It's unlikely that you'll buy a VR rig in 2017, instead you'll go 'VRing' by buying a ticket to a virtual gaming theme park or experience.

The LAPD is one of a growing number of police departments using algorithms to try to predict crimes before they happen. Proponents of these tools say they provide cops with added tools to keep their cities safe -- but critics argue it's just another form of profiling.

NOAA meteorologist researcher Jason Dunion talks with WIRED reporter Matt Simon about what it's like to fly a plane into a hurricane, and how scientists track and predict storms.

Richter, Konstantina, author

Predicting the future of social media is always fun.

Emerging platforms, secured patents, new tactics and demographic shifts are just a few things to consider when making a prediction.

So, what is next with social media as we look ahead to 2020? Here are four big predictions on the future of social media in 2020.

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And just like that, we have reached the final issue of the year — and also, somehow, the decade. As is tradition around here, let’s close out the year with some predictions from you about where platforms and democracy are headed in 2020 and beyond.

Thanks to everyone who contributed. Here are your thoughts, along with some of mine. This year, I’m ordering these in roughly how likely I think they are. So, the most likely things to happen at the top, and we move further into crazy town as you scroll down. Generally speaking, I feel more comfortable predicting product moves than policy shifts.

16 predictions for social networks in 2020

David Finchers The Social Network seems quite prophetic considering how the 2010s turned out. With its focus on the digitization of social interaction as well as the need for social engagement and the advantages of sociopathy in powerful people combined with the power of public shaming, The Social Network explores the contradictions that animated the culture of this decade.

The Social Network Predicted The 2010s

The 49ers are going to be good next season. But how good?

Dewey Library - QA483.H39 2019

Chiayi Swingers vs ICCT Smashers, Dream11 Prediction: Best picks for CHI vs...

Watch the trailers and predict the winner.

Watch the trailers and predict the winner.

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Hayden Library - P118.2.A87 2019

IEEE / Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Incorporated

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This week we hear stories on how the sloshing of Earth’s core may spike major earthquakes, carbon monoxide’s role in keeping deep diving elephant seals oxygenated, and a festival celebrating heavily researched yet completely nonsensical theories with Online News Editor David Grimm. Sarah Crespi interviews staff writer Jocelyn Kaiser about the status of gene therapy, including a newly tested gene-delivering virus that may give scientists a new way to treat devastating spinal and brain diseases. Listen to previous podcasts.    [Image: Robert Schwemmer, CINMS, NOAA; Music: Jeffrey Cook]  

Freelance science writer Michael Price talks with Sarah Crespi about recently revealed deliberations for a coveted mathematics prize: the Fields Medal. Unearthed letters suggest early award committees favored promise and youth over star power. Sarah also interviews Julia Dressel about her Science Advances paper on predicting recidivism—the likelihood that a criminal defendant will commit another crime. It turns out computers aren’t better than people at these types of predictions, in fact—both are correct only about 65% of the time.   Jen Golbeck interviews Paul Shapiro about his book, Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World, in our monthly books segment.   Listen to previous podcasts. [Image: Greg Chiasson/Flickr; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

What book are you taking to the beach or the field this summer? Science’s books editor Valerie Thompson and host Sarah Crespi discuss a selection of science books that will have you catching comets and swimming with the fishes. Sarah also talks with Mira Moufarrej of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, about her team’s work on a new blood test that analyzes RNA from maternal blood to determine the gestational age of a fetus. This new approach may also help predict the risk of preterm birth. This week’s episode was edited by Podigy. Listen to previous podcasts. [Image: William Warby/Flickr; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

The app on your phone tells you the weather for the next 10 days—that’s the furthest forecasters have ever been able to predict. In fact, every decade for the past hundred years, a day has been added to the total forecast length. But we may be approaching a limit—thanks to chaos inherent in the atmosphere. Staff writer Paul Voosen joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about how researchers have determined that we will only be adding about 5 more days to our weather prediction apps. Also this week, host Meagan Cantwell interviews Trygve Fossum from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim about his article in Science Robotics on an underwater autonomous vehicle designed to sample phytoplankton off the coast of Norway. The device will help researchers form a better picture of the base of many food webs and with continued monitoring, researchers hope to better understand key processes in the ocean such as nutrient, carbon, and energy cycling. This week’s episode was edited by Podigy. Download the transcript (PDF) Listen to previous podcasts About the Science Podcast [Image: Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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