Technology

Recapturing early internet whimsy with HTML

December 21, 2023
Websites weren’t always slick digital experiences.  There was a time when surfing the web involved opening tabs that played music against your will and sifting through walls of Times New Roman text on a colored background. In the 2000s, before Squarespace and social media, websites were manifestations of individuality—built entirely from scratch using HTML, by…

Consumer Reports says Tesla’s Autopilot recall fix is ‘insufficient’

December 20, 2023

Tesla’s fix for its Autopilot recall of more than 2 million vehicles is being called “insufficient” by Consumer Reports, following preliminary tests. Kelly Funkhouser, the nonprofit organization’s associate director of vehicle technology, tells TechCrunch she discovered it’s still possible to cover the cabin camera while using Autopilot, meaning drivers can neutralize one of the two […]

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The Download: good climate news, and promising pixels

December 20, 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. There was some good climate news in 2023. Really. Scientists are loudly warning that the world is running out of time to avoid dangerous warming levels. The picture is grim. But if you…

China’s judicial system is becoming even more secretive

December 20, 2023
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. The new year will be here soon! Typically, it’s a great time for a fresh start. But not always. And today I want to talk about something that’s unfortunately moving in the…

These minuscule pixels are poised to take augmented reality by storm

December 20, 2023
Google Glass, a prototype augmented-reality headset released in April 2013, had the makings of a hit. It promised intuitive, hands-free access to a smartphone’s most important features—video recording, navigation, and even email. Forget touch screens and buttons: the future of computing was on your face. It was a disaster.  Though beautiful in concept, Glass was…

There was some good climate news in 2023. Really.

December 20, 2023
Bad climate news was everywhere in 2023.  It’s been the hottest year on record, with January through November clocking in at 1.46 °C (2.62 °F) warmer on average than preindustrial temperatures. Meanwhile, emissions from fossil fuels hit a new high—36.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, 1.1% more than in 2022.  Scientists are loudly warning…

EthSign brings DocuSign-like features to Line, Telegram with a web3 twist

December 19, 2023

Despite the ongoing regulatory crackdown on the crypto industry and the collapse of some of its poster children, the underlying decentralized technology continues to drive internet incumbents into the web3 space. Telegram and Line, two of the world’s most popular messengers with hundreds of millions of monthly users, have both been integrating crypto features in […]

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Two-way reflections on MIT Technology Review’s 125th

December 19, 2023
I composed the following palindromes in honor of the 125th anniversary of MIT Technology Review. They include what I call a “punctuate-it-yourself” (or p-i-y) palindrome on James Mason Crafts. (Volume I, Issue 1 of the Review contained a lengthy profile of Crafts, who served as MIT’s fourth president and held the office from 1897 to…

8 predictions for AI in 2024

December 19, 2023

This last year was a banger for AI as the technology went from niche to mainstream about as fast as anything ever has. 2024, however, will be the year when the hype runs full-steam into reality as people reckon with the capabilities and limitations of AI at large. Here are a few ways we think […]

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Dog cancer treatment ImpriMed aims to expand its AI technology into human oncology

December 19, 2023

ImpriMed, a California-based precision medicine startup, builds AI-powered dog cancer treatment technology that helps veterinarians identify the most suitable drugs for individual canine and feline blood cancers.   The startup, which centers on improving treatment outcomes of dogs and cats with cancer first, now aims to expand its precision medicine technology for human oncology applications.  “The […]

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