IEEE Spectrum

IEEE Spectrum is the flagship publication of the IEEE, the world’s largest professional organization for engineering and the applied sciences. 

The Social Era of the Web Starts Now (June 2011). An introduction to IEEE Spectrum's special report on the rise of the new social web.

Ray Kurzweil's Slippery Futurism (December 2010). The National Medal of Technology recipient has a reputation as a stunningly prescient tech visionary, which is part of why his predictions of a coming Singularity carry so much credibility. But an examination of his track record to date suggests that his prophecies aren't all they're cracked up to be.

Txchnologist

Txchnologist is an online magazine of science and technology sponsored by GE.

Bubbles at the Edge of Space: Merav Opher is Changing Astrophysics (Feb. 26, 2012). A profile of the remarkable plasma physicist whose work has altered astronomers' ideas about the shape of the solar system. (pdf)

Sunken Treasure: The Deep Sea Mining Renaissance (Dec. 5, 2011). People have been dreaming of tapping immense mineral wealth at the bottom of the ocean for decades but attempts to do so died hard in the 1980s. A new generation of entrepreneurs think they can now do it by going after formations around deep sea hydrothermal vents. Can they do it without ruining unique ecosystems? (pdf)

Google's Driverless Car Has Its Head in the Clouds (Nov. 3, 2011). On the distributed computing technology that helps Google's experimental vehicles pilot themselves without human assistance. (pdf)

OMG Glowing Cats! Fluorescent Felines Illuminate Medical Mysteries (Oct. 17, 2011). A glowing fluorescent jellyfish protein has become a major tool of biomedical research—though, yes, it also makes cool glowing animals. (pdf)

The Ice That Burns: Are Methane Hydrates the Next Big Resource? (May 27, 2011). A look at the potential for methane hydrates to become a commercially significant source of natural gas in the future. (pdf)

Other

Time for change in science journalism?, The Guardian online (Jan. 26, 2011). My argument that professional science journalism needs to become less dependent on journal press releases.

Should there be less science news?, Association of British Science Writers web site (Nov. 16, 2009). A debate with Jenny Leonard, editor of Futurity.com.

Fossils of Early Man: The Finds and the News, The New York Times (June 25, 1996). Review of an exhibit on human evolution at the American Museum of Natural History.