Recommended from Around the Web (Week Ending May 2, 2015)
A roundup of the most interesting stories from other sites, collected by the staff at MIT Technology Review.
Why Bitcoin’s Male Domination Will Be Its Downfall
Fusion’s Felix Salmon examines an issue that could be problematic for Bitcoin but doesn’t get very much attention: an estimated 96 percent of the Bitcoin community is male.
—Mike Orcutt, research editor
Can Bitcoin Conquer Argentina?
A long read in the New York Times Magazine reveals how Bitcoin has emerged as a viable alternative to the volatile Argentinian peso.
—Mike Orcutt
Three Days in Beijing with Three of the World’s Most Famous Dissidents
A meeting between Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, Edward Snowden collaborator Laura Poitras, and Wikileaks contributor Jacob Appelbaum reveals the complexities, paranoia and contradictions of digital dissident life.
—Tom Simonite, San Francisco bureau chief
‘Cut-Through’ Traffic Caused by Waze App Must Stop, L.A. Councilman Says
Residents of a Los Angeles neighborhood are angered as Google’s Waze navigation app directs drivers to take its streets as a shortcut.
—Tom Simonite
Re-Engineering Human Embryos
Tom Ashbrook leads a discussion on “the implications, and the global moral debate.”
—J. Juniper Friedman, associate Web producer
In the Basement with Transhumanism’s DIY Cyberpunks
Notes on the dream for a super humanity.
—Kyanna Sutton, senior Web producer
This Is How Fast America Changes Its Mind
A nifty and dynamic visualization of how U.S. attitudes have changed on six big sociopolitical issues.
—Kyanna Sutton