Technology

How to… delete your 23andMe data

October 14, 2024
MIT Technology Review’s How To series helps you get things done.  Things aren’t looking good for 23andMe. The consumer DNA testing company recently parted ways with all its board members but CEO Anne Wojcicki over her plans to take the company private. It’s also still dealing with the fallout of a major security breach last October, which…

Africa fights rising hunger by looking to foods of the past

October 14, 2024
The first time the rains failed, the farmers of Kanaani were prepared for it. It was April of 2021, and as climate change had made the weather increasingly erratic, families in the eastern Kenyan village had grown used to saving food from previous harvests. But as another wet season passed with barely any rain, and…

The Download: direct-air-capture plants, and measuring body fat

October 11, 2024
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. These are the best ways to measure your body fat —Jessica Hamzelou We all know that being overweight is not great for your health—it’s linked to metabolic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular problems.…

Job title of the future: Digital forest ranger

October 11, 2024
When Martin Roth began his career as a forest ranger in the 1980s, his job was to care for the forest in a way that would ensure continuity for decades, even centuries. Now, with climate change, it’s more about planning for an uncertain future. “It’s turned into disaster management,” says Roth, for whom the 3,000…

These are the best ways to measure your body fat

October 11, 2024
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. This week, an office conversation turned to body weight. We all know that being overweight is not great for your health—it’s linked to metabolic diseases like diabetes and…

Roundtables: Producing Climate-Friendly Food

October 10, 2024
Recorded on October 10, 2024 Producing Climate-Friendly Food with special guests from Pivot Bio and Rumin8 Speakers: James Temple, Sr Editor for Energy, Casey Crownhart, Sr Reporter for Climate, Karsten Temme, Chief Innovation Officer & Co-founder of Pivot Bio, and Matt Callahan, Co-founder and Counsel of Rumin8. Planet-warming emissions aren’t only spewed from power plants…

Experts warn the US must do more to boost demand for carbon removal 

October 10, 2024
In 2022, the US made a massive bet on the carbon removal industry, committing $3.5 billion to build four major regional hubs in an effort to scale up the nascent sector. But industry observers fear that market demand isn’t building fast enough to support it, even with these substantial federal grants and other subsidies.  Some…

The Download: herbicide-resistant weeds, and an octopus-inspired adhesive

October 10, 2024
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. The weeds are winning Since the 1980s, more and more plants have evolved to become immune to the biochemical mechanisms that herbicides leverage to kill them. This herbicidal resistance threatens to decrease yields—out-of-control…

Everything comes back to climate tech. Here’s what to watch for next.

October 10, 2024
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. We get to celebrate a very special birthday today—The Spark just turned two!  Over the past couple of years, I’ve been bringing you all the news you need to know in climate…

The weeds are winning

October 10, 2024
On a languid, damp July morning, I meet weed scientist Aaron Hager outside the old Agronomy Seed House at the University of Illinois’ South Farm. In the distance are round barns built in the early 1900s, designed to withstand Midwestern windstorms. The sky is a formless white. It’s the day after a storm system hundreds…