Content by M. Mitchell Waldrop, Knowable Magazine
Will Robots Take My Job?Automation threatens to replace some workers but can grow overall employment
Wed, 10/31/2018 - 12:01
This story was originally published by Knowable Magazine. Back in the 1990s, when U.S. banks started installing automated teller machines in a big way, the human tellers who worked in those banks seemed to be facing rapid obsolescence. If machines…
Is It Time to Bring Data to Managing?There’s plenty of evidence on how to get the best out of workers, but businesses often ignore it
Thu, 08/30/2018 - 12:03
Alan Colquitt is a student of the ways people act in the workplace. In a corporate career that spanned more than 30 years, the industrial-organizational psychologist advised senior managers and human resources departments about how to manage talent—…
3D Printing Finds a Custom Foothold in Manufacturing, Part 2Innovations in speed and compounds
Tue, 06/26/2018 - 12:03
This story was originally published by Knowable Magazine. Part one looked at the innovative possibilities inherent in 3D printing; here we consider some of its shortcomings and the solutions that companies are finding. A few years into this century…
3D Printing Finds a Custom Foothold in Manufacturing, Part 1From rocket thrusters to shoe soles—additive technologies expanding sights
Mon, 06/25/2018 - 12:03
This story was originally published by Knowable Magazine. Since May 2015, in a section of its WorldPort distribution center in Louisville, Kentucky, United Parcel Service (UPS) has been operating a spare parts warehouse with no spare parts. Instead…
Do Patents Invent Innovation?They’re a common index of technological creativity, but research finds they can impede rather than encourage it
Wed, 06/20/2018 - 12:02
In ancient times, the story goes, cooks in the city of Sybaris were granted yearlong monopolies for the sale of unique dishes they created. Since then, generations of inventors have relied on patents to discourage copycats from stealing their best…