The Download
What's up in emerging technology
Apple’s next update will help emergency responders find you
Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to create the US Space Force
Facebook used AI for an eye-opening trick
Three years later, Google still has big-time diversity issues
Tencent and Alibaba’s mobile payment war shows how far China is ahead of the US
June 4-5, 2018
MIT Media Lab
When robots are your colleagues, which human skills will still matter?
Join the conversion at EmTech Next where we talk about the future of work with the world’s leading experts.
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Intelligent Machines
This AI program could beat you in an argument—but it doesn’t know what it’s saying
The latest human-versus-machine matchup involves an argumentative AI system.
Intelligent Machines
This company tames killer robots
Artificial intelligence can turn the most dangerous industrial robots into helpful coworkers, and that could transform manufacturing.
Connectivity
EOS’s $4 billion crypto-democracy has just launched—and it’s probably going to be ruled by fat cats
A new blockchain aims to vastly speed up transactions, but it was incredibly slow in getting off the ground.
Intelligent Machines
A computer program that learns to “imagine” the world shows how AI can think more like us
DeepMind’s advance could lead to machines that can make better sense of a scene.
Sustainable Energy
China’s ambition to power the world’s electric cars took a huge leap forward this week
CATL’s stock has shot up since it raised nearly $1 billion in an IPO to build more lithium-ion battery plants.
Intelligent Machines
AI could get 100 times more energy-efficient with IBM’s new artificial synapses
Copying the features of a neural network in silicon might make machine learning more usable on small devices like smartphones.
Business Impact
AI could help the construction industry work faster—and keep its workforce accident-free
The construction industry, long a technology laggard, is hiring data scientists to boost efficiency.
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More videos
CRISPR Decoded 02:22
Access to broadband is as important as access to water and electricity 01:15
We shouldn't preserve "willy nilly" the cost of production 01:00
Coffee-fetching robots 02:08
Automating things on wheels 00:50
Humans versus machines: Chopin edition 02:06
Teaching systems to dance 01:44
3-D printed potato chips 01:15
Robots as nurses' assistants 00:36
Communicating with robots 01:35
Rewriting Life
CRISPR Decoded 02:22
Your two-minute guide to understanding how the revolutionary gene-editing technology works.
From Our Current Issue
Rewriting Life
Reprogramming our bodies to make us healthier.
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Gene therapy is saving children’s lives—but screening to discover who needs it is lagging behind
States in the US have been slow to test newborns for genetic conditions.
by Emily Mullin
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It’s fiction, but America just got wiped out by a man-made terror germ
At “germ games” held in Washington, DC, pandemic planners get a look at the threat posed by synthetic biology.
by Antonio Regalado
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Does the brain store information in discrete or analog form?
New evidence in favor of a discrete form of data storage could change the way we understand the brain and the devices we build to interface with it.
by Emerging Technology from the arXiv
Briefing Paper
How to Unlock the Power of IoT with Real-Time Monitoring
Executive Briefing
Cloud Development: The Key to Rapid Innovation
Features
Sustainable Energy
The scientist still fighting for the clean fuel the world forgot
A decade of investment in advanced biofuels led nowhere, but Jay Keasling remains undaunted.
Sustainable Energy
Can we sustainably provide food, water, and energy to a growing population during a climate crisis?
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China is creating a huge carbon market—but not a particularly aggressive one
The biggest test of cap-and-trade to date may be too timid to make much of a difference for the world’s largest carbon polluter.
by James Temple
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China’s ambition to power the world’s electric cars took a huge leap forward this week
CATL’s stock has shot up since it raised nearly $1 billion in an IPO to build more lithium-ion battery plants.
by James Temple
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Maybe we can afford to suck CO2 out of the sky after all
A new analysis shows that air capture could cost less than $100 a ton.
by James Temple