Science and technology

Babbage

Reports on the intersections between science, technology, culture and policy, in a blog named after Charles Babbage, a Victorian mathematician and engineer

Closing the Babbage blog

And it’s goodnight from us

Difference engine

Why 10, not 9, is better than 8

For Microsoft, Windows 10 is both the end of the line and a new beginning

Meeting deadlines

Future, imperfect and tense

Deadlines in the future are more likely to be met if they are linked to the mind's slippery notions of the present

Difference engine

The paperless dilemma

Why can’t pixels be more like ink?

Robot jurisprudence

How to judge a ’bot; why it’s covered

The future of the ethics and legislation of robotics gets a serious look

Mars exploration

First time lucky

India asserts itself as a capable and penny-wise space power

Babbage: September 23rd 2014

Robots need laws too

THIS week our correspondents discuss Indian and American space probes at Mars and jurisprudence for robots

Difference engine

Tesla’s high-stakes gamble

Has Elon Musk bitten off more than he can chew with his Tesla for the masses?

Display screens

Making Al green

The next generation of screens may be based on microscopic aluminium rods

Ancient monsoons

Where the wind comes from

Asia’s monsoons are millions of years older than was once thought. And carbon dioxide seems to make them more powerful

Babbage: September 16th 2014

Harpooning a space duck

THIS week our correspondents discuss Google’s Android One smartphones, aimed at the “next billion”, and the plans for a robotic lander to touch down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Difference engine

A sharper image for TV

With a picture four times sharper, Ultra-HD is out to grab your attention