Seven Must-Read Stories (Week Ending February 13, 2016)

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

MIT Technology Reviewarchive page

February 12, 2016

Gravitational Waves Have Been Discovered, Opening a New Window on the Universe
Researchers announce they’ve found ripples in the fabric of the cosmos that confirm Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
We Have the Technology to Destroy All Zika Mosquitoes
Fear of the Zika virus could generate support for gene drives, a radical technology able to make species go extinct.
The Tiny Startup Racing Google to Build a Quantum Computing Chip
Rigetti Computing is working on designs for quantum-powered chips to perform previously impossible feats that advance chemistry and machine learning.
Unraveling the Mysterious Function of the Microbiome
A new class of experimental therapies is emerging from the study of how the community of microörganisms in your body contributes to disease.
Top U.S. Intelligence Official Calls Gene Editing a WMD Threat
Easy to use. Hard to control. The intelligence community now sees CRISPR as a threat to national safety.
Artificial Intelligence Offers a Better Way to Diagnose Malaria
An algorithm for spotting malaria under the microscope could bring accurate, rapid diagnosis to understaffed areas.
China Could Have a Meltdown-Proof Nuclear Reactor Next Year
Two high-temperature, gas-cooled reactors under construction in Shandong will make up the first commercial-scale plant of its type in the world.

Keep Reading

Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.

And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.