Read more: "2013 Smart Guide: 10 ideas that will shape the year"
Controlling robots with thought alone could open up a new world for people with locked-in syndrome, while both health and education are heading in exciting new directions thanks to artificial intelligence and the web. And AI that can design video games from scratch might mean we will soon have to rethink what creativity really means. But it hasn't all been good news. Intriguing insights into the way the web works in both Iran and China – as well as demonstrations of how easy it is to disconnect a nation – show that unfettered, unobserved access to the internet should never be taken for granted.
Civilian drones to fill the skies after law shake-up
Law changes mean unmanned aerial vehicles aren't just for the military any more – civilian uses are taking off, too
AI designs its own video game
Video games designed almost entirely by a computer program herald a new wave of AI creativity
Face-reading software to judge the mood of the masses
Systems that can identify emotions in images of faces might soon collate millions of people's reactions to events and could even replace opinion polls
Robot avatar body controlled by thought alone
For the first time, a person lying in an fMRI machine has controlled a robot just by thinking about moving
Watson turns medic: Supercomputer to diagnose disease
More than a year after it won the quiz show Jeopardy!, IBM's supercomputer is learning how to help doctors diagnose patients
Future education: the explosion of online schooling in the US
Traditional schools are being replaced with internet-centric teaching methods that could change education forever
Robots move into the mining business
The dirty, back-breaking work of extracting minerals from the Earth is being taken over by machines
Kinect cameras watch for autism
An automated system that keeps watch over children could spot the telltale signs of autism and lead to earlier diagnoses
First evidence for Iran's parallel halal internet
The country's plan for a nationwide intranet separated from the World Wide Web looks to be approaching fruition – what are the implications?
Florida pet spa mystery link to China's great firewall
China's censors have innovative ways of stopping its citizens accessing banned websites, including poisoning internet servers
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2012 review: The year in technology
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2012 review: The year in technology
