Seven Must-Read Stories (Week Ending December 13, 2013)

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

December 13, 2013

Bitcoin’s Rise Constrained by Heists and Lost Fortunes
Bitcoin is underpinned by unbreakable codes, but the secret keys that protect personal fortunes are easily lost or stolen.
Parents: Don’t Panic About Your Kids’ Social Media Habits
Microsoft researcher Danah Boyd tries to puncture some myths about teenagers and the Internet.
New Interfaces Inspire Inventive Computer Games
Novel modes of interaction are inspiring independent game companies to come up with completely new types of games.
The Many Tongues of Twitter
Twitter’s footprint is growing fast, although English speakers in the U.S. remain the largest demographic. The trick now is to turn its global presence into advertising dollars.
Indoor Imagery Shows Mobile Devices the Way
Street View–style imagery of interior spaces lets mobile devices locate themselves more accurately than is possible with GPS.
World’s Smallest Pacemaker Can Be Implanted without Surgery
New cardiac devices are small enough to be delivered through blood vessels into the heart.
How Remote Places Can Get Cellular Coverage by Doing It Themselves
With Swedish telephone numbers and a tree-bound base station, a remote Indonesian village runs its own telecommunications company.

The European Union is planning new legislation aimed at curbing the worst harms associated with artificial intelligence.

If they ever hit our roads for real, other drivers need to know exactly what they are.

The stunning image was made possible by linking eight existing radio observatories across the globe.

The first transplant of a genetically-modified pig heart into a human may have ended prematurely because of a well-known—and avoidable—risk.

Illustration by Rose Wong

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