Technology

The Download: introducing The Education issue

April 26, 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. Introducing: The Education issue —Mat Honan, editor in chief Welcome to the Education Issue, our latest print magazine. It’s becoming increasingly clear that we’re in an entirely new place when it comes to…

The air-cleaning qualities of plants get a genetically modified boost

April 26, 2023
In the late 1980s, NASA conducted a study to determine how well indoor plants like aloe vera, Chinese ivy, and potted chrysanthemums abate air pollution. The results were a boon to nursery owners everywhere: the research showed that houseplants can capably dispatch harmful pollutants including benzene and formaldehyde.  But NASA’s study was conducted in sealed…

Shift happens: Writing about the history of keyboards

April 26, 2023
When the designer and typographer Marcin Wichary stumbled upon a tiny museum just outside Barcelona five years ago, the experience tipped his interest in the history of technology into an obsession with a very particular part of it: the keyboard.  “I have never seen so many typewriters under one roof. Not even close,” he shared…

Inmates are using VR to learn real-world skills

April 26, 2023
Atorrus Rainer, age 41, is standing in the center of a stuffy, ­fluorescent-lit room. A virtual-reality headset covers his eyes like oversize goggles. Every so often, he extends his arm, using the VR controller to pick up garbage bags, a toothbrush, and toilet paper during a simulated trip to the supermarket. The experience is limited—Rainer…

Cheat Codex

April 26, 2023
Welcome to the Education Issue. I cheated on my editor’s letter. This one that you are reading right now. I’m very sorry.  Look, I didn’t set out to do this, but the thing about magazines is that they have very hard deadlines, and if you miss them, you’re left with blank pages. So when I…

Lookout sells its consumer cybersecurity business to F-Secure and goes all-in on the enterprise

April 26, 2023

Lookout’s long-running transition to becoming an enterprise security company is all but complete, revealing today that it’s selling its consumer mobile security business to Finland’s F-Secure. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded out of Boston in 2009, Lookout originally started out as a consumer-focused smartphone security and data backup business, garnering millions of […]

Lookout sells its consumer cybersecurity business to F-Secure and goes all-in on the enterprise by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch

Exquisite bullshitters

April 26, 2023
Artist Ariel Aberg-Riger is author of America Redux: Visual Stories From Our Dynamic History.

UniSieve’s filters use special crystals to reduce industrial emissions

April 26, 2023

The energy-intensive process of separating and purifying chemicals and gases is a big reason why industries like plastic manufacturing cause so much pollution. UniSieve wants to reduce their carbon emissions and operational costs with its tech, which uses a high-precision membrane with special crystals that can filter specific molecules and ions. Today the Zurich-based startup […]

UniSieve’s filters use special crystals to reduce industrial emissions by Catherine Shu originally published on TechCrunch

Hear how Cambrian BioPharma is reinventing drug (and drug company) development

April 25, 2023

I’m thrilled to announce this TechCrunch Live event. The startup Cambrian BioPharma is developing a life-changing technology while pioneering a radical approach to a pharmaceutical company. Don’t miss this TechCrunch Live taking place on May 3 at 12 p.m. PDT. Register here. It’s free to watch and participate. Cambrian BioPharma bills itself as a new […]

Hear how Cambrian BioPharma is reinventing drug (and drug company) development by Matt Burns originally published on TechCrunch

Reframing ageism

April 25, 2023
Among the Ojibwe of North America, an older person is referred to as a “great person” and young people are taught not to answer back when chastised by their elders, out of respect for their wisdom. But some of the Chukchi people living in Siberia adhered to a custom based on a very different view…