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The Scale Issue - IEEE Spectrum
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The Scale Issue

Humanity’s greatest challenges require us to radically scale up our ingenuity

What do humans do best? We push against the boundaries of scale. We probe realms so vast and so minute that they seem beyond our grasp, inventing new tools and methods to extend our reach.

That pursuit brings both marvels and perils. The same drive that propels us to chart galaxies and decode the genome also produces orbital traffic jams and planet-wide emissions.

Welcome to The Scale Issue. For better and for worse, it’s a reckoning with the scale of human ambition.

A rendering of the WindRunner aircraft in flight over mountainous desert
EnergyAerospaceMagazineFeatureSpecial ReportsOctober 2025Climate TechThe Scale Issue

If We Want Bigger Wind Turbines, We’re Gonna Need Bigger Airplanes

Radia’s building an aircraft longer than a football field

9 min read
Robots with shovels stand in a container, ready for deployment on a pallet.
RoboticsMagazineFeatureSpecial ReportsOctober 2025Humanoid RobotsThe Scale Issue

Reality Is Ruining the Humanoid Robot Hype

The obstacles to scaling up humanoids that nobody is talking about

5 min read
World map showing data with blue circles of varying sizes across continents.
Climate TechMagazineFeatureSpecial ReportsOctober 2025The Scale IssueClimate Change

How Much Carbon Do We Need to Capture?

Nine gigatonnes down, 746 gigatonnes to go

3 min read
A man looks at the starry night sky.
AerospaceMagazineFeatureSpecial ReportsOctober 2025The Scale Issue

What’s Lost When Stars Disappear from View

Chile’s dark skies remind us of what billions have already lost

8 min read
Will We Know Artificial General Intelligence When We See It?
AIMagazineFeatureSpecial ReportsOctober 2025The Scale Issue

Will We Know Artificial General Intelligence When We See It?

The Turing Test is defunct. We need a new IQ test for AI

12 min read
ARC Prize puzzle
AISpecial ReportsAnalysisThe Scale Issue

Are You Smarter Than an AI?

Crack these puzzles and prove you’re not just another language model

1 min read
The Long Strange Trip from Silica to Smartphone
SemiconductorsMagazineFeatureSpecial ReportsOctober 2025The Scale IssueTelecommunications

The Long Strange Trip from Silica to Smartphone

Three continents, 30,000 kilometers, and 2,000-degree reactors

5 min read
How to Measure Nothing Better
SemiconductorsMagazineFeatureSpecial ReportsOctober 2025The Scale Issue

How to Measure Nothing Better

Atomic sensors could support big science, semiconductors, and more

8 min read
Scientists in cleanroom suits inspect equipment under yellow lighting.
CareersMagazineArticleSemiconductorsSpecial ReportsOctober 2025The Scale Issue

How Microcredentials Are Filling the Talent Gap

To scale up the workforce, start small with short courses

5 min read
The High-Speed Plan for Interstellar Travel
AerospaceMagazineFeatureSpecial ReportsOctober 2025The Scale Issue

Tiny Probes Aim for Interstellar Travel

Robot missions to nearby stars could take decades, not centuries

3 min read
Visual representation of Earth's space debris, a dense cloud surrounding the planet.
AerospaceMagazineFeatureSpecial ReportsOctober 2025The Scale Issue

Have We Reached a Space-Junk Tipping Point?

In some orbits, the Kessler syndrome is already underway

10 min read
ChatGPT daily power use: 25 queries need 8.5 Wh; 2.5 billion queries need 850 MWh.
AIMagazineFeatureSpecial ReportsOctober 2025The Scale Issue

Generative AI's Energy Needs Are Reshaping Our World

Billions of daily queries are reshaping energy and infrastructure

1 min read
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