Recommended from Around the Web (Week Ending January 31, 2014)

A roundup of the most interesting stories from other sites, collected by the staff at MIT Technology Review.

MIT TR Editorsarchive page

January 30, 2014

From Warheads to Cheap Energy
People used to worry about uranium supplied in the U.S. An ingenious arms-control deal solved that problem.
—Kevin Bullis, senior editor, energy

Organic Shmorganic
A smart analysis of the evidence surrounding organic pesticides and human health.
—Brian Bergstein, deputy editor

From Warheads to Cheap Energy
A fascinating story about one man’s effort to keep Russia’s nuclear stockpile out of the wrong hands.
—Will Knight, news and analysis editor

Don’t Be Surprised If Your TV Soon Seems to Know Everything About Your Politics
Ready or not, targeted television advertising may be a key feature of the next presidential election.
—Will Knight

Drilling Surprise Opens Door to Volcano-Powered Electricity
In 2009 the Icelandic Deep Drilling Project unexpectedly drilled into a magma chamber. Instead of plugging it up, scientists experimented with using its heat to generate electricity. Now they’ve published their results.
—Molly Frey, senior software engineer

#SOTU2014: See the State of the Union Address Minute by Minute on Twitter
An interesting visualization of reactions shared on Twitter during Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
—Molly Frey

“Why Is Pennsylvania So Haunted?” The U.S. According to Autocomplete
Google search, mapped out according to our United States.
—J. Juniper Friedman, editorial assistant

Go, Indie, Go. Will Networked Podcasts Get You There?
“The great podcast grab of 2013”: A primer on the revival of public media producers’ long-sought goal to monetize podcasts.
—Kyanna Sutton, senior Web producer

The Newsonomics of Why Everyone Seems to Be Starting a News Site
Nieman Journalism Lab distills where which players in online media have transplanted themselves to pioneer which news startups: “They’re all seizing a moment in digital news history.”
—Kyanna Sutton

What Happened to the New Internet?
Buzzfeed’s take on why the dream of the so-called “New Internet” is now, seemingly, deferred.
—Kyanna Sutton

Telling Stories About the Future of Journalism
At the New Yorker, George Packer wonders what Ezra Klein’s move to Vox Media really means for the future of journalism on the Web.
—Mike Orcutt

How QuarkXPress Became a Mere Afterthought in Publishing
A graphic designer recounts how Adobe’s InDesign toppled a technology that was alienating its users—ultimately to start alienating its own.
—Linda Lowenthal, copy chief

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