Seven Must-Read Stories (Week Ending February 6, 2016)

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

February 5, 2016

The Step Needed to Make Virtual Reality More Real
If virtual reality is going to be truly immersive, holding a game controller could be distracting. Companies will instead try to let you control the action with your eyes, head, or fingers.
New Collar Promises to Keep Athletes' Brains from "Sloshing" During Impact
Researchers have begun human clinical trials for a device, inspired by woodpeckers, that's meant to keep the brain from moving around so much inside the skull when it gets hit.
This $40,000 Robotic Exoskeleton Lets the Paralyzed WalkStill pricier than motorized wheelchairs, SuitX's Phoenix exoskeleton weighs just 27 pounds and is custom-fit to the user's body.
Government Seeks High-Fidelity "Brain-Computer" Interface
A challenge by DARPA asks scientists to develop ways to record from a million neurons at a time.
In New Anti-Aging Strategy, Clearing Out Old Cells Increases Life Span of Mice by 25 Percent
As we get older, some of our cells stop dividing. Are these derelicts a reason we age?
Will AI-Powered Hedge Funds Outsmart the Market?
Some hedge funds boast that AI algorithms make their trading decisionsu2014but these systems might be more conventional than they seem.
NSA Says It "Must Act Now" Against the Quantum Computing Threat
The National Security Agency is worried that quantum computers will neutralize our best encryption u2013 but doesn't yet know what to do about that problem.