The Download
What's up in emerging technology
Google’s just been hit with Europe’s biggest ever antitrust fine of $5 billion
This company is giving away face recognition software to K-12 schools
Coinbase is starting to look a lot like a traditional big tech company
A new report says AI will replace as many jobs as it kills—but take that with a huge grain of salt
Turns out CRISPR editing can also vandalize genomes
Sept. 11-14, 2018
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From Our Current Issue
Sustainable Energy
California’s plan to integrate the West Coast grid is a great idea—that could easily backfire
The state leading the clean-energy charge could wind up importing coal power from Wyoming.
Intelligent Machines
The US may have just pulled even with China in the race to build supercomputing’s next big thing
The two countries are vying to create an exascale computer that could lead to significant advances in many scientific fields.
Sustainable Energy
We still have no idea how to eliminate more than a quarter of energy emissions
Air travel, shipping, and manufacturing are huge sources of carbon that we lack good options for addressing.
News
35 Innovators Under 35
Better gene editing. Cheaper solar cells. Stretchable electronics. And smarter robots. Meet Jonas Cleveland, CEO of COSY, and the rest of our 2018 list of 35 Innovators Under 35.
Business Impact
MIT Technology Review’s new design—and new mission
Tech journalism shouldn’t just explain technology, but seek to make it more of a force for good.
Intelligent Machines
Google demos Duplex, its AI that sounds exactly like a very weird, nice human
After ethical concerns marred its announcement in May, Google showed off its retooled aural AI that helps you connect with people who still answer the phone.
Business Impact
Gary Reback: Technology’s trustbuster
Big-money politics is making it harder than ever to tame Big Tech.
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Humans versus machines: Chopin edition 02:06
Teaching systems to dance 01:44
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Communicating with robots 01:35
Intelligent Machines
Next-Generation Robots Need Your Help 27:36
Manuela Veloso of Carnegie Mellon University provides a reality check on the capabilities of today’s AI systems, and provides a look ahead at where the field is headed next.
Intelligent Machines
Artificial intelligence and robots are transforming how we work and live.
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The US may have just pulled even with China in the race to build supercomputing’s next big thing
The two countries are vying to create an exascale computer that could lead to significant advances in many scientific fields.
by Martin Giles
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Evolutionary algorithm outperforms deep-learning machines at video games
Neural networks have garnered all the headlines, but a much more powerful approach is waiting in the wings.
by Emerging Technology from the arXiv
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Data mining reveals fundamental pattern of human thinking
Word frequency patterns show that humans process common and uncommon words in different ways, with important consequences for natural-language processing.
by Emerging Technology from the arXiv
Features
Rewriting Life
Inside the effort to print lungs and breathe life into them with stem cells
Martine Rothblatt wants to end transplant shortages with 3-D-printed lungs.
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SPONSORED
From the age of perplexity to the era of opportunities
Finance for Growth
by Francisco Gonzalez
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SPONSORED
Undoing Aging with Molecular and Cellular Damage Repair
Since the dawn of medicine, aging has been doctors’ foremost challenge.
by Aubrey D. N. J. de Grey
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SPONSORED
Human Legacies When Robots Rule the Earth
Machines have been displacing humans on job tasks for several centuries, and for seventy years many of these machines have been controlled by computers.
by Robin Hanson
Connectivity
What it means to be constantly connected with each other and vast sources of information.
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This man’s quest to understand memory starts with obsessive bodycam recording and brain-wave tracking
By-products include striking short films that speed up and slow down along in response to body signals.
by Rachel Metz
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Forget about VR in the living room; this summer it’s on waterslides and in arcades
VR technology hasn’t been a hit with consumers, so companies are taking it everywhere from specially built arenas to airports.
by Rachel Metz
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Meet Oasis Labs, the blockchain startup Silicon Valley is buzzing about
Combining software with something the company calls “trusted hardware” will vastly expand what smart contracts can do.
by Mike Orcutt
