hear your grandmother’s voice, reconstructed
Voice synthesizing technology may someday mimic loved ones — even when they’re no longer alive to speak.
By Stav Dimitropoulos
Plastic isn’t getting recycled. Why not feed it to microbes?
By Adina Solomon
Chickpeas are in peril. Gene editing could save them.
By Stav Dimitropoulos
What do you want to dream about? Soon, you may be able to choose.
Dream engineering harnesses virtual reality and sensory cues — and could have helpful effects while we’re awake, too.
By Hannah Thomasy
Justice
Energy justice is the next civil rights issue
By Erick Trickey
This Instagram account is fighting to make dermatology less white
By Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez
Future Tense
The pandemic saved the fast food industry
Burger King and McDonald’s deliver low-contact, standardized food. Fine dining is taking notes.
By Kara Baskin
Your workouts could charge your smartwatch
By Eoin O’Carroll
Biometrics will get sports fans back in stadiums
By Kade Krichko
Life with AI
Afraid your toaster is spying on you? Call on this digital gatekeeper.
A new kind of advocate AI could protect our privacy against smart devices' cameras and microphones.
By Glenn McDonald
When users get mean, these chatbots sass back
By Stav Dimitropoulos
Looking for the right makeup? Let AI pick it for you.
By Alix Strauss
One of Japan’s most beloved pop stars is a hologram
Hatsune Miku has released 100,000 songs — all created by her fans.
By Tony Rehagen
Stories in Culture
The surprising magic of a COVID-era charity super-video
By Jim Sullivan
These scientists want to make your brain enjoy broccoli
By Stav Dimitropoulos
These films are guided tours of lost urban landscapes
By Ezra Haber Glenn
The secret ingredient of comfort food? Struggle.
By Kara Baskin
Mom and dad aren’t in the car, but they’re still watching
Parents are using new apps to spy on their teenage drivers. Teens are fighting back.
By Glenn McDonald
Stories in Cities+Nature
With a settlement named ‘Pandemic,’ housing activists in Cape Town are tackling inequality
In South Africa, housing is a right — so occupiers are claiming it on golf courses and government lands.
By Ryan Lenora Brown and Vincent Lali
As sea levels rise, a Dutch neighborhood floats up
By Stav Dimitropoulos
Rooting out a little-known danger of urban gardening
By Hannah Thomasy
Try a Quiz
Your brain vs. artificial intelligence
To understand how AI works, you have to understand human cognition, and recognize the processes we take for granted.
What would you do? Take an immigrant’s journey.
Here are eight immigrant stories, told through composite characters but based on real laws and historically documented scenarios. Follow their paths, and see how you would respond to the choices they faced.
See how your choices add up for the climate
When planning a wedding, taking a trip, or hosting a dinner party, which trade-offs are you willing to make to reduce your carbon footprint?