Print Me a Pill

Print Me a Pill

During the first Star Trek series released in the mid-1960s, the creators introduced viewers to several magical devices – the Communicator, the Padd, the Replicator, and the Transporter. Although building the latter device requires repealing several of the laws of...
Sensory Overload?

Sensory Overload?

For many technology geeks the long march through ever more sophisticated televisions, computers and other electronic toys has run its course. The new buzz at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) drew its energy from the integration of electronics, Internet, social...
Big Data Drives Big Change

Big Data Drives Big Change

Every MBTA bus in Boston carries a networked sensor that broadcasts the location of the bus along its route. This allows smartphone users to know exactly when the next bus will arrive at their corner stop, and MBTA supervisors to monitor the performance of drivers....
Say No to Paper

Say No to Paper

Paper came one pill away from killing my mom. Only through luck did we dodge a medical error that could have extinguished a life that survived the Great Depression, World War II, polio epidemics, the birth of two children, the Cold War, the loss of her husband, and...
Watson, Come Here I Need You

Watson, Come Here I Need You

Although a call for Watson brings to mind Alexander Graham Bell’s first words on the telephone or Sherlock Holmes greeting to his physician companion, The New York Times heralded another Watson on its February 17, 2011, front page. The artificial intelligence computer...