Marília Marasciulo / Rest of World: How Brazilian singer Anitta’s fans gamed Spotify’s algorithm to make her song top the charts by switching accounts after 20 streams, creating playlists, more — Fans skirted terms and conditions, but a strategy from the singer’s team came close to the streaming platform’s limit.
Inside the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, which felt confusing and disjointed, as the cultural spotlight on Ethereum left Bitcoin feeling a little stale (Ryan Broderick/Fast Company)
Ryan Broderick / Fast Company: Inside the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, which felt confusing and disjointed, as the cultural spotlight on Ethereum left Bitcoin feeling a little stale — What happens when you’re no longer the hot young cryptocurrency? That’s the question hanging over the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami this week.
Samsung’s reputation has taken a hit in South Korea, where three major carriers have halved the price of Galaxy S22, amid reports of hobbled device performance (Byungwook Kim/Reuters)
Byungwook Kim / Reuters: Samsung’s reputation has taken a hit in South Korea, where three major carriers have halved the price of Galaxy S22, amid reports of hobbled device performance — Samsung Electronics’ (005930.KS) flagship Galaxy S22 smartphone has taken a battering from reports of hobbled performance …
How Russia’s Invasion Triggered a US Crackdown on Its Hackers
The Biden White House is using “all of the levers of national power” to counter—or preempt—cyberattacks by Russia’s most dangerous hacker groups.
DJI’s Action 2 Camera and Mavic 3 Drone Are on Sale
Planning to hit the trails this spring? Now’s the time to grab a pocketable cam to document all your adventures.
Sci-Fi Needs More Mothers
Many of China Mountain Zhang author Maureen McHugh’s stories explore the relationship between moms and their children.
A view of the chip-making process at Intel’s campuses in Hillsboro, OR, and Chandler, AZ, and the infrastructure behind its two planned $10B Arizona fabs (New York Times)
New York Times: A view of the chip-making process at Intel’s campuses in Hillsboro, OR, and Chandler, AZ, and the infrastructure behind its two planned $10B Arizona fabs — As the global chip shortage continues, we take an inside look at how semiconductors are fabricated.
Despite China’s private sector crackdown in 2021, two unidentified Tencent executives still earned ~$200M each; Tencent’s shares dropped 19% in 2021 (Zheping Huang/Bloomberg)
Zheping Huang / Bloomberg: Despite China’s private sector crackdown in 2021, two unidentified Tencent executives still earned ~$200M each; Tencent’s shares dropped 19% in 2021 — Tencent Holdings Ltd. doled out more than $200 million apiece to two unidentified executives in 2021, even as it cut founder Pony Ma’s compensation …
FactSet: revenue growth for China’s tech giants is slowing; the average target for Meituan’s shares fell 20%+ in March, while Tencent and JD’s shares fell 10%+ (Clarence Leong/Wall Street Journal)
Clarence Leong / Wall Street Journal: FactSet: revenue growth for China’s tech giants is slowing; the average target for Meituan’s shares fell 20%+ in March, while Tencent and JD’s shares fell 10%+ — Beijing’s anti-Covid measures are likely to exacerbate a slowdown in revenue growth for companies including Alibaba and Meituan
An extreme form of encryption could solve big data’s privacy problem
Fully homomorphic encryption allows us to run analysis on data without ever seeing the contents. It could help us reap the full benefits of big data, from fighting financial fraud to catching diseases early
Chernobyl radiation spike may have just been electrical interference
High radiation levels seen as Russian forces captured the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in February were put down to contaminated topsoil being disturbed, but experts now believe they could have been due to interference with wireless sensors
Finding the questions that guide MIT fusion research
“One of the things I learned was, doing good science isn’t so much about finding the answers as figuring out what the important questions are.” As Martin Greenwald retires from the responsibilities of senior scientist and deputy director of the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC), he reflects on his almost 50 years of […]
New tool reveals how immune cells find their targets
The human body has millions of unique B and T cells that roam the body, looking for microbial invaders. These immune cells’ ability to recognize harmful microbes is critical to successfully fighting off infection. MIT biological engineers have now devised an experimental tool that allows them to precisely pick out interactions between a particular immune […]
Leveraging science and technology against the world’s top problems
Looking back on nearly a half-century at MIT, Richard K. Lester, associate provost and Japan Steel Industry Professor, sees a “somewhat eccentric professional trajectory.” But while his path has been irregular, there has been a clearly defined through line, Lester says: the emergence of new science and new technologies, the potential of these developments to shake […]
A 5-Point Plan for Reducing Your Organization’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions – SPONSOR CONTENT FROM GEP
Sponsor content from GEP.
How Big Businesses Can Help Their Suppliers Cut Emissions
Smaller businesses will play a key role in halving global emissions by 2030. But they often lack the resources to succeed on their own.
Preparing for Your Company’s First Meeting with a Startup Collaborator
Three priorities to help lay the groundwork for success.
The All-Clad Factory Seconds Sale Can Help You Save on Cookware
The company makes some of the best—and priciest—pots and pans. These discounts are rare and run through Sunday.
Scientists Spy on Mount Etna With Fiber Optic Cables
Researchers can detect volcanic activity by watching how light moves through the same kinds of fibers that bring you internet.
The Census Is Broken. Can AI Fix It?
Machine learning can help count people to deliver government funding and decide political representation, but the technology still makes mistakes.
TSMC reports a record ~$17B in Q1 revenue, up 36% YoY and above estimates, boosted by increased demand for chips as the prolonged shortage helped raise prices (Betty Hou/Bloomberg)
Betty Hou / Bloomberg: TSMC reports a record ~$17B in Q1 revenue, up 36% YoY and above estimates, boosted by increased demand for chips as the prolonged shortage helped raise prices — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. revenue rose to a record in the first quarter on demand for chips used in smartphones …
Gartner: total global tech spending will rise 4% YoY to $4.4T in 2022, device spending will reach $824.6B, and software spending will rise 9.8% YoY to $674.9B (Mike Wheatley/SiliconANGLE)
Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE: Gartner: total global tech spending will rise 4% YoY to $4.4T in 2022, device spending will reach $824.6B, and software spending will rise 9.8% YoY to $674.9B — The respected analyst firm Gartner Inc. said today in its latest forecast that worldwide information technology is expected …
US judge sentences Denys Iarmak, a Ukrainian and member of the FIN7 hacking group, to five years in prison; FIN7 has stolen 20M+ credit card numbers since 2015 (Tonya Riley/CyberScoop)
Tonya Riley / CyberScoop: US judge sentences Denys Iarmak, a Ukrainian and member of the FIN7 hacking group, to five years in prison; FIN7 has stolen 20M+ credit card numbers since 2015 — Denys Iarmak, a high-level member of the criminal hacking group FIN7, was sentenced to five years in prison today by a U.S. […]
Bridging communities to reimagine cultural preservation
Many young people in rural communities around the world feel the need move to big cities in order to find work. The migration has unfortunate ripple effects. In the cities, people with less formal education are often relegated to slums and can become the victims of exploitation. Meanwhile, the families, communities, and rich cultural traditions […]
This Is How Twitter’s Edit Button Can Actually Work
The ability to edit tweets is coming—but it’s full of risks. This is how to do it right.
After-Loss Tech Wants to Ease the Logistics of Death
A world of services has appeared to help act as digital death doulas for the bereaved. They show software’s potential—and its limits.
The Best Hiking Shirts and Base Layers for Outdoor Fun
Regulate your body temperature and wick away sweat on your adventures with these blended, merino wool, and synthetic tops.
Twitter says its ALT badge for images with text descriptions and an expanded description window is now available globally, after testing the features in March (Kim Lyons/The Verge)
Kim Lyons / The Verge: Twitter says its ALT badge for images with text descriptions and an expanded description window is now available globally, after testing the features in March — The platform said earlier this year it was making improvements to the process — Twitter said Thursday that its ALT badge …
Microsoft says it obtained a court order to take control of seven domains used by Russia-linked hacking group Strontium, disrupting its attacks on Ukraine (Sergiu Gatlan/BleepingComputer)
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer: Microsoft says it obtained a court order to take control of seven domains used by Russia-linked hacking group Strontium, disrupting its attacks on Ukraine — Microsoft has successfully disrupted attacks against Ukrainian targets coordinated by the Russian APT28 hacking group after taking …
Sensor Tower: Tencent’s Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile are the world’s most lucrative mobile games, respectively earning $735.4M and $643M in revenue in Q1 2022 (Xinmei Shen/South China Morning Post)
Xinmei Shen / South China Morning Post: Sensor Tower: Tencent’s Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile are the world’s most lucrative mobile games, respectively earning $735.4M and $643M in revenue in Q1 2022 — Honour of Kings, PUBG Mobile and Genshin Impact remained the most lucrative mobile games in the world in the first quarter […]
MIT welcomes two from the Heising-Simons Foundation 51 Pegasi b Fellowship for 2022
MIT’s School of Science welcomes postdocs Malena Rice and Eva Scheller, recipients of the 2022 51 Pegasi b Fellowship. The announcement was made March 31 by the Heising-Simons Foundation. The 51 Pegasi b Fellowship, named after the first exoplanet discovered orbiting a sun-like star, was established in 2017 to provide postdocs with the opportunity to […]
Q&A: Climate Grand Challenges finalists on using data and science to forecast climate-related risk
Note: This is the final article in a four-part interview series featuring the work of the 27 MIT Climate Grand Challenges finalist teams, which received a total of $2.7 million in startup funding to advance their projects. This month, the Institute will name a subset of the finalists as multiyear flagship projects. Advances in computation, […]
MIT to name Building 12, home of MIT.nano, in honor of Lisa Su
Building 12, the home of MIT.nano, will soon be named in honor of Lisa T. Su ’90, SM ’91, PhD ’94, chief executive officer and chair of the Board of Directors of AMD. Su is the first MIT alumna to make a gift for a building that will bear her own name. Lisa Su led […]
How DAOs Could Change the Way We Work
Decentralized autonomous organizations may offer a model for more fulfilling and fairer work.
How Business Should Combat Climate Change in Four Phases of Decarbonization – SPONSOR CONTENT FROM DELOITTE
Sponsor content from Deloitte.
Change Is Hard. Here’s How to Make It Less Painful.
Four strategies to help you shift your mindset.
How to Take Care of Your Electric Vehicle Battery
We asked a battery expert to answer all your questions about maximizing every charge.
Axiom’s All-Private Spaceflight to the ISS Preps for Launch
For the first time, a commercial craft will bring a crew of civilians to the space station. It’s a harbinger of space tourism’s future—and its inequities.
The Senate Bill That Has Big Tech Scared
The proposal would stop the biggest platforms from giving themselves an advantage over the little guys. Who’s afraid of a little competition?
Tencent will shutter its game streaming service Penguin Esports on June 7, after China blocked a Tencent-led merger between Huya and DouYu (Zheping Huang/Bloomberg)
Zheping Huang / Bloomberg: Tencent will shutter its game streaming service Penguin Esports on June 7, after China blocked a Tencent-led merger between Huya and DouYu — Tencent Holdings Ltd. announced it will shut down its game streaming service, more than a year after Beijing blocked its effort to create China’s equivalent …
One-click checkout service Bolt acquires crypto payments startup Wyre, sources say for around $1.5B (Paul Vigna/Wall Street Journal)
Paul Vigna / Wall Street Journal: One-click checkout service Bolt acquires crypto payments startup Wyre, sources say for around $1.5B — Deal extends crypto’s hot M&A market following record deal activity in 2021 — Bolt Financial Inc., a payments-focused financial technology company, is acquiring crypto-services startup …
How Gwyneth Paltrow, Mila Kunis, and others are pushing women to invest in NFTs, which critics see as a form of self-serving feminism centered on white women (Nitasha Tiku/Washington Post)
Nitasha Tiku / Washington Post: How Gwyneth Paltrow, Mila Kunis, and others are pushing women to invest in NFTs, which critics see as a form of self-serving feminism centered on white women — Gwyneth Paltrow and Mila Kunis joined a Zoom in January to encourage 5,000 women in the audience to break into the male-dominated […]
Can a phone app really be your therapist?
An inability to access face-to-face therapy has led to the rise of tech alternatives, but do they really improve mental health, asks Eleanor Morgan
Elon Musk Is on Twitter’s Board. What Could Go Wrong?
Musk’s appointment could herald a controversial push for “free speech” and invite more scrutiny from the SEC.
When Gig Workers Are Murdered, Their Families Foot the Bill
A new report claims that companies like Lyft and Uber offer meager assistance to the loved ones of workers slain on the job.
Step Away From Screens With the 19 Best Family Board Games
From monsters to kittens to strategy games, these sets will liven things up on nights when everyone is tired of screens.
Nord Security, the Lithuania-based startup behind NordVPN, raises $100M, its first ever funding, at a $1.6B valuation led by Novator Ventures (Ingrid Lunden/TechCrunch)
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: Nord Security, the Lithuania-based startup behind NordVPN, raises $100M, its first ever funding, at a $1.6B valuation led by Novator Ventures — VPN usage has surged in the last several years, with growing concerns over data privacy and security — and sometimes completely different motivations …
Ascend.io, which develops data automation tools for enterprise customers, raises a $31M Series B led by Tiger Global (Maria Deutscher/SiliconANGLE)
Maria Deutscher / SiliconANGLE: Ascend.io, which develops data automation tools for enterprise customers, raises a $31M Series B led by Tiger Global — Data automation startup Ascend.io today announced that it has secured a $31 million funding round led by prominent technology investment firm Tiger Global.
Sources: banks including JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo are considering whether to use Zelle as a payment option to compete with Visa and Mastercard (Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street Journal: Sources: banks including JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo are considering whether to use Zelle as a payment option to compete with Visa and Mastercard — The money-transfer service boomed amid pandemic. Some banks want to expand it to retail payments.
AI turns infrared images taken in total darkness into full colour
The black-and-white images provided by night-vision cameras can be colourised using AI, but it must always be trained on similar images and is unlikely to ever work on unfamiliar general scenes