Comics beyond sight
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Why the US and Europe could lose the race for fusion energy
Fusion energy holds the potential to shift a geopolitical landscape that is currently configured around fossil fuels. Harnessing fusion will deliver the energy resilience, security, and abundance needed for all modern industrial and service sectors. But these benefits will be controlled by the nation that leads in both developing the complex supply chains required and…
Technology
Welcome to the big blimp boom
Floating is the new flying, at least according to a handful of companies focused on building futuristic blimps, airships, and hot-air balloons. Lighter-than-air vehicles (or LTAs) depend on the same basic physics that creates bubbles in water. They’re filled with extremely light gas, like helium, which allows them to achieve lift and hover in the…
The forgotten history of highway photologs
On May 10, 1985, a tricked-out van drove south on US Route 1 in Pawcatuck, Connecticut, on a sunny spring day. Every .01 miles, a 35-millimeter movie camera mounted on the dashboard captured an image out of the front of the van, along with a digital readout displaying the date, route, mileage, and bearing. Highway…
The future is disabled
“Technology,” wrote the late historian of technology Melvin Kranzberg Jr., “is neither good nor bad, nor is it neutral.” It’s an observation that often doesn’t stick with people as they think about technologies related to accessibility. So many of our dominant stories about technologies for disability, access, and mobility paint them as objects of empowerment…
Job title of the future: metaverse lawyer
Lot #651 on Somnium Space belongs to Zannes Law, a Toronto-based law firm. In this seven-level metaverse office, principal lawyer Madaline Zannes conducts private consultations with clients, meets people wandering in with legal questions, hosts conferences, and gives guest lectures. Zannes says that her metaverse office allows for a more immersive, imaginative client experience. She…
China’s AI firms might further lose chip access in new US ban
The U.S. is weighing additional restrictions on AI chip export to China amid rising concerns over the use of advanced semiconductors for military modernization. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Commerce could prohibit shipments of chips from manufacturers including Nvidia to customers in China as soon as early next month. […]
China’s AI firms might further lose chip access in new US ban by Rita Liao originally published on TechCrunch
Bluu Seafood reels in $17.5M to bring cultivated fish products to market
Bluu Seafood, a German company creating cultivated (i.e. “lab-grown”) fish products, today announced it has raised €16 million ($17.5 million) in a Series A round of funding. Founded out of Berlin in 2020 originally as Bluu Biosciences, Bluu Seafood starts with a “one-time” fish biopsy — which, it says, doesn’t require killing any fish — […]
Bluu Seafood reels in $17.5M to bring cultivated fish products to market by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch
Zoox begins testing robotaxis on public roads in Las Vegas
Amazon subsidiary Zoox has begun testing its purpose-built, electric, autonomous robotaxis on public streets in Las Vegas, the company announced Tuesday. Zoox says this marks the first time that an autonomous vehicle built without pedals or a steering wheel has operated on public roads in Nevada. Zoox is starting small with a one-mile loop around […]
Zoox begins testing robotaxis on public roads in Las Vegas by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch
Curiosity unbounded
“It only takes a few hours on this campus to learn that what propels MIT is an irresistible force: the sheer motive power of curiosity, on every subject, at every scale, across disciplines and without limits. Curiosity unbounded. “It’s the passion to understand how things work, and why, and how they can work better. “In this…
When MIT met Sally
On May 1, the MIT community gathered in Killian Court beneath what Sally Kornbluth dubbed “the world’s largest umbrella” to officially welcome her as the Institute’s 18th president. But the predicted rain held off, and crabapple blossoms fluttered down from the trees as she was brought into the MIT fold with all the formality and…