# tech
One of the biggest limitations on the computing power of our spacecraft is shielding them from radiation.
# science
Far too many denizens of social media are upset that Curiosity cost $2.5 billion because they don't understand how and why that money was spent.
# politics
Christian zealots in Missouri vote to create a right they've always had just to sneak in a way to stop teaching their kids about evolution, sex, and cosmology.
# science
Jargon is useful, but not when you're tying to explain the fundamentals of your work.
# politics
Carbon taxes may prompt companies and people to switch to cleaner. But incentives, rather than punishments, may be a better approach.
# politics
Two afflictions shared by a majority of the public are dragging down our advancements as a civilization and a species.
# tech
Technophobes are confusing normal neuroplasticity and poor impulse control for black technological magic.
# politics
Pundits are hailing Pat Robertson's hateful tirade against atheists after an attack on a Sikh temple as a step forward in inter-faith relations. That's both telling and disturbing.
# tech
There's a fine line between being an expert trying to simplify a complex topic and an arrogant snob lecturing down to your audience. TED's all-stars are starting to cross that line.
# tech
Advanced prosthetics are making an appearance at the Olympics and showing how inhuman form can restore human function.
# tech
A popular philosophical objection to life extension is that it would allow terrible people to live longer. The problem is that there will always be terrible people.
# tech
People are trying to scan their brains into computers neuron by neuron to continue life as machines.
# tech
Xanadu was the ultimate nightmare project for any programmer. And we're lucky it was never completed, much less lived up to its lofty goals.
# tech
First, Congress was telling engineers how to build their rockets. Now it's telling programmers how to write their software.
# tech
If you're going to network thousands of important devices together, make sure your network is actually secure.
