Author: wildgreenquest@gmail.com

In 2012, Jonathan Gropper purchased a condo in a historic Philadelphia building after falling in love with its exposed wooden trusses, high ceilings, and other character. But beneath the charm, the roof leaked, the lobby’s paint peeled, and the elevators kept breaking. A serial entrepreneur and lawyer, Gropper did what many engaged homeowners would do: he ran for the homeowners association (HOA) board and won. Once elected, Gropper pushed for more board transparency, including bringing in a forensic CPA to review the books. But he says the board refused, then removed him through an internal vote and replaced him with a…

Recent empirical research on AI and mental health provides both intuitive and counterintuitive insights.gettyIn today’s column, I examine a fascinating research study that revealed both intuitive and counterintuitive insights about the psychosocial impacts of generative AI and large language models (LLMs). Here’s the deal. We are beginning to see wide-ranging, rigorous research on how modern era AI-driven chatbots can affect human minds and human behaviors. Strong empirical work that seeks to reveal truths about the human-AI experience and mental health must be encouraged and coveted if we are going to proceed ahead with judiciousness and pragmatism.Let’s talk about it.This analysis…

Ask a room full of professionals what percentage of their working day is improvised. The answer is always the same: 60, 70, 80%. Maybe more. Then ask how many have had professional improv training. The silence is answer enough. This matters because AI has made work less predictable, not more. Faster decisions, higher stakes, and more ambiguity. The skills this moment demands— thinking on your feet, tolerating uncertainty, responding to the unexpected with something other than panic—are exactly the skills we stripped out of people somewhere between first grade and their first performance review. A thousand tiny corrections taught us…

Elon Musk has vowed to begin launching one million AI data center satellites into orbit in 2028, via the still experimental Starship rocket, in a high-risk plan that could trigger a financial catastrophe, and send SpaceX into a high-speed nosedive. (Photo by SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesElon Musk’s plan to begin launching one million AI data center satellites into orbit in 2028 could trigger a financial catastrophe, sending SpaceX into a high-speed nosedive, say leading North American space scholars.In what could be viewed as a precursor project, SpaceX has already lofted 10,000 Starlink broadband-beaming satellites, with each…

In the first quarter of 2026, investors deployed $300 billion into 6,000 startups, up 150% from previous years. Only a single-digit sliver of that capital is directed toward AI applications focused on solving social and environmental challenges. That gap is not an accident. It reinforces who AI is being built for, and who it’s leaving out. And that failure is costing us some of the best and most-needed solutions being built outside of Menlo Park. Here is what I mean. When Temie Giwa-Tubosun started LifeBank in Nigeria, hospitals were running out of blood. She couldn’t build for ideal conditions because…

IBM EventSportsfile via Getty ImagesIBM unveiled a comprehensive framework at its recent Think event in Boston for what it calls the agentic enterprise, built on four integrated pillars and anchored by operational sovereignty, a capability that sets its approach apart from hyperscaler competitors. The framework addresses the two failure modes most enterprises encounter when scaling AI, namely the inability to operationalize intelligence across distributed environments and the inability to govern it once deployed.At the conference, IBM moved from that diagnosis to a prescription, unveiling an agentic operating model supported by four integrated pillars, the infrastructure to back it up, and…

From Ukraine to the Middle East, Shield AI’s autonomous drones are deployed on the front lines. Brandon Tseng, cofounder and president of the San Diego-based company, is in the vanguard of this defense-tech explosion and the fierce debate over the use of AI in modern warfare. He confronts the hard questions: Can we trust the U.S. and its allies to wield AI responsibly? And why does this former Navy SEAL find building a company just as grueling as combat? This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by former Fast Company editor-in-chief Robert Safian. From the…

If you want a picture bigger than 110in for movie nights, sports, or gaming, without spending insane amounts of cash, then a UST projector is an enticing option.AWOLAWOL Vision, the Florida-headquartered/China-manufactured projector company, has announced that its AWOL Aetherion Pro ultra-short-throw (UST) smart laser projector has moved from Kickstarter status to full commercial availability. The UST projector, which has become the most funded projector ever on Kickstarter, with 7,050 backers, is now available at retail for $3,499/£2,449.Comprehensive Specs The Aetherion Pro features 4K UHD resolution with a native contrast of 6,000:1 and supports Dolby Vision, IMAX Enhanced, HDR10/HDR10+ and HLG…

Americans don’t need a press release to know that inflation is rising. Gasoline is above $4 per gallon amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and the release of key price data on May 28 underscores why policymakers are worried these pressures could spread into the broader economy. The report offered a mixed but still uncomfortable picture. The month-to-month rise was softer than expected, but the change year over year still points to concern: a 3.8% jump from a year earlier, the fastest pace since 2021, and a less volatile index that…

Well, well, well Pipsqueaks. The end of May is here at last. One more month and we’re halfway through 2026. Pretty wild. Let’s solve this last Pips puzzle of May, shall we?Looking for Saturday’s Pips? Read our guide right here.How To Play PipsIn Pips, you have a grid of multicolored boxes. Each colored area represents a different “condition” that you have to achieve. You have a select number of dominoes that you have to spend filling in the grid. You must use every domino and achieve every condition properly to win. There are Easy, Medium and Difficult tiers.Here’s an example…