In a letter, 21 US lawmakers ask Google to clamp down on “misleading” search results that steer people searching for abortions services to anti-abortion clinics (Lauren Feiner/CNBC)

Lauren Feiner / CNBC: In a letter, 21 US lawmakers ask Google to clamp down on “misleading” search results that steer people searching for abortions services to anti-abortion clinics  —  – A group of lawmakers are urging Google to clamp down on misleading search results that allegedly steer people searching …

Meta unveils Avatars Store, where users can buy digital clothes for avatars, and plans to make it a marketplace where developers can create and sell clothing (Aisha Malik/TechCrunch)

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch: Meta unveils Avatars Store, where users can buy digital clothes for avatars, and plans to make it a marketplace where developers can create and sell clothing  —  Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced today that the company is launching a digital designer clothing store called the “Meta Avatars Store.”

The US DOJ says RSocks, a Russian botnet used to hijack millions of devices worldwide for use as proxy servers, was disrupted in an international operation (Andrea Peterson/The Record)

Andrea Peterson / The Record: The US DOJ says RSocks, a Russian botnet used to hijack millions of devices worldwide for use as proxy servers, was disrupted in an international operation  —  The Department of Justice announced Thursday that the U.S. and international law enforcement partners in the United Kingdom, Germany …

Seeing the whole from some of the parts

Upon looking at photographs and drawing on their past experiences, humans can often perceive depth in pictures that are, themselves, perfectly flat. However, getting computers to do the same thing has proved quite challenging. The problem is difficult for several reasons, one being that information is inevitably lost when a scene that takes place in […]

Robert Langer wins BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award

Robert Langer, the David H. Koch (1962) Institute Professor at MIT, received yesterday the 2022 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine in recognition of his contributions to messenger (mRNA) therapeutics and delivery technology, which enabled the rapid development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Langer shares the award with Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman, […]

Hong Kong-based crypto lender Babel Finance says it has suspended withdrawals and redemptions due to “unusual liquidity pressures” (Oliver Knight/CoinDesk)

Oliver Knight / CoinDesk: Hong Kong-based crypto lender Babel Finance says it has suspended withdrawals and redemptions due to “unusual liquidity pressures”  —  Babel Finance has responded to a market downturn by temporarily freezing withdrawals and redemptions.  —  Hong Kong-based crypto lender Babel Finance …

Blockchain.com data: bitcoin’s hash rate fell 4% since the start of the week, as the value of revenues paid to miners fell to its lowest level in nearly a year (Financial Times)

Financial Times: Blockchain.com data: bitcoin’s hash rate fell 4% since the start of the week, as the value of revenues paid to miners fell to its lowest level in nearly a year  —  Share prices of companies that validate crypto transactions have tumbled over the past month  —  Bitcoin miners are scaling …

Prague-based online grocery delivery service Rohlik has raised a €220M Series D led by Sofina and says it had revenues of €500M in 2021 (Ingrid Lunden/TechCrunch)

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: Prague-based online grocery delivery service Rohlik has raised a €220M Series D led by Sofina and says it had revenues of €500M in 2021  —  The salad days are over for many startups in the online food delivery sector.  Following a long period of cash injections …

Sources: Klarna is in talks to raise fresh funds at a ~$15B valuation, down from its $45.6B valuation in June 2021; source: a deal could yield at least $500M (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal: Sources: Klarna is in talks to raise fresh funds at a ~$15B valuation, down from its $45.6B valuation in June 2021; source: a deal could yield at least $500M  —  The SoftBank-backed, buy-now-pay-later startup is discussing raising cash at a valuation around $15 billion, down from 2021’s near $46 billion valuation

Boston-based remote notarization startup Notarize has laid off 110 of ~440 employees, or 25% of its workforce; Notarize was valued at $760M in March 2021 (Mary Ann Azevedo/TechCrunch)

Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch: Boston-based remote notarization startup Notarize has laid off 110 of ~440 employees, or 25% of its workforce; Notarize was valued at $760M in March 2021  —  Notarize, a startup that offers remote online notarization services, has let go of 110 people – or 25% of its workforce.

Lyft reaches a $25M settlement to resolve shareholder claims that it concealed safety problems, including sexual assault by drivers, before its IPO in 2019 (Reuters)

Reuters: Lyft reaches a $25M settlement to resolve shareholder claims that it concealed safety problems, including sexual assault by drivers, before its IPO in 2019  —  Lyft Inc (LYFT.O) has reached a $25 million settlement to resolve shareholder claims that the ride-hailing company concealed safety problems …

A new board game highlights the colonized experience

In the popular board game “Puerto Rico,” players are placed in the role of colonial governors. Their task, while growing crops on plantations, is to earn points by shipping goods to Europe and owning buildings — the violent project of territorial expansion reduced to a tabletop game for three-to-five players. Such games, influenced by a […]

How the debt crisis of 2008-09 fueled populist politics

The economic downturn of 2008-09 has often been described as a financial-sector crisis, featuring failing banks. But it was much more than that. Many people with stagnant or dropping incomes, having borrowed to sustain their standard of living, found themselves deep in debt when the economy sagged and joblessness increased. In turn, those economic problems […]

TikTok is less transparent than US platforms about how long it keeps content deleted by users, as US law enforcement agencies increasingly seek to get such data (Thomas Brewster/Forbes)

Thomas Brewster / Forbes: TikTok is less transparent than US platforms about how long it keeps content deleted by users, as US law enforcement agencies increasingly seek to get such data  —  New!  Follow this author to improve your content experience.  Got it! … The FBI said it used cell-tower data earlier …

The EU toughens its disinformation Code of Practice, covering deepfakes, bots, fake accounts, and more; Meta, Google, TikTok, Twitter, and others have signed up (Katie Collins/CNET)

Katie Collins / CNET: The EU toughens its disinformation Code of Practice, covering deepfakes, bots, fake accounts, and more; Meta, Google, TikTok, Twitter, and others have signed up  —  Katie Collins  —  Katie a UK-based news reporter and features writer.  Officially, she is CNET’s European correspondent …

In occupied Ukraine, Russia is forcing multiple ISPs to reroute connections through Russian infrastructure, subjecting traffic to censorship and surveillance (Matt Burgess/Wired)

Matt Burgess / Wired: In occupied Ukraine, Russia is forcing multiple ISPs to reroute connections through Russian infrastructure, subjecting traffic to censorship and surveillance  —  In occupied Ukraine, people’s internet is being routed to Russia—and subjected to its powerful censorship and surveillance machine.

Japan’s business and government agencies are panicking as Internet Explorer shuts down; a March survey showed 49% of organizations use the browser for work (Nikkei Asia)

Nikkei Asia: Japan’s business and government agencies are panicking as Internet Explorer shuts down; a March survey showed 49% of organizations use the browser for work  —  Government, corporate users scramble to find alternative to Microsoft program  —  TOKYO — Microsoft bids farewell to Internet Explorer …

BitMEX co-founder Benjamin Delo is sentenced to 30 months probation without home confinement after pleading guilty to violating the US Bank Secrecy Act (Aislinn Keely/The Block)

Aislinn Keely / The Block: BitMEX co-founder Benjamin Delo is sentenced to 30 months probation without home confinement after pleading guilty to violating the US Bank Secrecy Act  —  BitMEX co-founder Benjamin Delo received 30 months probation without home confinement for Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) violations.

Investigation: ~300 US crisis pregnancy centers, which try to dissuade people from abortions, share website visitor info with Facebook via Meta’s tracking pixel (The Markup)

The Markup: Investigation: ~300 US crisis pregnancy centers, which try to dissuade people from abortions, share website visitor info with Facebook via Meta’s tracking pixel  —  The social media giant gathers data from crisis pregnancy centers through a tracking tool that works whether or not a person is logged in to their Facebook account

MIT-Northpond Program created to advance innovation in engineering and life sciences

MIT School of Engineering and Northpond Ventures today announced the launch of the MIT-Northpond Program — Advancing Life Science and Engineering Innovation. The five-year engagement is funded through Northpond Labs, the research and development-focused affiliate of Northpond Ventures. The program aims to generate ideas in the life sciences by connecting Northpond’s experienced venture capital investors with MIT’s […]