Technology

Raleigh, Cary, Durham and Winston-Salem have signed on to an agreement with AT&T for high-speed fiber optic Internet service. The service operates at one gigabit per second, which translates to 25 song downloads per second. Still can't wrap your head around the incredible speed of fiber? Check out this video that uses water to demonstrate.

This ultra-fast Internet service is not new everywhere in the state. The cities of Wilson and Salisbury started working on their own fiber systems years ago. That was before a 2011 state law restricted municipalities from building publicly-owned broadband networks. 

In the last few years, Chase Lewis has patented two life-saving inventions, been a finalist in five national science competitions, and earned the Presidential Volunteer Service Silver Award. Oh, and he’s only 14 years old.

Lewis, who is homeschooled, has long been interested in science and inventions.

“My grandfather was an aeronautical physicist who worked on the Apollo program,” Lewis said. “I’ve gotten to spend some time with him, and we talk about science and inventions all the time.”

Many people tote smartphones around all day. But what is the nature of the relationship to smartphones and how do they change the perception of reality?

Erika Sherman was a preteen when she started running an early BBS or electronic Bulletin Board System from her bedroom. When she was 17, she received a drum machine and was invited to join the Detroit techno group, Ectomorph. Erika was a born technophile. Today, Erika performs primarily as a solo artist; she released her first solo album, Hexagon Cloud, last year. She also founded erika.net, a freeform internet radio station. 

For more than 40 years, Jane Smith Patterson has been paving the way for women in North Carolina politics and digital technology. After her start as a young organizer and activist in her hometown in Columbus County, North Carolina, Patterson left home for college when she was 16 years old. 

"Modern Love" is a New York Times column that features personal essays on issues of the heart. After editing submissions for a decade, Daniel Jones has read more than 50,000 intimate stories of love and loss. He compiled the wisdom of those narratives into a new book, "Love Illuminated" (Harper Collins Publishers/2014) and he will speak at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill on March 24th at 7p.m. 

Google recently announced nine metro areas under consideration for its latest internet technology: Google Fiber.

  A new Report by the North Carolina Department of Commerce's Office of Science & Technology  shows the state is a leader in innovation, but it also points out the many ways in which we need to improve. 

Zeynep Tufekci was only 16 years old and living in her native Turkey when she became a computer programmer.

One of the largest classroom technology initiatives in U.S. history is underway in Guilford County. This week middle school students can begin picking up their tablet computers and get comfortable with the devices prior to the start of classes.

Teachers have been learning the ins and outs of these Android-based tablets all summer.

"There is also an encyclopedia on here, all kinds of different things that come preloaded," said Eric Loveday, 8th grade science teacher at Southwest Middle School.

North Carolina is vying to host one of six national test sites for unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones.  The prospect of a burgeoning domestic drone industry in the state has some people excited.  But others are voicing concerns.