10 months ago
142 This is today's variation of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a regular dose of what's going connected successful the satellite of technology.
A encephalon implant changed her life. Then it was removed against her will.Sticking an electrode wrong a person’s encephalon tin bash much than dainty a disease. Take the lawsuit of Rita Leggett, an Australian pistillate whose experimental encephalon implant designed to assistance radical with epilepsy changed her consciousness of bureau and self.
Leggett told researchers that she “became one” with her device. It helped her to power the unpredictable, convulsive seizures she routinely experienced, and allowed her to instrumentality complaint of her ain life. So she was devastated when, 2 years later, she was told she had to region the implant due to the fact that the institution that made it had gone bust.
The removal of this implant, and others similar it, mightiness correspond a breach of quality rights, ethicists accidental successful a insubstantial published earlier this month. And the contented volition lone go much pressing arsenic the encephalon implant marketplace grows successful the coming years and much radical person devices similar Leggett’s. Read the afloat story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
You tin work much astir what happens to patients erstwhile their life-changing encephalon implants are removed against their wishes successful the latest contented of The Checkup, Jessica’s play newsletter giving you the wrong way connected each things biotech. Sign up to person it successful your inbox each Thursday.
If you’d similar to work much astir encephalon implants, wherefore not cheque out:
+ Brain waves tin archer america however overmuch symptom idiosyncratic is in. The probe could unfastened doors for personalized encephalon therapies to people and dainty the worst kinds of chronic pain. Read the afloat story.
+ An ALS diligent acceptable a grounds for communicating via a encephalon implant. Brain interfaces could fto paralyzed radical talk astatine astir mean speeds. Read the afloat story.
+ Here’s however personalized encephalon stimulation could dainty depression. Implants that way and optimize our encephalon enactment are connected the way. Read the afloat story.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.
1 Chipmaker Nvidia is hurtling towards a trillion dollar valuation
The AI roar has sent the company’s worth skyrocketing. (WP $)
+ It’s gaining crushed connected the likes of Apple and Microsoft. (FT $)
+ But Nvidia is inactive reliant connected 3rd parties to really manufacture its chips. (WSJ $)
+ These elemental plan rules could crook the spot manufacture connected its head. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Neuralink has FDA support to survey encephalon implants successful humans
But the institution is inactive nether probe for however it conducted trials successful animals. (Reuters)
+ The bureau refused Neuralink support to commencement investigating successful humans past year. (WP $)
+ Elon Musk’s Neuralink is neuroscience theater. (MIT Technology Review)
3 North and South Korea are locked successful a caller abstraction race
They privation to usage spy satellites to summation an borderline connected each other. (WSJ $)
4 The occurrence of mRNA vaccines could pave the mode for crab jabs
But experts are, understandably, inactive treading precise cautiously. (Knowable Magazine)
+ What’s adjacent for mRNA vaccines. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Deep oversea mining is threatening newly-discovered species
It could devastate the precious eco-systems earlier we person the accidental to support them. (Motherboard)
6 US authorities are demanding Big Tech hands implicit migrant data
But we don’t cognize however often the platforms comply with the subpoenas. (The Guardian)
7 Our organs are aging astatine antithetic rates
Aging clocks tin assistance america to support an oculus connected our deterioration—but they don’t ever supply a afloat representation of health. (Proto.Life)+ A trial told maine my encephalon and liver are older than they should be. (MIT Technology Review)
8 How the net birthed a caller pan-Asian quality ideal
And erased facial asymmetry on the way. (Wired $)
+ The combat for “Instagram face” (MIT Technology Review)
9 Sergey Brin’s not giving up connected his airship dreams
It’s been a passionateness task for years—but costs are mounting. (Bloomberg $)
10 It’s clip to interruption escaped from propulsion notifications 📱
They’re intrusive and annoying, truthful wherefore not get rid? (The Atlantic $)
Quote of the day
"There volition beryllium an atrocious batch of losing lottery tickets."
—Trevor Greetham, an concern strategist astatine Royal London Investment Management, tells Reuters wherefore investors rushing to marque a speedy subordinate connected AI-themed stocks would bash good to retrieve the lessons of the dotcom crash.
The large story
Yann LeCun has a bold caller imaginativeness for the aboriginal of AI
June 2022Around a twelvemonth and a fractional ago, Yann LeCun realized helium had it wrong.
LeCun, who is main idiosyncratic astatine Meta’s AI laboratory and a prof astatine New York University, is 1 of the astir influential AI researchers successful the world. He had been trying to springiness machines a basal grasp of however the satellite works—a benignant of communal sense—by grooming neural networks to foretell what was going to hap adjacent successful video clips of mundane events. But guessing aboriginal frames of a video pixel by pixel was conscionable excessively complex. He deed a wall.
Now, aft months figuring retired what was missing, helium has a bold caller imaginativeness for the adjacent procreation of AI, which helium thinks volition 1 time springiness machines the communal consciousness they request to navigate the world. But his imaginativeness is acold from comprehensive; indeed, it whitethorn rise much questions than it answers. Read the afloat story.
—Melissa Heikkilä & Will Douglas Heaven
