There’s a lot of tech news out there about gadgets and software, but not many people look deeply and directly at the big question: Is technology making humanity better or worse? New York Times and Wired Magazine contributor Clive Thompson has a new book called ‘Smarter Than You Think: How Technology Is Changing Our Minds for The Better.’

Researchers at Stanford University built a computer this week that would disappoint most of us. No Angry Birds, no Netflix. The computer’s operating system really only let’s it do two things: count and sort numbers into different columns. But this tiny, basic computer could be the start of a revolution in technology, because the chip wasn’t made with the usual semi-conductor ingredient, silicon. Instead, this little gadget was made with carbon nanotubes.

When you think fast delivery of different products bought online you usually think of Amazon, eBay or Zappos. Well Google just rolled out a same day delivery service in the Bay Area. And Gizmodo’s Leslie Horn talks about why cutting edge tech has become so important to rap music.

At long last, a tech company has promised to tackle head on a problem it created. Google says it is making tweaks to the commenting on YouTube. The comment threads on the video sharing site have long been considered the seedy underbelly of self expression online. The company’s proposed solution is three-pronged. YouTube will allow the person who posted a video more control over the comments section. It will also leverage Google’s massive data powers to give people browsing a custom view.

The beauty of a footnote in a book or an article is finding that getting to the original source only requires a trip to the library. But as more and more literature lives — and is born — online, there’s a growing problem. Big enough that some of the most prestigious institutions in the country are banding together to try and fix it. 

The notion of something going viral online is nothing new, but there’s a fast expanding area of study in social media and how we share things: The study of Mass Psychogenic Illness online. Incidents of socially spreading hysteria and other forms of illness go back hundreds of years, but new technologies could be making these incidents spread faster and farther.

Today there are new rules from the Obama Administration on building new coal and gas plants in the U.S. Some of them could require plants to use carbon capturing technologies. Critics say the technology isn’t there yet, but environmentalists say the industry is dragging its feet. So how close are we to actually putting less smog into the air — when we’re continuously putting smog into the air?

This month the first inpatient treatment program for internet addiction opened in Bradford, Pennsylvania. It’s a ten day program that involves a thorough search for internet connected devices, three day quarantine and, hopefully, a cure. And aircraft maker Boeing says it has built the first helicopter that can take off and land without help from a human.

The U.N. General Assembly started this week. Syria is top of mind for many leaders, but there’s a related topic also getting attention this year: The looming specter of cyber war. Hackers from one nation attacking the missile defense systems, power grids and water supplies of another country is a popular topic at the U.S. Defense department, too. But author Thomas Rid says we’re getting the idea of cyber war all wrong.