MIT Technology Review

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Bill Gates isn't too scared about AI Bill Gates just joined the chorus of big names in tech who have weighed in on the question of risks around artificial intelligence. TL;DR? He's not...

This story first appeared in China Report, MIT Technology Review's newsletter about technology developments in China.Sign upto receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. The temperature of the US-China tech conflict just keeps rising. Last week, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced a new export license system for gallium and germanium, two elements that are...

Bill Gates has joined the chorus of big names in tech who have weighed in on the question of risk around artificial intelligence. The TL;DR? He's not too worried, we've been here before. The optimism is refreshing after weeks of doomsaying-but it comes with few fresh ideas. The billionaire business magnate and philanthropist made his...

Ships crisscrossing the world's oceans are vital to our global economy-everything from the bananas on your countertop to the car in your driveway may have journeyed on one at some point. But all that travel causes pollution: the global shipping industry is responsible for over a billion tons of greenhouse-gas emissions each year, about 3%...

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Weather forecasting is having an AI moment Last week was the hottest week on record. Punishing heat waves and extreme weather events like hurricanes and floods are going to become more common as...

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. Is it hot where you are? It sure is here in London. I'm writing this newsletter with a fan blasting at full power in my direction and still feel like my...

Software engineers and their ability to deliver are critical to a business' success. They help organizations keep pace with innovation and respond to disruptive forces. Even companies in industries that are not traditionally considered tech, such as agriculture or financial services, recognize the need for software engineers and are actively seeking to hire talented individuals....

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. How China is fighting back in the semiconductor exports war China has been on the receiving end of semiconductor export restrictions for years. Now, it's striking back with the same tactic. On July...

This article is from The Technocrat, MIT Technology Review's weekly tech policy newsletter about power, politics, and Silicon Valley. To receive it in your inbox every Friday, sign up here. Last week, a law about AI and hiring went into effect in New York City, and everyone is up in arms about it. It's one...

MIT Technology Review Explains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what's coming next.You can read more here. China has been on the receiving end of semiconductor export restrictions for years. Now, it is striking back with the same tactic. On July 3, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce...

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. AI-text detection tools are really easy to fool The news: As soon as ChatGPT launched, there were fears that students would use the chatbot to churn out passable essays. In response, startups started...

Within weeks of ChatGPT's launch, there were fears that students would be using the chatbot to spin up passable essays in seconds. In response to those fears, startups started making products that promise to spot whether text was written by a human or a machine. The problem is that it's relatively simple to trick these...

This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review's weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here. We're well into summer here in the Northern Hemisphere. For a parent of two young children, that means ice creams, water fountains, picnics, and-inevitably-coughs and...

From traditional manufacturing companies using AI in robots to build smart factories to tech startups developing automated customer service and chatbots, AI is becoming pervasive across industries. AI is no longer just in assistant mode, but is now playing autonomous roles in robotics, driving, knowledge generation, simulating our hands, feet, and brains," says Lan Guan,...

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. The $100 billion bet that a postindustrial US city can reinvent itself as a high-tech hub On a day in late April, a small drilling rig sits at the edge of the scrubby...

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review's weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. A few weeks ago, I found myself in a room where fluorescent lights reflected off the stainless steel tanks lining the walls. The setup reminded me of an exceedingly high-tech craft brewery....

For now, the thousand acres that may well portend a more prosperous future for Syracuse, New York, and the surrounding towns are just a nondescript expanse of scrub, overgrown grass, and trees. But on a day in late April, a small drilling rig sits at the edge of the fields, taking soil samples. It's the...

When it comes to the ability to generate, arrange, and analyze content, generative AI is a gamechanger-one with transformative social and economic potential. As a technology that is democratized-one that doesn't simply exist in a faraway lab or tech community in Silicon Valley, for instance-generative AI lowers the barriers to participation. In the age of...

As climate change makes weather more unpredictable and extreme, we need more reliable forecasts to help us prepare and prevent disasters. Today, meteorologists use massive computer simulations to make their forecasts. They take hours to complete, because scientists have to analyze weather variables such as temperature, precipitation, pressure, wind, humidity, and cloudiness one by one....

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. This is how AI will transform how science gets done -by Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, and current co-founder of philanthropic initiative Schmidt Futures With the advent of AI, science is about...

It's yet another summer of extreme weather, with unprecedented heat waves, wildfires, and floods battering countries around the world. In response to the challenge of accurately predicting such extremes, semiconductor giant Nvidia is building an AI-powered digital twin" for the entire planet. This digital twin, called Earth-2, will use predictions from FourCastNet, an AI model...

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Job title of the future: metaverse lawyer In a virtual office, lawyer Madaline Zannes conducts private consultations with clients, meets people wandering in with legal questions, hosts conferences, and gives guest lectures. Zannes...

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Here's what we know about lab-grown meat and climate change Soon, the menu in your favorite burger joint could include not only options made with meat, mushrooms, and black beans but also patties...

This article is from The Technocrat, MIT Technology Review's weekly tech policy newsletter about power, politics, and Silicon Valley. To receive it in your inbox every Friday,sign up here. Last week, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (a Democrat from New York) announced hisgrand strategy for AI policymakingat a speech in Washington, DC, ushering in what...

MIT Technology Review Explains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what's coming next. You can read more here. Soon, the menu in your favorite burger joint could include not only options made with meat, mushrooms, and black beans but also patties packed with lab-grown animal cells. Not...

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. How gene-edited microbiomes could improve our health Microbes are everywhere, and the ones in our bodies appear to be incredibly important for our health. They've developed intricate relationships with other living systems, feeding...

This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review's weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here. Microbes have been on my mind this week. These tiny organisms are everywhere, and the ones that reside in our bodies appear to be incredibly...

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Humans may be more likely to believe disinformation generated by AI The news: Disinformation generated by AI may be more convincing than disinformation written by humans, according to a new study. It found...

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review's weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. I briefly became a vegetarian around the age of 13. The story is a common one in my generation, I think: I saw a video of slaughterhouse conditions, cried my eyes out,...

Open banking, which allows consumers to securely share their banking data with third-party providers (TPPs), continues to transform financial services. A new generation of financial technology (fintech) companies-peer-to-peer payment services, mobile banking apps, and trading platforms-offer consumers powerful tools to manage their money and extend their banking capabilities. According to the online data platform Statista,...

Disinformation generated by AI may be more convincing than disinformation written by humans, a new study suggests. The research found that people were 3% less likely to spot false tweets generated by AI than those written by humans. That credibility gap, while small, is concerning given that the problem of AI-generated disinformation seems poised to...

In a recent speech, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella evoked the lofty power of artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate progress, prosperity, and standards of living. This technology reaches everyone in the world," he said. Generative AI takes an idea born in tech communities such as Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv-the ability of algorithmic engines to synthesize...

With 2.5 billion payment cards used in more than 200 countries and territories across the globe, Mastercard faces a gigantic fraud risk. Credit card fraud accounted for more than $32 billion in losses-or about 6.6 cents per $100 in transactions-in 2021, with more than one-third occurring the U.S., according to a December 2022 Nilson Report...

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Introducing: the Accessibility issue When it comes to thinking about accessibility, so many of the dominant stories around technologies for disability, access, and mobility paint them as objects of empowerment or heroic, life-changing...

China Report is MIT Technology Review's newsletter about technology developments in China.Sign upto receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. Shein is launching a charm offensive. The once-obscure Chinese fast-fashion website has become increasingly mainstream. And to respond to accusations of terrible labor conditions, the company is now inviting US influencers to its operations in...

For an audio adaptation with descriptive text and for annotations, visit:https://spinweaveandcut.com/mitcomic/

Floating is the new flying, at least according to a handful of companies focused on building futuristic blimps, airships, and hot-air balloons. Lighter-than-air vehicles (or LTAs) depend on the same basic physics that creates bubbles in water. They're filled with extremely light gas, like helium, which allows them to achieve lift and hover in the...

On May 10, 1985, a tricked-out van drove south on US Route 1 in Pawcatuck, Connecticut, on a sunny spring day. Every .01 miles, a 35-millimeter movie camera mounted on the dashboard captured an image out of the front of the van, along with a digital readout displaying the date, route, mileage, and bearing. Highway...

Technology," wrote the late historian of technology Melvin Kranzberg Jr., is neither good nor bad, nor is it neutral." It's an observation that often doesn't stick with people as they think about technologies related to accessibility. So many of our dominant stories about technologies for disability, access, and mobility paint them as objects of empowerment...

Lot #651 on Somnium Space belongs to Zannes Law, a Toronto-based law firm. In this seven-level metaverse office, principal lawyer Madaline Zannes conducts private consultations with clients, meets people wandering in with legal questions, hosts conferences, and gives guest lectures. Zannes says that her metaverse office allows for a more immersive, imaginative client experience. She...

I often explain the concept of structural inequality using the example of MIT's bathrooms. Though the Institute never explicitly banned women, its buildings were designed for male students and the overwhelmingly male faculty and staff. When MIT's Cambridge campus opened in 1916, the bathrooms along the Infinite Corridor accommodated only men. Female undergraduate enrollment hovered...

Ananoparticle sensordeveloped by Professor Sangeeta Bhatia, SM '93, PhD '97, and colleagues including former MIT postdoc Liangliang Hao, now an assistant professor at Boston University, could make it possible to detect and monitor cancers with an affordable paper-based urine test. The nanoparticles are a variation on a type of synthetic biomarker" developed in Bhatia's lab...

A Silent Fire: The Story of Inflammation, Diet, and DiseaseBy Shilpa Ravella '03W.W. NORTON & CO., 2022, $30 The Transcendent Brain: Spirituality in the Age of ScienceBy Alan Lightman, professor of the practice of the humanities PANTHEON, 2023, $26 A Crisis Like No Other: Understanding and Defeating Global WarmingBy Robert De Saro, SM '74BENTHAM BOOKS,...

Patches stuck to the skin can be an appealing alternative to injections, pills, and other ways of getting medicines into the body. Two MIT groups have found ways to advance this technology. Canan Dagdeviren, an associate professor in the Media Lab, and colleagues developed a patch that applies painless ultrasonic waves, creating tiny channels that...

Counterfeit seeds can cost farmers more than two-thirds of expected crop yields. Now an MIT team may have found a way to outwit fakers: tiny tags of biodegradable silk-based material, each containing a unique combination of chemical signatures. The technology is based on what are known as physically unclonable functions, or PUFs, a concept used...

The Namaqua sandgrouse, a bird native to the deserts of southern Africa, has a unique way of helping chicks survive before they can fly: the males frolic in the nearest watering hole and carry water back in their belly feathers for them to drink. In 1967, researchers found that the feathers can absorb 25 milliliters...

A nanoparticle developed by MIT chemical engineer Daniel Anderson and colleagues can deliver messenger RNA encoding CRISPR gene-editing proteins to the lungs of mice. With further development, the researchers say, such particles could offer an inhalable treatment for cystic fibrosis and other lung diseases, snipping out and replacing the faulty genes that cause them. The...

It's no Lionel Messi, but a four-legged robot developed at CSAIL's Improbable Artificial Intelligence Lab can dribble a soccer ball on surfaces including grass, sand, gravel, mud, and snow. To develop these hard-to-script skills, the researchers turned to a simulation-a digital twin of the natural world. DribbleBot" started out with no idea how to dribble,...