Seven Must-Read Stories (Week Ending July 16, 2016)

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

July 15, 2016

China’s Massive Effort to Purify Seawater Is Drying Up
Stalled projects and underperforming plants have hampered China’s desalination plans.
Pokémon Go’s Breakout Success Has Implications for the Real World, Too
Nintendo’s mega-popular new game shows that augmented reality may yet trump virtual reality.
Tesla’s Strategy Is Risky and Aggressive, but It Has Worked
Elon Musk has made a bold bet that the car industry can move faster than anybody believed possible.
How Amazon Loses on Prime and Still Wins
Expect Prime Day to be even bigger this year.
Tougher Turing Test Exposes Chatbots’ Stupidity
We have a long way to go if we want virtual assistants to understand us.
Inside Facebook’s Artificial Intelligence Engine Room
These are the new computers Facebook created to accelerate its machine learning research.
Find Out Which Appliance Is Sucking All Your Power
Sense’s $299 gadget identifies individual devices in the home and exactly how much electricity they are using.

One insider says the company’s current staffing isn’t able to sustain the platform.

Digital clones of the people we love could forever change how we grieve.

I watched a bunch of crows on TikTok and now I'm trying to connect with some local birds.

Elon said no thanks to using his mega-constellation for navigation. Researchers went ahead anyway.

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.