--- description: Losing weight is one thing your fitness wearable can’t help you do, use computers to diagnose children with communications disorders & more. title: Your Fitness Wearable Can't Help You Lose Weight image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Innovation](/tag/innovation/) ## Innovation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Your Fitness Wearable Can't Help You Lose Weight by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 22, 2016 4:00 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 22, 2016 4:00 PM CUT **1\.** [**Losing weight is one thing your fitness wearable can’t help you do.**](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/average-person-better-off-without-fitness-wearable-weight-loss-study-finds/ "undefined") By Nsikan Akpan at PBS Newshour **2\.** [**To help children with communications disorders, use computers to diagnose them sooner.**](http://news.mit.edu/2016/automated-screening-childhood-communication-disorders-0922 "undefined") By Larry Hardesty at MIT News **3\.** [**The next great intellectual revolution is coming — and it will demand fairer global economics.**](https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/coming-anti-national-revolution-by-robert-j--shiller-2016-09 "undefined") By Robert J. Shiller in Project Syndicate **4\.** [**Microsoft wants to tackle cancer like it was a software bug.**](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/09/20/microsoft-will-solve-cancer-within-10-years-by-reprogramming-dis/ "undefined") By Sarah Knapton in the Telegraph **5\.** [**If every email cost a penny, would spam go away?**](http://www.ozy.com/immodest-proposal/why-you-should-pay-a-penny-to-send-an-email/71869 "undefined") By Libby Coleman in Ozy  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4504178/your-fitness-wearable-cant-help-you-lose-weight/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4504178/your-fitness-wearable-cant-help-you-lose-weight/"},"headline":"Your Fitness Wearable Can't Help You Lose Weight","datePublished":"2016-09-22T16:00:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:59:28.913Z","description":"These are today's best ideas","url":"https://time.com/4504178/your-fitness-wearable-cant-help-you-lose-weight/","keywords":["Innovation","Technology","global economy","Email","Microsoft","Wearables"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4504178/your-fitness-wearable-cant-help-you-lose-weight/","name":"Your Fitness Wearable Can't Help You Lose Weight"}}]}] ```