February 7, 2025

Meta has an AI for brain typing, but it’s stuck in the lab

Back in 2017, Facebook unveiled plans for a brain-reading hat that you could use to text just by thinking. “We’re working on a system that will let you type straight from your brain,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared in a post that year. Now the company, since renamed Meta, has actually done it. Except it weighs…

Technology

Balloons will surf wind currents to track wildfires

July 19, 2024
This August, strange balloons will drift high above Colorado. These airy aircraft, launched from the back of a pickup truck, will be equipped with sensors that can measure heat on the ground, pinpointing new wildfire outbreaks from above.  The company behind the balloons, called Urban Sky, also plans to use them to  understand conditions on…

Building supply chain resilience with AI

July 18, 2024
If the last five years have taught businesses with complex supply chains anything, it is that resilience is crucial. In the first three months of the covid-19 pandemic, for example, supply-chain leader Amazon grew its business 44%. Its investments in supply chain resilience allowed it to deliver when its competitors could not, says Sanjeev Maddila,…

The Download: Falcon 9’s future, and Big Tech’s climate goals

July 18, 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. What’s next for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is one of the world’s safest, most productive rockets. But a rare engine malfunction on July 11 prompted the US Federal Aviation Administration to…

Companies need to stop taking the easy way out on climate goals

July 18, 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. Corporate climate claims can be confusing—and sometimes entirely unintuitive.  Tech giants Amazon and Google both recently released news about their efforts to clean up their climate impact. Both were a mixed bag,…

What’s next for SpaceX’s Falcon 9

July 18, 2024
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is one of the world’s safest, most productive rockets. But now it’s been grounded: A rare engine malfunction on July 11 prompted the US Federal Aviation Administration to initiate an investigation and halt all Falcon 9 flights until further notice. The incident has exposed the risks of the US aerospace industry’s heavy…

Transforming the energy industry through disruptive innovation

July 17, 2024
In the rhythm of our fast-paced lives, most of us don’t stop to think about where electricity comes from or or how it powers homes, industries, and the technologies that connect people around the world. As populations and economies grow, energy demands are set to increase by 50% by 2050–challenging century-old energy systems to adapt…

The Download: Big Tech’s climate claims, and reducing your music streaming carbon footprint

July 17, 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. Google, Amazon and the problem with Big Tech’s climate claims Last week, Amazon trumpeted that it had purchased enough clean electricity to cover the energy demands of all its global operations, seven years…

Five ways to make music streaming better for the climate

July 17, 2024
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. This week, we are taking a short break from China and turning to its neighbor South Korea instead. As K-pop sweeps the world and accumulates a massive, devout fan base, these fans…

Google, Amazon and the problem with Big Tech’s climate claims

July 17, 2024
MIT Technology Review Explains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. You can read more from the series here. Last week, Amazon trumpeted that it had purchased enough clean electricity to cover the energy demands of all the offices, data centers, grocery stores, and warehouses across its…

The Download: K-pop stans’ climate plans, and what AI isn’t

July 16, 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. Music streaming can be a drag on the environment. These K-pop fans want to clean it up. K-pop fans have for years been known for their incredible organizing power. As their numbers have…