Future-gazing

Noema · 2026-07-27

America at 250 & Beyond

by Nathan Gardels

How do you update a 250-year-old democracy when the act of voting is no longer enough?

Mada Masr · 2026-07-27

When Egypt Tried to Build Its Own Missile Program

by Jeffrey G. Karam

Rest of World · 2026-07-27

In China, People Are Renting Out Their Faces to AI

by Kinling Lo and Viola Zhou

If you rent out your face to a machine, who decides what it does next?

ProPublica · 2026-07-27

How Trump’s “America First” Administration Could Shut U.S. Scientists Out of the Next Nobel-Worthy Discovery

by Lisa Song

Quanta Magazine · 2026-07-26

The Dirt That Refused to Die

by Siddhant Pusdekar

If dead dirt keeps breathing, does the chemistry of life actually belong to living things?

Noahpinion · 2026-07-26

What Will More Intelligence Actually Do for Us?

by Noah Smith

If machines can outsmart mathematicians, why haven't they replaced truck drivers?

The Diplomat · 2026-07-26

What a Stray Dog’s Murder Tells Us About Chinese Civil Society

by Alric Lee

When does mourning a stray dog become a threat to the state?

Vox · 2026-07-25

How the Iran War Could Drive Conflicts in Countries Thousands of Miles Away

by Joshua Keating

Why are protests breaking out on a tiny island 3,000 miles away from the war in Iran?

Compact · 2026-07-24

How French Theory Lost Its Cool

by Geoff Shullenberger

ProPublica · 2026-07-24

5 Raw Quotes From America’s Largest Raw-Milk Dairy Owner

by Annie Waldman

Rest of World · 2026-07-24

The Hidden Cost of Myanmar’s Rare Earth Mines

by Emily Fishbein and Jauman Naw

What is left of a village when its mountains are pumped with acid for electric cars?

The Diplomat · 2026-07-23

Australia’s Strategic Ambiguity is Running Out of Road

by Marina Yue Zhang

If a country’s strongest ally and its biggest customer pull apart, how does it keep its balance?

The Conversation · 2026-07-23

New Genetic Approaches Raise Hopes for Restoring the American Chestnut to Its Former Glory

by Steve Strauss, University Distinguished Professor of Forest Biotechnology, Oregon State University

Could a new way of reading DNA bring a lost forest giant back to the woods?

Public Books · 2026-07-23

You Have Nothing to Lose but Your Supply Chains!

by Imani Radney

How much of the history of empire is still moving through the boxes on the doorstep?

The Atlantic · 2026-07-23

The Best Running Shoes You Can’t Get Your Hands On

by Scott Douglas

Why is a better and cheaper running shoe so hard to find in a local shop?

Just Security · 2026-07-22

Sanctions Gaps and the Governance of Corruption Risk

by William Burke-White

If the rules for global sanctions are too messy to follow, who ends up holding the keys?

Knowable Magazine · 2026-07-22

Who’s in Charge? The Fraught Union of Automation and Human Behavior

by Amber Dance

Smithsonian Magazine · 2026-07-22

Could Life Exist on This Nearby World? In a First, Astronomers Find an Atmosphere on an Earth-Like Exoplanet in the Habitable Zone

If a rocky world 49 light-years away has air and water, is life the only thing missing?

Africa Is a Country · 2026-07-21

The Stories Shaping Africa’s AI Future

by Scott Timcke

In the tech hubs of Nairobi and Addis Ababa, who gets to decide what the future looks like?

Noahpinion · 2026-07-20

The UK is a Cautionary Tale for the U.S.

by Noah Smith

How does a wealthy country end up with crumbling hospitals and the world’s most expensive trains?

ProPublica · 2026-07-20

The First Major Overhaul of Public Lands Grazing Regulations in a Generation Looks to Cut Out Public Involvement

by Roberto “Bear” Guerra

War on the Rocks · 2026-07-19

Forged in a Knife Fight: China’s Brutal Domestic AI Competition

by David Lin

What happens when China’s AI plan meets a brutal domestic knife fight?

Vox · 2026-07-19

What We Lost When Everything Became a Screen

by Sara Herschander

Can a single pane of glass replace the feeling of dirt, paper, and cold snow?

The American Prospect · 2026-07-18

Feds and Deputized Cops Stockpiling War Machines for Deportation

by Whitney Curry Wimbish

The Atlantic · 2026-07-18

The Lessons About Ebola the U.S. Wants to Forget

by Craig Spencer

Can a virus be kept across an ocean if the country that built the defenses walks away?

Rest of World · 2026-07-18

The Problem AI Content Moderation Cannot Solve

by Hera Hussain

If a simple photo doesn't show skin, how can a computer tell it’s being used to hurt someone?

Noema · 2026-07-17

Why We Demand Perfect Machines yet Tolerate Human Carnage

by Jonathan Slotkin

Why does a car with no driver feel scarier than a person behind the wheel?

The Conversation · 2026-07-17

What Does It Mean to Be ‘quantum’? A Physicist Explains the Basics Behind Einstein’s Spooky Actions at a Distance

by Aldo Romero, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University

How do scientists build a computer out of particles that can be in two places at once?

STAT News · 2026-07-17

Opinion: is There a Doctor on Board? Yes, and Airlines Depend on It

by Sriman Swarup

Why does the airline industry rely on the doctor in row 14 to handle its emergencies?

Smithsonian Magazine · 2026-07-16

How Do Pigeons Find Their Way Home? New Research Suggests the Birds' Remarkable Navigational Skills Come From Their Livers

Why would a pigeon need its liver to find the way home on a cloudy day?

Quanta Magazine · 2026-07-16

Thermodynamic Computers Go with the (Energy) Flow

by Philip Ball

Could the random jiggle of atoms be used to solve problems instead of causing errors?

War on the Rocks · 2026-07-15

The Road to Space Runs Through the Poles

by David Marsh

Why are there more satellite antennas on a frozen island with more polar bears than people?

The Conversation · 2026-07-15

Building a Long-term Base on the Moon Will Require Extensive Planning – a Planetary Geologist Describes the Considerations That Go Into It

by Clive Neal, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame

How do you pick the right piece of ground for a permanent home on the Moon?

STAT News · 2026-07-14

Opinion: It Looks Like Your Doctor and Talks Like Your Doctor. But It’s Not Your Doctor

by Henry Bair

What happens when a doctor has to prove their own face and voice are real?

ProPublica · 2026-07-14

A U.S.-Mexico Impasse Will Test How Far the Trump Administration Will Go to Fight Drug Trade

by Tim Golden

How can two neighbors work together if they can’t agree on who the criminals are?

Aeon · 2026-07-13

Skill Nostalgia

by Joshua Habgood-Coote

Rest of World · 2026-07-13

Older Adults Know AI is Slop. They Just Like It

by Viola Zhou

If a digital singer makes someone cry, does it matter that she isn't real?

Noema · 2026-07-12

China’s Open AI Models Are Advancing Its Global Soft Power

by Nathan Gardels

If the whole world uses Chinese code, whose stories will the computers tell?

Smithsonian Magazine · 2026-07-11

Could We Mitigate Super El Niños by Artificially Changing the Climate? A New Study Indicates Yes

Could making the clouds a little brighter stop a super El Niño before it starts?

Noema · 2026-07-11

AI’s Greatest Gift to Humanity

by Arianna Huffington

The Paris Review Daily · 2026-07-10

Clearly Fake: Zurbarán’s Uncanny Realism

by Jackson Arn

STAT News · 2026-07-09

Opinion: CDC Leadership Continues to Try Manufacture a Scientific Debate on Vaccines Where None Exists

by Ben Lopman

The American Prospect · 2026-07-08

The War of Capital

by Zachary Groz

Rest of World · 2026-07-08

China’s AI Boom is Creating a Different Kind of Entrepreneur

by Lin Zhang

What happens to the drive to build when the only goal is room to breathe?

The Atlantic · 2026-07-07

The Age of the Trillionaire

by Annie Lowrey

Public Books · 2026-07-07

The “Emotional Economy” of Parenting: a Conversation with Nina Bandelj

by Megan Cummins

When did the language of investment and returns become the primary way parents show their love?

The Atlantic · 2026-07-07

What Biden Changed About American Foreign Policy

by Thomas Wright

If the old rules of global cooperation are gone, what should take their place?

STAT News · 2026-07-07

Opinion: Medicine Thinks Gen Z is Too Soft. It’s Wrong

by Frantz M. Berthaud

What does Gen Z see in the work of medicine that older generations have learned to live with?

The Atlantic · 2026-07-06

The Whiplash of Trump’s Iran Capitulation

by Tom Nichols

The American Prospect · 2026-07-06

Marco Rubio’s Dangerous Diplomacy in Lebanon

by Nathan Thompson

If the price of peace is a civil war, who does the diplomacy actually serve?

Noema · 2026-07-05

When the Machines Deserve Our Consideration

by Grigori Guitchounts

When a machine acts as though it has something to lose, how should it be treated?

The Honest Broker · 2026-07-04

Healing Sounds Are the Medical Miracle of the 21st Century

by Ted Gioia

What happens when a medical tool is just another kind of musical instrument?

Vox · 2026-07-04

The Fatal Flaw in How America Handles Heat Waves

by Sara Herschander

STAT News · 2026-07-04

Opinion: What Ebola and Marburg Are Teaching Us About the Next Pandemic

by Krutika Kuppalli and Placide Mbala

If the next outbreak looks nothing like the last, will the diagnostic tools even recognize it?

The American Prospect · 2026-07-04

Has Ukraine Turned the Tide?

by Ryan Cooper

What happens when a country under siege starts out-inventing the allies who walked away?

War on the Rocks · 2026-07-03

Contriving Imaginary Gaps in Nuclear Deterrence

by Jay Tilden

Could the hunt for imaginary gaps in nuclear deterrence invite the very aggression it fears?

Smithsonian Magazine · 2026-07-03

Scientists Say They've Made Cells That Feed, Grow and Reproduce, Bringing Them One Step Closer to Building Life From Scratch

If a synthetic cell can eat and evolve, where does the chemistry end and life begin?

ProPublica · 2026-07-03

How Google and AI Nearly Made a Seasoned Reporter Spiral

by Justin Elliott

How does a reporter find the truth when search engines begin to validate their own fictions?

War on the Rocks · 2026-07-02

Why India Will Stick with America

by Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan

Aeon · 2026-07-02

Illegible Benefits

by Carlo Cordasco

How can the value of a discovery be judged before the language to describe it even exists?

The Conversation · 2026-07-02

Privacy Isn’t Dead – It’s Just That Tech Companies Have Made It Inconvenient

by Sandra Matz, Professor of Business, Columbia University

If privacy is a right, why has it become so difficult for most people to protect?

Noahpinion · 2026-07-02

Will AI Make Companies Outsource More, or Less?

by Noah Smith

If technology makes it easier to work alone, why might companies end up growing larger?

Noema · 2026-06-30

How AI Will Change Us

by Houda Nait El Barj

The Atlantic · 2026-06-30

The Man Who Saw AI Coming

by Annie Lowrey

How do you recognize a revolution when the data says that progress has stalled?

Scroll.in · 2026-06-29

Agrivoltaics Could Feed Energy-hungry AI and the World

by Joshua M Pearce, The Conversation

Could the same sunlight that grows a field of strawberries also power a data center?

Scroll.in · 2026-06-29

Why a Scholar of Citizenship is Taking on Bengal SIR Exclusions

by Anant Gupta

Vox · 2026-06-29

Why Young Men Are Killing Their Sperm

by Anna North

Why would a man trade his ability to have children for a sharper jawline and a muscular build?

The Atlantic · 2026-06-28

An Ascendant Constitutional Theory is a Threat to American Science

by Mark Histed

The Atlantic · 2026-06-28

There Are Three Types of AI Users

by David Brooks

When technology makes thinking effortless, what happens to the person who no longer wants to try?

The Bulwark · 2026-06-28

What Happens When the Country Loses a General

by Mark Hertling

If it takes thirty years to grow a general, what is lost when that experience disappears overnight?

War on the Rocks · 2026-06-27

Glass Jaw? The New Economic Fragility Recasting American Power

by Andy Polk

What happens to a nation’s freedom to act when its economy can no longer absorb global shocks?

Smithsonian Magazine · 2026-06-27

This 'Practice-Changing' Gene Test Could Tell Doctors Which Patients with Breast Cancer Can Skip Chemo, Clinical Trial Suggests

ProPublica · 2026-06-27

Why Carbon Capture Can’t Conceivably Solve Climate Change

by Anna Donlan

If the world’s climate plan requires opening a new carbon storage site every four days, can it work?

Smithsonian Magazine · 2026-06-26

The World's First Nuclear Clocks Are Ticking, Opening a New Way to Investigate Dark Matter and Other Mysteries of Physics

How does the search for dark matter change when a clock is built from an atom's nucleus?

Quanta Magazine · 2026-06-25

How Physicists Track and Trap the Elusive Neutrino

by Simon Frantz

Smithsonian Magazine · 2026-06-25

Can Printed 'Skin' Heal Burns and Prevent Scars?

If a machine can print the building blocks of skin, will the body forget how to scar?

STAT News · 2026-06-25

Opinion: How I Used Public Radio to Recruit 20,000 Participants for a Peer-reviewed Study on Walking Breaks

by Manoush Zomorodi

What happens when twenty thousand people decide to turn their daily lives into a scientific experiment?

Project Syndicate · 2026-06-25

What the Iran War Taught the World About Food Security

by Maximo Torero

Can a precise understanding of the soil protect farmers from a conflict thousands of miles away?

The American Prospect · 2026-06-24

Aftermath: the Economy is Propped up by Government Spending

by David Dayen

Vox · 2026-06-24

ChatGPT Probably Isn’t Conscious. But What if We’re Wrong?

by Eric Levitz

If a machine can mimic the signals of a brain, is there actually anyone inside?

Marginal Revolution · 2026-06-24

Two Roads to Fast Clinical Trials, and the US Takes Neither

by Alex Tabarrok

Can the United States find a faster path for clinical trials without removing the government gatekeeper?

Vox · 2026-06-23

The Next AI Safety Fight May Actually Be About DNA

by Shayna Korol

The Conversation · 2026-06-23

Upcoming Telescopes Could Shed Light on Dark Matter – Astronomers Are Looking for These ‘fingerprints’ of the Elusive Substance

by Christopher Karwin, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University

Could a faint glow at the center of the Milky Way be the fingerprint of dark matter?

The Hedgehog Review · 2026-06-23

Tolstoy and the Illusion of Inevitability

by Julio M. Ottino

Africa Is a Country · 2026-06-23

Anticolonialism in the Age of Fragmentation

by Djiguikôrô

Can the aspirations for sovereignty survive when a country begins to pull itself apart?

The Conversation · 2026-06-22

We Ran 100,000 Computer Simulations of the World Cup. And the Winner Will Be …

by Achim Zeileis, Professor of Statistics, University of Innsbruck

Quanta Magazine · 2026-06-22

How Terry Tao Became an Evangelist for AI in Math

by Kevin Hartnett

What happens to the solitary act of discovery when a computer allows a thousand people to work together?

Rest of World · 2026-06-22

China is Training a Robot Future — One Folded Shirt at a Time

by Viola Zhou

If a robot is to learn how to live, should it start with a lesson in folding laundry?

War on the Rocks · 2026-06-22

Inside Ukraine’s Battlefield Innovation Loop

by Viktoriia Honcharuk

Can a traditional defense industry learn to move at the speed of a soldier’s Signal message?

The Diplomat · 2026-06-21

What Will the End of the Iran-US War Mean for Pakistan?

by Umair Jamal

If a country can broker peace for its neighbors, can it ever find peace for itself?

Works in Progress · 2026-06-19

The Blood Cancer That Became Solvable

by Works in Progress

If the science behind a cure is American, why did it have to be developed in China?

Defector · 2026-06-19

AI Animal Videos Are Ruining One of the Internet’s Last Good Things

by Sabrina Imbler

Noema · 2026-06-19

The Next US Presidential Election Will Be About AI

by Nathan Gardels

If productivity no longer requires a paycheck, how will a democracy decide who gets a share?

War on the Rocks · 2026-06-18

From Pyongyang to Primorsk: When Sanctions Evasion Becomes System Design

by Olivia Vassalotti

How did North Korea’s playbook for hiding ships become a scalable blueprint for the Russian economy?

Quanta Magazine · 2026-06-18

Are Memories Transferable — or Edible?

by Claire L. Evans

The Hedgehog Review · 2026-06-18

Tolstoy and the Illusion of Inevitability

by Julio M. Ottino

Why does the past always look so inevitable when the future is still unwritten?

STAT News · 2026-06-18

Opinion: I’m an Alzheimer’s Specialist. I Still Missed It in My Own Father

by Elizabeth Bevins

Why does the medical system wait for the aftermath of a disease instead of its origin?

Astral Codex Ten · 2026-06-17

My AI Opinions

by Scott Alexander

Can the survival of humanity be understood as a series of competing timelines and probabilities?

Vox · 2026-06-17

How AI Could Make Wars Go Nuclear

by Joshua Keating

Can the pause for diplomacy survive a war that moves faster than a human can think?

Eurozine · 2026-06-11

A Staggering Reversal of Assumptions

by Sarah Waring

When the world's path to a green future runs through Beijing, what changes?