Technology

Sports

How Video Game 'Overwatch' Is Trying To Make The Leap To eSport

6:49am August 31, 2016

by Jeff Landa

There's lots of money to be made by turning a video game into a competitive sport, or eSport. There are millions of fans watching video game athletes compete for millions of dollars in prize money.

National

Facebook Faces Trending News Problems After Firing Curators

5:30pm August 30, 2016

On Friday, news site Quartz reported that Facebook fired its "news curators" and replaced them with algorithms to compile the news that ends up on Facebook's "Trending" news section. Many users took note when a fake article about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly was trending.

School children in Jos, Nigeria run across a field.

Health & Safety

#IfAfricaWasASchool, Who Would Be The Nerd? Jock? Most Popular?

4:18pm August 30, 2016

by Malaka Gharib

A trending hashtag on Twitter invites people to personify countries in Africa with various schoolyard archetypes.

Science

Scientists Looking For Alien Life Investigate 'Interesting' Signal From Space

1:54pm August 30, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

Russian astronomers detected an unusual radio signal last year. The SETI Institute says it's too soon to say whether the signal came from intelligent life-forms — but researchers are checking it out.

National

Groups Worry About Impact Of Police Moves To Block Social Media

1:35pm August 30, 2016

by Martin Kaste

As police find themselves in encounters that are posted live — including video — they sometimes want to pull the social media plug. Activists say this threatens to censor an electronic witness.

Queue Listen Now

Surfers And Scientists Team Up To Create The 'Perfect Wave'

12:06pm August 30, 2016

by Jon Hamilton

Surfers once deemed man-made waves weak and mushy compared to the best that break along the coast. Then engineers and an 11-time world champion surfer showed just how good an artificial wave can be.

Queue Listen Now

When a person places a finger in the slot on the left, the robot uses an algorithm — unpredictable even to its creator — to decide whether to prick the finger with the pin on the end of its arm.

Science
Arts

A Robot That Harms: When Machines Make Life Or Death Decisions

6:36pm August 29, 2016

by Laura Sydell

An artist has designed a robot that purposefully defies Isaac Asimov's law that "a robot may not harm humanity" — to bring urgency to the discussion about self-driving and other smart technology.

Queue Listen Now

In 1999, NPR made a satirical musical about the Internet called Web Site Story.

Music & Culture

Listen: 'Web Site Story,' NPR's Musical About The Internet — From 1999

5:21pm August 29, 2016

by Alina Selyukh

Found in our archives: an Internet-themed remake of West Side Story from the dot-com bubble era. It begins with Bill Gates and features the sound of a modem but isn't as obsolete as you might expect.

Queue Listen Now

Drones are flown at a training class in Las Vegas in anticipation of new regulations allowing their commercial use.

National

FAA Expects 600,000 Commercial Drones In The Air Within A Year

5:06pm August 29, 2016

by Alina Selyukh

The soaring number of drones for hire is forecast in response to new federal rules that simplify and streamline the process of getting government approval and certification.

Invincible Iron Man — featuring the debut of a new hero, Riri Williams — is one five books Marvel is using to promote science, math, and arts disciplines through a series of covers.

A Hero For The Arts And Sciences: Upcoming Marvel Covers Promote STEAM Fields

7:38am August 28, 2016

by Jason Slotkin

The five covers feature the company's heroes — including Spiderman, Iron Man, and the Hulk — all engaging in activities educators have been trying to promote.