Mindtrip wants to become your AI travel agent

September 7, 2023
Once upon a time, we used to use travel agents to book our flights, book our hotels and maybe even make recommendations about things to do and places to eat while you were away. But then along came the internet and the ability to book your own flights, and Airbnb or Vrbo for your accommodation, […]

The Download: promising new batteries, and how to regulate AI

September 7, 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. Zinc batteries that offer an alternative to lithium just got a big boost The news: One of the leading companies offering alternatives to lithium batteries for the grid has just received a nearly…

YouTube is testing longer but fewer ads on TV

September 7, 2023
Google is testing a new way to show you ads on the YouTube app for TVs — users can expect fewer but longer ads. The company said it is experimenting with this ad format for a better viewing experience while watching long-form content — almost like a traditional commercial break during linear TV programming. Along with […]

IBM rolls out new generative AI features and models

September 7, 2023
Fighting for relevance in the growing — and ultra-competitive — AI space, IBM this week introduced new generative AI models and capabilities across its recently-launched Watsonx data science platform. The new models, called the Granite series models, appear to be standard large language models (LLMs) along the lines of OpenAI’s GPT-4 and ChatGPT, capable of […]

Redwire Space prints human knee cartilage in space for the first time

September 7, 2023
Redwire Space has successfully “bioprinted” a human knee meniscus aboard the International Space Station, a landmark development that could help people recovering from meniscus injuries here on Earth. The meniscus cartilage was printed on Redwire’s BioFabrication Facility (BFF) on the ISS. As part of the investigation, called BFF-Meniscus-2, after the BFF printed the meniscus with […]

How water could make safer batteries

September 7, 2023
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. I’d be willing to bet that you probably haven’t spent much time thinking about the liquid that sloshes around inside batteries.  But this liquid—called the electrolyte—is one of their key ingredients, and…