Technology

The University of California has all but dropped carbon offsets—and thinks you should, too

November 30, 2023
In the fall of 2018, the University of California (UC) tasked a team of researchers with identifying tree planting or similar projects from which it could confidently purchase carbon offsets that would reliably cancel out greenhouse gas emissions across its campuses.  The researchers found next to nothing. “We took a look across the whole market…

Google DeepMind’s new AI tool helped create more than 700 new materials

November 29, 2023
From EV batteries to solar cells to microchips, new materials can supercharge technological breakthroughs. But discovering them usually takes months or even years of trial-and-error research.  Google DeepMind hopes to change that with a new tool that uses deep learning to dramatically speed up the process of discovering new materials. Called graphical networks for material…

Squint peers at $13M led by Sequoia for AR aimed at B2B to interact with physical objects

November 29, 2023

Apple’s and Google’s move into smart augmented reality several years ago, creating ways for people to use their smartphone cameras to identify everyday objects to interact with them, put the technology on the map with everyday consumers and gave a way for businesses to build new experiences to cater to them. It also laid the […]

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Augmenting the realities of work

November 29, 2023
Imagine an integrated workplace with 3D visualizations that augment presentations, interactive and accelerated onboarding, and controlled training simulations. This is the future of immersive technology that global head of Immersive Technology Research at JPMorgan Chase, Blair MacIntyre is working to build. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies can blend physical and digital dimensions…

The X Prize is taking aim at aging with a new $101 million award

November 29, 2023
Money can’t buy happiness, but X Prize founder Peter Diamandis hopes it might be able to buy better health. Today the X Prize Foundation, which funds global competitions to spark development of breakthrough technologies, announced a new $101 million prize—the largest yet—to address the mental and physical decline that comes with aging. The winners will…

The Download: the year’s most-read climate stories, and Amazon’s chatbot

November 29, 2023
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. A look back at the year’s most-read climate stories 2023 has been a big year for climate news. Wildfires, floods and heatwaves displaced and killed thousands of people across the world as extreme…