Apple By Graham Templeton Dec. 31, 2013 11:00 am
2013 was quite a year for science — but in all honesty, it was no 2012. Curiosity rolled around the surface of Mars, but didn’t land there, and we collected thousands of new exoplanets, but none of them was our first. The almost unbelievable pace of scientific change these days has made even average years exciting; if you were wondering, this is a very enjoyable time to be a science and tech writer.
And here they are, the most important science and technology stories of the year (in no particular order)…
[h=3]The NSA[/h]Though this list is arranged in no particular order, the NSA is still story number one. In reality this is much bigger than just the NSA, though, bringing in elements like encryption and privacy law, surveillance tech and advanced computing, and a short-lived international manhunt that showed how totally unprepared news media is for the modern realities of travel and communications. The information security arms-race is becoming so interdisciplinary that there is essentially no facet of society that can remain totally unaffected. Virtually everybody uses email, Facebook, and other services compromised by the NSA.
But what made this the story of year was the sheer frequency with which it made headlines. Edward Snowden delivered most of his documents to the Guardian newspaper in later 2012 and early 2013, outing himself in a now-famous interview about halfway through this year. Since then, it seems not a week has gone by without a major revelation about NSA programs. The NSA can exploit Google cookies to learn your location, or simply read your private Facebook messages; they can exploit a backdoor in RSA to read encrypted emails, or tap the very spine of the internet to see virtually everything you do online.
What really makes the NSA story pop, however, is that while it defined 2013, from tech stocks to international politics, it is far from over. It is almost unthinkable that surveillance or some similar issue won’t make it onto this list next year; when it comes to the news, NSA is just getting started.
[h=3]Bionics[/h]Bionics are more typical of this year’s style of progress, in that they made several impressive strides forward without making any particular quantum leaps. Over the past decade or so, researchers have worked out how to gather and interpret signals from the brain, how to translate those signals into electronic commands, and how to build mechanical devices capable of recieving and responding to those commands. In 2013, these ideas were mostly refined and put into practice in the most polished and user-friendly versions yet.
For instance, while a mind-controlled bionic hand is certainly not new to 2013, the manual dexterity has never been higher — and this year, one prototype even managed to “feel” sensory input and alert the owner’s brain just as a regular sensory neuron would have. A bionic eye, also not new enough for this list, got a firmware update to add color vision and improve resolution — talk about after-market support! Another bionic eye can even power up on solar energy, or communicate wirelessly with the outside world. From hydrogel implants allowing an internal bio-network to artificial skin for hiding implant ports, 2013 saw a wide array of breakthroughs that make bionic, if not more possible, then a whole lot closer to the real world.
Next page: Quantum computing and other world-changing stories…
More...
2013 was quite a year for science — but in all honesty, it was no 2012. Curiosity rolled around the surface of Mars, but didn’t land there, and we collected thousands of new exoplanets, but none of them was our first. The almost unbelievable pace of scientific change these days has made even average years exciting; if you were wondering, this is a very enjoyable time to be a science and tech writer.
And here they are, the most important science and technology stories of the year (in no particular order)…
[h=3]The NSA[/h]Though this list is arranged in no particular order, the NSA is still story number one. In reality this is much bigger than just the NSA, though, bringing in elements like encryption and privacy law, surveillance tech and advanced computing, and a short-lived international manhunt that showed how totally unprepared news media is for the modern realities of travel and communications. The information security arms-race is becoming so interdisciplinary that there is essentially no facet of society that can remain totally unaffected. Virtually everybody uses email, Facebook, and other services compromised by the NSA.
But what made this the story of year was the sheer frequency with which it made headlines. Edward Snowden delivered most of his documents to the Guardian newspaper in later 2012 and early 2013, outing himself in a now-famous interview about halfway through this year. Since then, it seems not a week has gone by without a major revelation about NSA programs. The NSA can exploit Google cookies to learn your location, or simply read your private Facebook messages; they can exploit a backdoor in RSA to read encrypted emails, or tap the very spine of the internet to see virtually everything you do online.
What really makes the NSA story pop, however, is that while it defined 2013, from tech stocks to international politics, it is far from over. It is almost unthinkable that surveillance or some similar issue won’t make it onto this list next year; when it comes to the news, NSA is just getting started.
[h=3]Bionics[/h]Bionics are more typical of this year’s style of progress, in that they made several impressive strides forward without making any particular quantum leaps. Over the past decade or so, researchers have worked out how to gather and interpret signals from the brain, how to translate those signals into electronic commands, and how to build mechanical devices capable of recieving and responding to those commands. In 2013, these ideas were mostly refined and put into practice in the most polished and user-friendly versions yet.
For instance, while a mind-controlled bionic hand is certainly not new to 2013, the manual dexterity has never been higher — and this year, one prototype even managed to “feel” sensory input and alert the owner’s brain just as a regular sensory neuron would have. A bionic eye, also not new enough for this list, got a firmware update to add color vision and improve resolution — talk about after-market support! Another bionic eye can even power up on solar energy, or communicate wirelessly with the outside world. From hydrogel implants allowing an internal bio-network to artificial skin for hiding implant ports, 2013 saw a wide array of breakthroughs that make bionic, if not more possible, then a whole lot closer to the real world.
Next page: Quantum computing and other world-changing stories…
More...
