Seven Must-Read Stories (Week Ending September 20, 2013)

Another chance to catch the most interesting, and important, articles from the previous week on MIT Technology Review.

September 19, 2013

Esther Dyson: We Need to Fix Health Behavior
Getting people to eat well and exercise is the biggest unsolved problem in health care.
Smart Robots Can Now Work Right Next to Auto Workers
It used to be too dangerous to have a person work alongside a robot. But at a South Carolina BMW plant, next-generation robots are changing that.
U.S. Military Scientists Solve the Fundamental Problem of Viral Marketing
Network theorists working for the U.S. military have worked out how to identify the small “seed” group of people who can spread a message across an entire network.
New Approach to Making Graphene Could Lead to Workable Transistors
Using DNA to synthesize and align ultrathin graphene ribbons could represent a way to manufacture graphene transistors that don’t leak.
At Fake Hospital, Kaiser Runs a Testing Ground for New Technology
Pushing around supply carts for miles, tending to plastic babies, and maintaining an ersatz operating theater are how one health-care giant figures out what saves money.
Intel’s Anthropologist Genevieve Bell Questions the Smart Watch
Genevieve Bell, director of Intel’s user experience research, says companies building wearable computers haven’t figured out why people might want them.
Most Influential Emotions on Social Networks Revealed
Anger spreads faster and more broadly than joy, say computer scientists who have analyzed sentiment on the Chinese Twitter-like service Weibo.