REMspace and the emerging science of interactive dreaming Most technologies begin as prosthetics for the waking day. We build tools that extend our hands, our hearing, our memory. Then someone asks the more unsettling question: what about the third of our lives spent elsewhere, behind closed eyelids, in that private cinema where identity can split…
Deep within a damp, dark cave in Ireland, a lone spider clings to the wall. Its usual instinct is to hide in shadows and spin its web out of sight. But tonight, something is different. Drawn by an unseen force, the spider crawls away from its web and toward the mouth of the cave, into…
Every day, countless primary microplastics enter the environment directly through human use. When you rinse off a face scrub that contains tiny polyethylene beads, those particles swirl down the drain and pass through water treatment filters with ease, eventually emptying into rivers and oceans. Each time you wash a fleece jacket or polyester shirt, hundreds…
To understand room-temperature superconductors, we first need to grasp what a superconductor is. A superconductor is a material that conducts electricity with zero resistance – meaning, an electric current can flow through it without any energy lost as heat. This phenomenon, discovered in 1911 by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, is extraordinary because in ordinary conductors (like…
As Americans struggle with affordable housing and developing nations experience population surges, something occurred to me. About a decade ago 3D printed housing was supposed to help pull us into a new era of construction. Why hasn’t it happened? Let’s lay some groundwork. 3D-printed homes, built by robotic systems that extrude material (usually a concrete-based…
In this article, with tensions high in the U.S. I wanted to present the stories of five people who entered the country illegally and contributed to the fabric of our culture. America’s story is woven from the journeys of immigrants – including those who arrived not through official channels, but through determination and hope. In…
Social media was once envisioned as a marketplace of ideas bringing people together. Paradoxically, it often does the opposite – provoking outrage-driven engagement. A recent study coined the “confrontation effect” to describe how people are more likely to interact with content that challenges their views than content that affirms them. In other words, posts that…
In the last few months I’ve become very close to birds. I’ve been raising a family of quails in my home. My new-found connection to the emotional and intellectual lives of birds reminded me of a story I’d heard about the genius of the modern world… In the twilight of his life, a lone figure…
Although we’re used to instant access to world produce… with everything available year-round we should consider how a seasonal diet can benefit our health. Eating like our ancestors isn’t just a fad or a flex… it can be crucial in a time of rapidly changing climate and political unrest. Winter casts a long shadow over…