I can still recall my surprise when a book by evolutionary biologist Peter Lawrence entitled “The making of a fly” came to be priced on Amazon at $23,698,655.93 (plus $3.99 shipping). While my colleagues around the world must have become rather depressed that an academic book could achieve such a feat, the steep price was actually the result of algorithms feeding off each other and spiraling out of control. It turns out, it wasn’t just sales staff being creative: algorithms were calling the shots.

A new high-power fuel cell operates at double the voltage of today’s commercial fuel cells, according to new research.

Side channel signals and bolts of lightning from distant storms could one day help prevent hackers from sabotaging electric power substations and other critical infrastructure, according to a new study.

On-chip system that detects signals at sub-terahertz wavelengths could help steer driverless cars through fog and dust.

Approach developed by MIT engineers surmounts longstanding problem of light scattering within biological tissue and other complex materials.

When the UK government cancelled its plans to electrify train lines across Wales, the Midlands and the north of England, and cut back on the Great Western rail network electrification, it brought a premature end to a rail investment program once touted as the biggest the country had seen since the Victorian era. But now reports suggest that the government and train manufacturers are hoping there may be an alternative way to turn British railways electric: hydrogen.

MIT researchers have developed a new secure cryptocurrency that reduces data users need to join the network and verify transactions by up to 99 percent, compared to today’s popular cryptocurrencies, which could mean a more scalable network.

Recently a digital blackout in Tonga — caused by the severing of the country’s only undersea cable — generated widespread recognition of the submerged systems our connected world depends upon.

IBM recently unveiled what it claimed was the world’s first commercial quantum computer. While the announcement of the Q System One wasn’t scientifically groundbreaking, the fact that IBM sees this as a commercial product that organisations (if not individuals) will want to use is an important breakthrough.

New research about the causes of static electricity could ultimately help create more sustainable and longer-lasting power sources for small electronic devices, according to a new study.

Microbes screened with a new microfluidic process might be used in power generation or environmental cleanup.

The human brain has amazing capabilities making it in many ways more powerful than the world’s most advanced computers. So it’s not surprising that engineers have long been trying to copy it. Today, artificial neural networks inspired by the structure of the brain are used to tackle some of the most difficult problems in artificial intelligence (AI). But this approach typically involves building software so information is processed in a similar way to the brain, rather than creating hardware that mimics neurons.

Despite fears that guns made with 3D printers will let criminals and terrorists easily make untraceable, undetectable plastic weapons at home, my own experience with 3D manufacturing quality control suggests that, at least for now, 3D-printed firearms may pose as much, or maybe even more, of a threat to the people who try to make and use them.