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Explainers

IEEE Spectrum editors and contributors explain how key technology advances and systems work
Artificial IntelligenceExplainer

What Is Generative AI?

Spectrum explains large language models, the transformer architecture, and how it all works

6 min read
An animation showing a conceptual representation of a generative AI network.

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different colored heat pumps against a white background
Climate TechExplainerClimate Change

What Is a Heat Pump?

Here’s a primer on how these increasingly popular heating—and cooling—machines work

6 min read
An illustration of a man and a woman in front of two circles with arrows coming out of the top.
ComputingExplainer

What Is Quantum Entanglement?

Skip the heady and abstract physics lectures. Let’s talk about socks

10 min read
A plane, a 5G cell tower, and electrical wires are seen in silhouette against a cloudy sky
TelecommunicationsExplainer

What You Need to Know About the FAA 5G Kerfuffle

Why is 5G only a problem for planes in the U.S.?

4 min read
Artificial IntelligenceMagazineSpecial ReportsOctober 2021ExplainerThe Great AI Reckoning

How Deep Learning Works

Inside the neural networks that power today's AI

3 min read
Columns of dots with lines connecting them.
A car charging at a charging station.
TransportationExplainer

What You Need to Know About Charging Before You Buy an EV

Unlike gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicles, there are several ways to charge EVs

5 min read
An illustration of how NASA's Perseverance rover will look after it lands on Mars.
AerospaceExplainer

Everything You Need to Know About NASA's Perseverance Rover Landing on Mars

Here's what's going to happen when the space agency's latest rover arrives at Mars

6 min read
Fast-Track Your Sensor Research: Essential Tools for Accelerated Testing
ComputingSensorsWebinar

Fast-Track Your Sensor Research: Essential Tools for Accelerated Testing

Learn about essential tools for controlling and rapidly testing your sensor

Marin County Fire medic Kevin Stone prepares a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to staff at The Tamalpais Marin assisted living facility in Greenbrae, Calif. Thursday, December 17, 2020.
BiomedicalExplainer

What Are the New COVID-19 Variants, and How Can We Track Them?

We need genetic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2's continual mutations to keep vaccines effective

4 min read
A journalist views a video manipulated with artificial intelligence to potentially deceive viewers, or “deepfake” at his newsdesk in Washington, DC
ComputingExplainer

What Are Deepfakes and How Are They Created?

Deepfake technologies: What they are, what they do, and how they’re made

7 min read