June 24, 2025

The Anthropocene illusion

Over six years and across four continents, the London-based documentary photographer Zed Nelson has examined how humans have immersed themselves in increasingly simulated environments to mask their destructive divorce from the natural world. Featuring everything from theme parks and zoos to national parks and African safaris, his images reveal not only a desperate craving for…

Scaling integrated digital health

June 23, 2025
Around the world, countries are facing the challenges of aging populations, growing rates of chronic disease, and workforce shortages, leading to a growing burden on health care systems. From diagnosis to treatment, AI and other digital solutions can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of health care, easing the burden on straining systems. According to the…

The Download: the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s first pictures, and reframing privacy

June 23, 2025
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. See the stunning first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory The first spectacular images taken by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory have been released for the world to peruse: a panoply of…

Book review: Surveillance & privacy

June 23, 2025
Privacy only matters to those with something to hide. So goes one of the more inane and disingenuous justifications for mass government and corporate surveillance. There are others, of course, but the “nothing to hide” argument remains a popular way to rationalize or excuse what’s become standard practice in our digital age: the widespread and…

See stunning first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory

June 23, 2025
The first spectacular images taken by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory have been released for the world to peruse: a panoply of iridescent galaxies and shimmering nebulas. “This is the dawn of the Rubin Observatory,” says Meg Schwamb, a planetary scientist and astronomer at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland. Much has been written about…

OpenAI pulls promotional materials around Jony Ive deal

June 22, 2025
OpenAI appears to have pulled a much-discussed video promoting the friendship between CEO Sam Altman and legendary Apple designer Jony Ive (plus, incidentally, OpenAI’s $6.5 billion deal to acquire Ive and Altman’s device startup io) from its website and YouTube page.