Commentary: Latest Reports from The Washington Posts ‘Innovation’

The incredible things Google’s new robot can do

A robot’s nimble steps in a snowy forest have wowed the world’s robotics industry. Boston Dynamics, the secretive, Google-owned company, released video of its latest human-like robot tromping through a field — slipping occasionally on uneven terrain — but always catching its balance. “They’ve set a new bar,” said Aaron Ames, a Georgia Tech robotics […]

Why a privacy advocate made it easy to track when your Facebook friends sleep

If you’re a devoted Facebook user, it’s alarmingly easy to tell when you sleep. A Danish software developer released a new tool that uses Facebook data to shed light on the sleep cycle of friends. Anyone using Facebook when they wake and immediately before bed could be tracked by their friends. The service is not […]

This Danish city is so bike-friendly even kindergartners ride to school

At the start of each school year principal Lars Christian Eriksen delivers the speech. He’s been giving it to the parents of kindergartners at his Danish elementary school for 11 years. The message is simple: Your 5-year-old should bike to school. Cars aren’t welcome for drop-offs in front of St. Hans School. Eriksen said it’s […]

Hoverboard fires are no joke: Two kids almost died as their house burned down

“I’m going to lose two of my children today,” Brian Fox thought as he hopped a curb and skidded his BMW to a halt on the grass in front of his home. This wasn’t a day for parking in the driveway or garage. Smoke poured  from every orifice of his Nashville home. Two of his […]

This glove could make eating easier for those with Parkinson’s disease

Eating can be difficult and embarrassing for those with tremors, but GyroGear thinks it has a solution for patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease or essential tremor. The start-up has created a glove that steadies a person’s hand, making it easier to complete everyday tasks such as eating. The glove’s power lies in a bronze disc on the back of the […]

Why Apple’s iPhone battle with the government will likely be a privacy setback

Imagine if the government required you to have a combination lock on your door and to give it the key. It would create security and privacy risks for you and your family. This is what could happen if we required the technology industry to add back doors to its software and devices.  Hackers, criminals, and […]

Scientists created a three-armed cyborg to play the drums like no human can

Georgia Tech researchers have built a robotic arm that attaches to a drummer’s shoulder and plays along. This allows drummers — now equipped with three arms — to play sequences that two-armed humans can’t even attempt. “It’s a richer and more sophisticated rhythm because you can hit one more thing,” said Gil Weinberg, director of the […]

If you hate telemarketers, you’ll love this robot designed to waste their time

Anyone frustrated with telemarketers may have a new best friend. A Los Angeles man with an unusual passion for phone systems created a new robotic answering service that wastes telemarketers’ time. Roger Anderson started the Jolly Roger Telephone, which lets users start a three-way call with the service so they can listen gleefully as the bot rambles on. It’s designed to provide entertainment and empowerment for […]

When Facebook gives Internet to the poor, the real winner will surprise you

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg wants to end poverty, but lately his approach is coming under fire. He’s called lifting 400 million out of poverty “perhaps one of the greatest things we can do in the world.” Zuckerberg regularly says that for every 10 people who gain Internet access, one person is raised out of […]

Want to upgrade your old car with the latest safety tech? Good luck with that.

Cars increasingly roll off the assembly line with safety technology shown to prevent crashes. But with the average U.S. car nearly 12 years old, most drivers aren’t receiving the benefits of new collision avoidance systems. A vehicle fleet can take decades to turn over, and no automaker offers drivers a way to upgrade their vehicle […]

Crafty Australian birds may be resorting to arson to smoke out their prey

Humans may not be the only ones to blame for wildfires. Researchers have preliminary evidence pointing to Australian birds spreading fires in order to force out their prey from protected grassy areas. The black falcon and black kite are believed to pick up smoldering pieces of brush and branches, and transport them to new locations. […]

The urgent need for Silicon Valley to lead a smart and civil conversation on inequality

There are very few issues that Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz, and Hillary Clinton all agree on.  One of them is the growing problem of inequality in income and wealth. From the extreme left to the extreme right, everyone is angry about the one percent who have the majority of the wealth. There has […]

How Taco Bell brainwashes America’s youth into loving its tacos

True taco savants could only shake their heads Sunday night. After weeks of hype, including breathless news releases, YouTube videos and a preordering campaign — Taco Bell released its top-secret innovation in a Super Bowl commercial that cost it millions. The fast food chain hyped the creation as bigger than a Mars landing, hoverboards and Tinder. […]

Global innovation may have a 1 percent problem

Just in time for the start of this year’s World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Oxfam has released another report on income equality in the world. According to the report (“An Economy for the 1%), the top 1 percent of the world’s population now owns more than the next 99 percent combined. Even more distressingly, the […]

A computer program is writing new ‘Friends’ episodes. Are they any good?

With a single tweet, Andy Herd raised a question about the job security of every TV writer. The comic artist behind Pandyland shared scenes from an episode of “Friends” Monday that he trained a computer program to auto-generate. “I was motivated by childlike fascination at the possibilities of machine learning and how it could be […]