Accelerating the energy transition with Web3 technologiesMIT Technology Review Insights
The convergence of sustainability goals and technologies like blockchain and AI offer opportunities to the energy sector. The Fourth Industrial Revolution signals an oncoming disruption to every industry and market in the world. With the arrival of Web3, energy markets are at the cusp of this revolution. The convergence of AI, blockchain technology, edge computing, and the IoT paves the path to a more decentralized and collaborative version of the internet. “We are witnessing a paradigm shift from a centralized internet world to a decentralized one, which is characterized by disintermediation and democratization. There is a lot of overlap with […]
How innovative technologies promise to change our livesRhiannon Williams
Come back to this page for rolling updates throughout the day as we kick off EmTech 2022, MIT Technology Review’s flagship event on emerging technology and global trends. Global changemakers, innovators, and industry veterans will take to the stage to distinguish what’s probable, plausible, and possible with tomorrow’s breakthrough technologies. We’ll be hearing from some of the biggest names in the industry, discussing everything from how to get promising ideas off the ground, to commercializing space, to building tomorrow’s AI and tackling the world’s biggest challenges. Today we’ll be exploring some of the exciting technologies promising to change our lives, such […]
Would you pay with your palm?Zeyi Yang
China Report is MIT Technology Review’s newsletter about technology developments in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. Hey! Welcome back to China Report. If you happen to be in Cambridge, MA, this week, come meet me at EmTech, MIT Technology Review’s big annual event. I’m going to host a few panels and fireside chats focusing on global technology challenges, including US-China tensions, crypto regulation, and social media misinformation. You can also just pop by and say hi. As I prep for the event, I also want to share a preview of a fascinating story I’m […]
This scientist is trying to create an accessible, unhackable voting machineSpencer Mestel
This article was originally published on Undark. Read the original article. In late 2020, a large box arrived at Juan Gilbert’s office at the University of Florida. The computer science professor had been looking for this kind of product for months. Previous orders had yielded poor results. This time, though, he was optimistic. Gilbert drove the package home. Inside was a transparent box, built by a French company and equipped with a 27-inch touch screen. Almost immediately, Gilbert began modifying it. He put a printer inside and connected the device to Prime III, the voting system he has been building […]
The Download: Vine revisited, and AI ethicist burnoutRhiannon Williams
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Elon Musk’s plans to revive Vine face one big problem: the reason it closed originally Good news, everyone: Vine is (probably) coming back. The much beloved short-form-video-sharing app ran from just 2012 to 2017, when it was cut off in its prime. Even now, it occupies a special place in many millennials’ hearts as the last glorious stand before the social web became tarnished and commoditized and every app started looking the same. The fact that so many […]
How to survive as an AI ethicistMelissa Heikkilä
To receive The Algorithm newsletter in your inbox every Monday, sign up here. Welcome to the Algorithm! It’s never been more important for companies to ensure that their AI systems function safely, especially as new laws to hold them accountable kick in. The responsible AI teams they set up to do that are supposed to be a priority, but investment in it is still lagging behind. People working in the field suffer as a result, as I found in my latest piece. Organizations place huge pressure on individuals to fix big, systemic problems without proper support, while they often face a near-constant barrage of […]
Elon Musk’s plans to revive Vine face one big problem: the reason it closed originallyChris Stokel-Walker
Good news, everyone: Vine is (probably) coming back. The much beloved wacky short-form-video-sharing app had a short life in the limelight from 2012 to 2017, when it was cut off in its prime (as many would have it). That’s helped ensure that it holds a space in many millennials’ hearts as the last glorious stand of the social web before it became tarnished and commoditized and every app started looking the same. Vine was what the internet could have been, rather than what it became. “There are few things the internet can agree on, but almost everyone misses Vine with […]
The Download: befriending crows, and Twitter under MuskRhiannon Williams
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. How to befriend a crow The crows play hide-and-seek with Nicole Steinke after her older kids head to school. She feeds a family of the birds from her apartment balcony in Alexandria, Virginia, twice daily. Once there’s no food left, they’ll look for her as she walks around her neighborhood. When one crow finds her, it will call to the others, and they’ll surround her. The crows have become minor TikTok celebrities thanks to CrowTok, a small but […]
How to befriend a crowAbby Ohlheiser
The crows play hide-and-seek with Nicole Steinke after her older kids head to school. She feeds a family of the birds from her apartment balcony in Alexandria, Virginia, twice daily (usually peanuts, but walnuts and cashews are valued treats). Once there’s no food left, they’ll look for her as she walks around her neighborhood. When one crow finds her, it will call to the others, and they’ll surround her and make a bunch of noise. This, she notes, can alarm bystanders. “People think that death is coming,” she says. “They’re a bad omen, all that—kind of the same as a […]
Elon Musk doesn’t know what it takes to make a digital town squareJillian C. York
It was in 2009 when the power of Twitter really became evident. As some Iranians tweeted through the country’s elections during a media blackout, the site began to emerge as a critical tool of global activists. Later movements, including the 2011 Egyptian revolution and the Movement for Black Lives, relied on Twitter to disseminate information and gain supporters. If the platform’s new official “Chief Twit” Elon Musk sticks to his stated plans to overhaul a series of platform policies, these very users—arguably the users who made Twitter what it is—could face the most risk. For one thing, the company has […]