Charting the landscape at MIT

Norman Magnuson’s MIT career — culminating in his role as manager of grounds services in the Department of Facilities for the past 20 years — started in 1974 with a summer job. Fresh out of high school and unsure of his next step, Magnuson’s father, Norman Sr., a housing manager at MIT, encouraged him to […]

Physicists see electron whirlpools for the first time

Though they are discrete particles, water molecules flow collectively as liquids, producing streams, waves, whirlpools, and other classic fluid phenomena. Not so with electricity. While an electric current is also a construct of distinct particles — in this case, electrons — the particles are so small that any collective behavior among them is drowned out […]

The UK’s CMA launches an antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition, setting a September 1 deadline for its initial decision (Ryan Browne/CNBC)

Ryan Browne / CNBC: The UK’s CMA launches an antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition, setting a September 1 deadline for its initial decision  —  – It marks one of the first probes by a major antitrust enforcer into the $68.7 billion deal, which was announced in January.

As crypto markets tumbled, strict US regulatory rules on risky bank assets largely insulated Wall Street from the chaos, while retail investors were hit hard (Emily Flitter/New York Times)

Emily Flitter / New York Times: As crypto markets tumbled, strict US regulatory rules on risky bank assets largely insulated Wall Street from the chaos, while retail investors were hit hard  —  As cryptocurrency prices plunged and funds failed, strict rules on risky assets helped Wall Street companies sidestep the worst.

The UK’s CMA opens an investigation into whether Amazon distorts competition by favoring its own retail business and sellers using its Prime services (Sky News)

Sky News: The UK’s CMA opens an investigation into whether Amazon distorts competition by favoring its own retail business and sellers using its Prime services  —  Amazon is being investigated by Britain’s antitrust watchdog over concerns that some of its practices in the UK may be anticompetitive and result in a worse deal for customers.

How a shape-shifting receptor influences cell growth

Receptors found on cell surfaces bind to hormones, proteins, and other molecules, helping cells respond to their environment. MIT chemists have now discovered how one of these receptors changes its shape when it binds to its target, and how those changes trigger cells to grow and proliferate. This receptor, known as epidermal growth factor receptor […]

The Senate Intelligence Committee asks the FTC to investigate whether TikTok misled lawmakers about China-based ByteDance employees accessing American user data (Emily Baker-White/Forbes)

Emily Baker-White / Forbes: The Senate Intelligence Committee asks the FTC to investigate whether TikTok misled lawmakers about China-based ByteDance employees accessing American user data  —  China-based employees at TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, repeatedly accessed sensitive U.S. user data …

NIST selects four encryption algorithms designed to withstand future quantum computing hacking threats to be part of its post-quantum cryptographic standard (Derek B. Johnson/SC Media)

Derek B. Johnson / SC Media: NIST selects four encryption algorithms designed to withstand future quantum computing hacking threats to be part of its post-quantum cryptographic standard  —  For years, the National Institute for Standards and Technology have been working on a project to identify and vet a handful …

Getting the carbon out of India’s heavy industries

The world’s third largest carbon emitter after China and the United States, India ranks seventh in a major climate risk index. Unless India, along with the nearly 200 other signatory nations of the Paris Agreement, takes aggressive action to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius relative to preindustrial levels, physical and financial losses […]

EU lawmakers pass the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, seeking to regulate US tech giants, but enforcement could be hamstrung by limited resources (Foo Yun Chee/Reuters)

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters: EU lawmakers pass the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, seeking to regulate US tech giants, but enforcement could be hamstrung by limited resources  —  EU lawmakers gave the thumbs up on Tuesday to landmark rules to rein in the power of tech giants such as Alphabet (GOOGL.O) …

FIFA will introduce semi-automated offside technology at the 2022 World Cup, using 12 cameras and a custom soccer ball to track players and make offside calls (Paul MacInnes/The Guardian)

Paul MacInnes / The Guardian: FIFA will introduce semi-automated offside technology at the 2022 World Cup, using 12 cameras and a custom soccer ball to track players and make offside calls  —  – Sensor in ball will send out location data 500 times per second  — Fifa claim average decision time will fall from 70sec […]

Google releases a Chrome update for Windows to address a high-severity zero-day vulnerability exploited in the wild, its fourth Chrome zero-day patch in 2022 (Sergiu Gatlan/BleepingComputer)

Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer: Google releases a Chrome update for Windows to address a high-severity zero-day vulnerability exploited in the wild, its fourth Chrome zero-day patch in 2022  —  Google has released Chrome 103.0.5060.114 for Windows users to address a high-severity zero-day vulnerability exploited by attackers in the wild …

After a pandemic frenzy to buy laptops and other gadgets, Intel, Nvidia, Micron, and others suggest crypto mining, PC gaming, and smartphone demand is weakening (Asa Fitch/Wall Street Journal)

Asa Fitch / Wall Street Journal: After a pandemic frenzy to buy laptops and other gadgets, Intel, Nvidia, Micron, and others suggest crypto mining, PC gaming, and smartphone demand is weakening  —  Intel and Nvidia are among the semiconductor makers warning of rockier times ahead after two years of surging demand

Crypto lender and exchange Vauld pauses withdrawals, trading, and deposits and says it’s exploring a restructuring, after users withdrew $197.7M+ since June 12 (Manish Singh/TechCrunch)

Manish Singh / TechCrunch: Crypto lender and exchange Vauld pauses withdrawals, trading, and deposits and says it’s exploring a restructuring, after users withdrew $197.7M+ since June 12  —  Vauld, a Singapore-headquartered crypto lending and exchange startup, has suspended withdrawals, trading and deposits …

The UK Army confirms its Twitter and YouTube accounts were compromised on July 3 and used to promote cryptocurrency giveaway scams before being restored (Jane Clinton/Guardian)

Jane Clinton / Guardian: The UK Army confirms its Twitter and YouTube accounts were compromised on July 3 and used to promote cryptocurrency giveaway scams before being restored  —  Investigation under way after interview with Elon Musk uploaded to video channel and picture of cartoon monkey seen on Twitter

Amazon launches a “micromobility” hub in Hackney, London with a fleet of e-cargo bikes and on-foot delivery staff to replace thousands of van deliveries (Sarah Butler/The Guardian)

Sarah Butler / The Guardian: Amazon launches a “micromobility” hub in Hackney, London with a fleet of e-cargo bikes and on-foot delivery staff to replace thousands of van deliveries  —  Online retailer opening ‘micromobility’ hub in Hackney as part of efforts to cut carbon emissions

Chainalysis: NFT sales totaled just over $1B in June 2022, a 12-month low since June 2021 when sales were $648M; sales reached a peak of $12.6B in January 2022 (Dan Milmo/The Guardian)

Dan Milmo / The Guardian: Chainalysis: NFT sales totaled just over $1B in June 2022, a 12-month low since June 2021 when sales were $648M; sales reached a peak of $12.6B in January 2022  —  Sales of non-fungible tokens totalled just over $1bn in June, compared with peak of $12.6bn in January