Recommended from Around the Web (Week ending September 5, 2015)

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

MIT TR Editorsarchive page

September 3, 2015

Can the Chinese Government Get Its People to Like G.M.O.s?
Last fall we explained why China will need to use genetically modified foods. Now the New Yorker follows up by asking why the technology is being resisted.
—Brian Bergstein, executive editor

The $1 Pocket Microscope
This was a good read about how a $1 paper microscope can be really useful in the field—a nice reminder that the best technology isn’t always the most expensive or feature-packed.
—Rachel Metz, senior editor, mobile

Solarpunk Wants to Save the World
A new science fiction movement tries to cope with climate change.
—Linda Lowenthal, copy chief

Public Transit Should Be Uber’s New Best Friend
Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight explains why Uber does best in cities with strong public transit networks and how critical those networks are to attaining its goal of replacing car ownership.
—Nanette Byrnes, Senior Editor, Business Reports

This Preschool Is for Robots
How a robot learning to play with toddlers’ toys could show the way to smarter, more useful machines.
—Tom Simonite, San Francisco bureau chief

Business for the Other Billions
Harvard’s most recent take on the “economic pyramid.”
—J. Juniper Friedman, associate Web producer

Automation in the Newsroom
How reporters are using algorithms to help them tell stories.
—Kyanna Sutton, senior Web producer

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