Today's Trending Digest

What's the key to using alternative energy, like solar and wind? Storage -- so we can have power on tap even when the sun's not out and the wind's not blowing. In this accessible talk, Donald Sadoway takes to the blackboard to show us the future of large-scale batteries.

Physicist Amory Lovins lays out a plan for weaning the US off oil and revitalizing the economy by focusing on energy efficiency and renewable sources.

Scared of superintelligent AI? You should be, says neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris -- and not just in some theoretical way. We're going to build superhuman machines, says Harris, but we haven't yet grappled with the politics and ethics of how best to contain and manage them.

How can we harness the power of superintelligent AI while also preventing the catastrophe of robotic overlords? Computer science professor Stuart Russell explains why we need new principles for AI design -- and how we can build them in.

Machine intelligence is here, and we're already using it to make subjective decisions. But the complex way AI grows and improves makes it hard to understand and even harder to control. In this cautionary talk, techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufekci explains how intelligent machines can fail in ways that don't fit human error patterns -- and in ways we won't expect or understand.

Shohini Ghose wants us to get excited about quantum computers, which operate using an entirely different logic than classical computing. She explains the basics and explores what makes quantum computing so powerful.

Dario Gil explains how quantum computers could transform fields like chemistry, medicine, and materials science by simulating molecular interactions at unprecedented scales.

Physicist Leo Kouwenhoven discusses building quantum computers and their potential to unlock new possibilities in computation, from cryptography to drug discovery.

Bill Gates unveils his vision for the world's energy future, describing the need for 'miracles' to avoid planetary catastrophe and explaining why he's backing a dramatically different type of nuclear reactor. The essential goal? Zero carbon emissions globally by 2050.