A new era for brokers: how technology is redrawing the blueprint for success

An unprecedented capacity crunch. Archaic processes badly in need of reinvention. New Uber-like technology entrants bent on cutting out the broker. The blurring of asset vs. non-asset providers. Seldom in the brokerage market’s history has there been a time of such massive upheaval—and opportunity. How do brokers respond, transform and emerge on the other side […]

As facial-recognition technology grows, so does wariness about privacy

RealNetworks is offering schools a new, free security tool: facial-recognition software. But as the technology moves further into public spaces, it’s raising privacy concerns and calls for regulation — even from the technology companies that are inventing the biometric software. As Mike Vance approaches the glass door that leads to RealNetworks’ engineering office, he smiles […]

Old Mac sells for $375,000

A computer built in the 1970s that helped launch the personal computer age as well as a trillion-dollar company has sold for $375,000. The fully functioning Apple-1 auctioned by Boston-based RR Auction was sold at a live sale Tuesday. RR says the winning bid came from a U.S.-based businessman who wishes to remain anonymous. The […]

Facebook unveils Quest

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is off to a slow start in his mission to bring virtual reality to the masses, so perhaps it’s appropriate his company’s next VR headset will be called Quest. The headset from Facebook’s Oculus division will be a stand-alone device that won’t require a smartphone or a connection to a personal […]

A new way to count qubits

Researchers at Syracuse University, working with collaborators at the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison, have developed a new technique for measuring the state of quantum bits, or qubits, in a quantum computer. Their findings are the subject of an article in Science magazine, which elaborates on the experimental efforts involved with creating such a technique. The […]

Newly discovered magnetic state could lead to green IT solutions

Magnetic skyrmions are magnetic swirls that may lead to new solutions combining low-energy consumption with high-speed computational power and high-density data storage, revolutionizing information technology. A team from Delft University of Technology, in collaboration with the University of Groningen and Hiroshima University, has discovered a new, unexpected magnetic state, which is related to these skyrmions. […]

Ancient Mars had right conditions for underground life, new research suggests

A new study shows evidence that ancient Mars probably had an ample supply of chemical energy for microbes to thrive underground. “We showed, based on basic physics and chemistry calculations, that the ancient Martian subsurface likely had enough dissolved hydrogen to power a global subsurface biosphere,” said Jesse Tarnas, a graduate student at Brown University […]