October 18, 2024

Oropouche virus is spreading. Here’s what we know.

This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here. There have been plenty of reports of potentially concerning viruses this last year. Covid is still causing thousands of deaths, and bird flu appears set to make the…

June 2024

Fetcherr lands $90M to get airlines on board with dynamic pricing

June 26, 2024

In a push to bolster profits, more airlines are turning to controversial dynamic pricing tech, which prices fares and amenities variably based on a traveler’s willingness to pay for them.

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Sensi.AI grabs $31M Series B from Insight, Zeev to monitor seniors 24/7

June 26, 2024

Older adults increasingly want to age in their homes rather than nursing facilities. A study by the American Association of Retired People (AARP) found that nearly 90% of people over 65 want to stay in their homes as they grow older. That means there is plenty of work for home care agencies whose staff assist […]

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Why China’s dominance in commercial drones has become a global security matter

June 26, 2024
This story first appeared in China Report, MIT Technology Review’s newsletter about technology in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. Whether you’ve flown a drone before or not, you’ve probably heard of DJI, or at least seen its logo. With more than a 90% share of the global consumer market, this Shenzhen-based…

Job title of the future: Space debris engineer

June 26, 2024
Stijn Lemmens has a cleanup job like few others. A senior space debris mitigation analyst at the European Space Agency (ESA), Lemmens works on counteracting space pollution by collaborating with spacecraft designers and the wider industry to create missions less likely to clutter the orbital environment.  Although significant attention has been devoted to launching spacecraft…

Inside the US government’s brilliantly boring websites

June 26, 2024
The United States has an official web design system and a custom typeface. This public design system aims to make government websites not only good-looking but accessible and functional for all. Before the internet, Americans may have interacted with the federal government by stepping into grand buildings adorned with impressive stone columns and gleaming marble…

Learning from catastrophe

June 26, 2024
The philosopher Karl Popper once argued that there are two kinds of problems in the world: clock problems and cloud problems. As the metaphor suggests, clock problems obey a certain logic. They are orderly and can be broken down and analyzed piece by piece. When a clock stops working, you’re able to take it apart,…

Toys can change your life

June 26, 2024
In a November 1984 story for Technology Review, Carolyn Sumners, curator of astronomy at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, described how toys, games, and even amusement park rides could change how young minds view science and math. “The Slinky,” Sumners noted, “has long served teachers as a medium for demonstrating longitudinal (soundlike) waves and…