Seven Must-Read Stories (Week ending January 23, 2016)

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

January 22, 2016

Can Augmented Reality Make Remote Communication Feel More Intimate?
A Microsoft Research study uses augmented reality to project a life-size person into a room with you, perched in an empty seat.
Companies Aim to Make Drugs from Bacteria That Live in the Gut
Relatively new discoveries about of the role of the microbiome in human health have sparked a race to develop new therapies based on microbes.
The Underwater Robot That Will Repair Fukushima
A robot is being built to venture into the radioactive waters of Fukushima’s worst-hit reactor and remove fuel rods.
California Gas Leak Exposes Growing Natural-Gas Risks
As America shifts toward natural gas for energy, decaying pipelines and storage facilities are at risk of leaks and explosions.
Using Patient Fingerprints to Break Down Medical Record Silos
A startup uses encryption and fingerprint authentication to compare medical records across providers—and aims to make them easier to move, too.
Don’t Blame Watson for IBM’s Slide
IBM might be overhyping the AI engine that beat humans on Jeopardy! But it would take a superhuman effort to overcome the huge challenges facing the company.
A Scientist’s Contested History of CRISPR
Eric Lander of the Broad Institute writes a history of a gene-editing technique that may be seen as partial to one side of a patent dispute.