Recommended from Around the Web (Week Ending January 10, 2014)
A roundup of the most interesting stories from other sites, collected by the staff at MIT Technology Review.
Reading the Artist’s Mind
Artist Lisa Park uses the technology of electroencephalography to perform her own silence of mind.
—J. Juniper Friedman, editorial assistant
Tech Women Are Busy Building Their Own Networks
Never mind that this piece is oddly relegated to the “Style” section of WaPo. “The tech industry may have a problem with women, but women don’t have a problem with technology.” Tech LadyMafia is among the networks covered in this story, and it’s worth noting that TLM cofounders Erie Meyer and Aminatou Sow are also listed on Forbes’s 2014 30 under 30 in tech.
—Kyanna Sutton, senior Web producer
Thinking Outside the (Big) Box
This story, from this past weekend’s edition of the New York Times Magazine, offers a fascinating look at how better treatment of employees can help businesses increase their bottom line—and how software can help, too, by more efficiently deploying employees throughout stores.
—Rachel Metz, IT editor, Web & social media
Machine Envy
Aeon explores whether the obsession with “big data” and the high-tech gadgets that generate IT is crushing scientific thought.
—Susan Young, biomedicine editor
A Lonely Quest for Facts on Genetically Modified Crops
Amy Harmon’s well-reported piece in the New York Times about the passionate political conflict over genetically modified food crops in Hawaii illustrates why there is so much confusion surrounding the issue.
—Mike Orcutt, research editor
Max Luke and Jenna Mukuno: Boldly Going Where No Greens Have Gone Before
An interesting counterintuitive take on the challenges of addressing climate change through efficiency improvements.
—Kevin Bullis, senior editor, energy
Designing the Next Wave of Computer Chips
Interesting piece by John Markoff of the Times about materials innovations that could have a big impact on the computer industry.
—Will Knight, news and analysis editor
The Bitcoin-Mining Arms Race Heats Up
A fun piece about the hardware enthusiasts use to dig for digital gold.
—WIll Knight