1 year ago
105 The news: Eight years ago, a diligent mislaid her powerfulness of code due to the fact that of ALS, oregon Lou Gehrig’s disease, which causes progressive paralysis. Now, aft volunteering to person a encephalon implant, the pistillate has been capable to rapidly pass phrases astatine a complaint approaching mean speech.
Why it matters: Even successful an epoch of keyboards, thumb-typing, emojis, and net abbreviations, code remains the fastest signifier of human-to-human communication. The scientists from Stanford University accidental their unpaid smashed erstwhile records by utilizing the brain-reading implant to pass astatine a complaint of 62 words a minute, 3 times the erstwhile best.
What’s next: Although the survey has not been formally reviewed, experts person hailed the results arsenic a important breakthrough. The findings could pave the mode for experimental brain-reading exertion to permission the laboratory and go a utile merchandise soon. Read the afloat story.
—Antonio Regalado
Resolving to unrecorded the Year of the Rabbit to the fullest
By Zeyi Yang, China reporter
This past Sunday was the Lunar New Year, the astir important vacation for Chinese and respective different Asian cultures. It’s expected to beryllium an accidental for america to reset and prehend caller opportunities.
In that spirit, I’ve precocious revisited immoderate of my favourite China-focused MIT Technology Review stories from the past twelvemonth and gone backmost to the radical I interviewed. I asked them whether they’d resolved immoderate troubling challenges, and what they're hoping for successful the Year of the Rabbit.
I’m precise grateful to everyone who has fto maine archer their stories—which I anticipation person helped each of america recognize much astir tech and China and, much broadly, the radical astir us. Read the afloat story.
Zeyi’s communicative is from China Report, his play newsletter covering each the large happenings successful China. Sign up to person it successful your inbox each Tuesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.
1 Germany and the US are sending tanks to Ukraine
They could assistance to usher successful a turning constituent successful the warfare with Russia. (BBC)
+ Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau is stepping up its efforts. (The Guardian)
2 The US Justice Department is suing Google (again)
It’s accusing the institution of abusing its dominance successful the integer advertizing market. (Vox)
+ It’s improbable it would ever really interruption Google up, though. (Ars Technica)
+ Google is axing its spam exemption measures for governmental emails. (WP $)
3 Ticketmaster blamed a cyberattack for its Taylor Swift fiasco
But senators deliberation its stranglehold connected the summons marketplace is the existent cause. (Bloomberg $)
+ Ticketmaster is the explanation of a ticketing superpower. (Vox)
4 Crypto slope Silvergate is tanking
To the constituent that its aboriginal is present successful superior doubt. (NY Mag $)
+ What’s adjacent for crypto. (MIT Technology Review)
5 China is the satellite person successful facial designation tech exports
Experts are disquieted the intrusive bundle tin substance quality rights violations. (Wired $)
6 Amazon has warned unit not to stock secrets with ChatGPT
It’s not wide however the strategy uses confidential institution data. (Insider $)
7 How Nextdoor became a breeding crushed for lodging hostility
Neighbors rapidly go enemies successful a “permanent online cage match.” (Motherboard)
8 Artificial tegument senses objects amended than humans
It tin adjacent discern the benignant of worldly it’s made of. (New Scientist $)
9 Meet the daters utilizing questionnaires to surface imaginable matches
Champions accidental it helps them weed retired romanticist time-wasters. (The Guardian)
+ Here’s however the net’s newest matchmakers assistance you find love. (MIT Technology Review)
10 Online marketplace Zazzle is locked successful a font war
The fashionable font “Blooming Elegant” is astatine the bosom of it. (Slate $)
Quote of the day
“The mode that artists are embracing brainsick capitalist, hyper-technology civilization is conscionable truly disheartening.”
—Art pupil Marla Chinbat explains wherefore she finds the generative AI roar truthful depressing to Motherboard.
The large story
The adjacent enactment for messenger RNA could beryllium bigger than covid vaccines
February 2021
Many covid vaccines utilized a antecedently unproven exertion based connected messenger RNA. They were built and tested successful nether a year, acknowledgment to discoveries made 20 years earlier.
In the adjacent future, researchers believe, shots that present impermanent instructions into cells could pb to vaccines against herpes and malaria, amended flu vaccines, and, if the covid-19 germ keeps mutating, updated coronavirus vaccinations, too.
But researchers besides spot a aboriginal good beyond vaccines. They deliberation the exertion volition licence inexpensive cistron fixes for cancer, sickle-cell disease, and possibly adjacent HIV. Read the afloat story.
—Antonio Regalado
We tin inactive person bully things
A spot for comfort, amusive and distraction successful these weird times. (Got immoderate ideas? Drop maine a line or tweet 'em astatine me.)
+ But what astir their future crimes?
+ Who sells a life-sized dinosaur connected Facebook? This guy, that’s who.
+ Now this is immoderate AI art I tin get onboard with (thanks Will!)
+ If you’re been trying to carve retired much clip to beryllium creative, here’s immoderate tips connected however to solidify it into a habit.
+ Sardines whitethorn person a atrocious rep, but there’s truthful overmuch you tin bash with them.
