As more money pours into cryptocurrency crimes and scams, government agencies are increasingly cracking down, as the launch of dedicated Department of Justice and FBI enforcement teams demonstrates
Meet RoboKrill, the one-legged robot that mimics the way krill swim
A robot with appendages that mimic the swimming legs of krill could one day be used to study these key marine food sources or explore hard-to-reach places
Google and Waymo used driverless cars to make a virtual San Francisco
Software can analyse millions of static photographs of city streets taken atop cars and construct a realistic 3D model
The Cybersecurity Risks of an Escalating Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Now is the time to revisit your business continuity plans.
4 Lessons from Levi’s’ Digital Transformation
How to navigate a major shift as a legacy brand with a deeply-rooted company culture.
The Unintended Consequences of Asking for Employee Input
A study found that when managers solicit ideas from employees, they often unconsciously take credit for them.
Jacques Vallée Still Doesn’t Know What UFOs Are
After six globe-trotting decades spent probing “the phenomenon,” the French information scientist is sure of only one thing: The truth is really, really out there.
Indian startup Pine Labs, a digital payments and financial services provider, raises $150M in primary and secondary funding, sources say at a $5B+ valuation (The Economic Times)
The Economic Times: Indian startup Pine Labs, a digital payments and financial services provider, raises $150M in primary and secondary funding, sources say at a $5B+ valuation — The digital payments and financial service provider has already received the first tranche of $75 million from Alpha Wave, show regulatory filings.
Universal Music Group partners with NFT marketplace Curio to develop and sell NFT collectibles for its record labels and artists starting in March (Dawn Chmielewski/Reuters)
Dawn Chmielewski / Reuters: Universal Music Group partners with NFT marketplace Curio to develop and sell NFT collectibles for its record labels and artists starting in March — Universal Music Group has struck a partnership with NFT platform Curio to develop non-fungible token (NFT) collections for its record labels and artists, the companies said on […]
Sources: federal and state regulators have widened their investigation into how Activision Blizzard CEO and its board handled workplace misconduct allegations (Kirsten Grind/Wall Street Journal)
Kirsten Grind / Wall Street Journal: Sources: federal and state regulators have widened their investigation into how Activision Blizzard CEO and its board handled workplace misconduct allegations — SEC subpoenas more current and former executives; California agency seeks additional information on CEO Bobby Kotick and board’s handling of workplace misconduct allegations
Protein structure offers clues to drug-resistance mechanism
MIT chemists have discovered the structure of a protein that can pump toxic molecules out of bacterial cells. Proteins similar to this one, which is found in E. coli, are believed to help bacteria become resistant to multiple antibiotics. Using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, the researchers were able to determine how the structure of […]
US Agencies Say Russian Hackers Compromised Defense Contractors
Kremlin-backed cyber actors lurked in the networks for months, obtaining sensitive documents related to weapons and infrastructure development.
This New Platform Can Give AR Apps a Memory Boost
Perceptus can identify and continuously remember the objects in the physical world, grounding augmented reality with more real-world context.
Total War: Warhammer III Is an Epic Final Chapter
The grand finale of this trilogy is a strategy masterwork that will take over your life.
Meta’s combined Horizon Worlds and Venues monthly user base grows to 300K people, up ten times since launching in December (Alex Heath/The Verge)
Alex Heath / The Verge: Meta’s combined Horizon Worlds and Venues monthly user base grows to 300K people, up ten times since launching in December — That’s a 10x increase in about three months. But can the growth continue? — Facebook has bet its future on virtual reality and the metaverse …
Google creates a $100M skills training fund for low-income Americans, with loans repayable only once students obtain jobs paying at least $40K a year (Steve Lohr/New York Times)
Steve Lohr / New York Times: Google creates a $100M skills training fund for low-income Americans, with loans repayable only once students obtain jobs paying at least $40K a year — The project is a big bet on scaling up programs that have proved effective in lifting low-income workers into middle-class jobs and careers.
Instrumental, which lets engineers perform manufacturing quality control without visiting factories, raises a $50M Series C, bringing its total funding to $80M (Ron Miller/TechCrunch)
Ron Miller / TechCrunch: Instrumental, which lets engineers perform manufacturing quality control without visiting factories, raises a $50M Series C, bringing its total funding to $80M — Instrumental was launched by two former Apple mechanical engineers in 2015. Having worked on products like the iPod and Apple Watch …
DNA computer could tell you if your drinking water is contaminated
A simple test for water pollution involving engineered strands of DNA can report levels of contamination, and this biological system can carry out logical operations like those done by computers
It is only human to treat the metaverse with scepticism – here’s why
Meta and Microsoft’s new virtual reality projects have been met with suspicion by many, but history has shown that people are often right to be wary of technological change, says James Ball
Dendrites may help neurons perform complicated calculations
Within the human brain, neurons perform complex calculations on information they receive. Researchers at MIT have now demonstrated how dendrites — branch-like extensions that protrude from neurons — help to perform those computations. The researchers found that within a single neuron, different types of dendrites receive input from distinct parts of the brain, and process […]
Does Your Company Need a Chief ESG Officer?
Three questions to ask before appointing one.
Empathy Rules
Four practices to help us bridge divisions and restore a sense of community.
How to Interrupt Someone’s Workday — Without Annoying Them
Six research-backed strategies.
India’s 30% tax on crypto trading profits, effectively legitimizing the industry, has caused usage of Binance-owned WazirX, CoinSwitch, and others to surge (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg: India’s 30% tax on crypto trading profits, effectively legitimizing the industry, has caused usage of Binance-owned WazirX, CoinSwitch, and others to surge — India’s decision to impose a 30% tax on profits from cryptocurrency trading is turning out to be a boon for the country’s digital-asset exchanges.
Analysis identifies 4,068 “criminal whales” holding over $25B worth of stolen cryptocurrency, following a major jump in illicit balances in 2021 (Chainalysis)
Chainalysis: Analysis identifies 4,068 “criminal whales” holding over $25B worth of stolen cryptocurrency, following a major jump in illicit balances in 2021 — This blog is a preview of our 2022 Crypto Crime Report. Sign up here to download your copy now!
Okta’s CMO leaves the company, replaced by its CDO, following numerous executive departures, including its CFO, president of tech, and SVP of product management (Joe Williams/Bloomberg)
Joe Williams / Bloomberg: Okta’s CMO leaves the company, replaced by its CDO, following numerous executive departures, including its CFO, president of tech, and SVP of product management — Okta Inc. Chief Marketing Officer Kendall Collins has left the company after less than a year in the role …
A life-changing fertilizer for rural farmers in Kenya
Most commercial fertilizer travels a long way before it reaches rural farmers in Kenya. Transportation costs force many farmers to rely on cheap, synthetic fertilizers, which can lead to the acidification and degradation of their soil over time. The situation amounts to a multigenerational crisis as elders have watched their crop yields dwindle over the […]
DeepMind Has Trained an AI to Control Nuclear Fusion
The Google-backed AI firm taught a reinforcement learning algorithm to control the fiery plasma inside a tokamak nuclear fusion reactor.
10 Early President’s Day Sales on Laptops and Tablets
Now is a great time to pick up a new computer—touchscreen or not—for work or school.
The Best Locks for Protecting Your Bike or Ebike
Make sure your bike stays yours. Check out our top picks for U-locks, folding locks, and chains, plus tips for keeping your ride secure.
Clearview AI tells investors that it is on track to have 100B facial photos in its database within a year, growing from 3B images to 10B+ since early 2020 (Drew Harwell/Washington Post)
Drew Harwell / Washington Post: Clearview AI tells investors that it is on track to have 100B facial photos in its database within a year, growing from 3B images to 10B+ since early 2020 — The facial recognition company Clearview AI is telling investors it is on track to have 100 billion facial photos in […]
Spotify is acquiring Chartable and Podsights, two podcast analytics companies that let podcasters and networks include tags in shows to track listeners (Ashley Carman/The Verge)
Ashley Carman / The Verge: Spotify is acquiring Chartable and Podsights, two podcast analytics companies that let podcasters and networks include tags in shows to track listeners — Chartable and Podsights are being bought — Spotify is making more podcast acquisitions. The company announced today it’s acquiring …
Denver-based Nomad, a startup that offers financial services for small-time landlords, renters, and potential home buyers, raises a $20M Series A (Mary Ann Azevedo/TechCrunch)
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch: Denver-based Nomad, a startup that offers financial services for small-time landlords, renters, and potential home buyers, raises a $20M Series A — Nomad, a marketplace that aims to provide small-time rental property owners with “guaranteed rent,” has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Silicon Valley […]
Hybrid AI: A new way to make machine minds that really think like us
In the quest to make artificial intelligence that can reason and apply knowledge flexibly, many researchers are focused on fresh insights from neuroscience. Should they be looking to psychology too?
The race is on to tackle climate change by pulling carbon from the air
Carbon removal technologies have long been seen as an important solution to climate change, but it is only now that these ideas are becoming a reality
DeepMind uses AI to control plasma inside tokamak fusion reactor
For the first time, artificial intelligence has been used to control the super-hot plasma inside a fusion reactor, offering a new way to increase stability and efficiency
Leaders Don’t Have to Choose Between Compassion and Performance
How to deliver results while also supporting your employees’ needs.
Micromobility Will Change Our Cities (with Horace Dediu)
Micromobility analyst Horace Dediu tells us how the new transport tech stack will change cities.
3 Ways Hospitals Can Boost Worker Engagement
A study of more than 80 hospitals in Victoria, Australia, found greater engagement improved patient outcomes and reduced costs.
Is Firefox Okay?
Mozilla’s privacy-heavy browser is flatlining. What it does next is crucial for the future of the web.
The Elusive Hunt for a Robot That Can Pick a Ripe Strawberry
It’s a tricky, delicate task that combines machine vision and robotics. Progress has been slow, but entrepreneurs and farmers continue to invest.
Serious, Salty Trouble Is Brewing Under Antarctic Glaciers
Alarming new research suggests warm seawater is rushing under the ice, perhaps doubling the rate of melting.
Digital security company Elm, owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, rises 30% in its Riyadh trading debut to $44.30 after raising $820M in its IPO (Farah Elbahrawy/Bloomberg)
Farah Elbahrawy / Bloomberg: Digital security company Elm, owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, rises 30% in its Riyadh trading debut to $44.30 after raising $820M in its IPO — Elm Co., a digital security firm owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, surged 30% in its trading debut.
UK-based mobile-only bank Atom Bank raises £75M+ at a £435M valuation, after raising £40M in April 2021, as the startup plans its IPO (Oliver Smith/AltFi)
Oliver Smith / AltFi: UK-based mobile-only bank Atom Bank raises £75M+ at a £435M valuation, after raising £40M in April 2021, as the startup plans its IPO — Round sees the bank valued at £435m ahead of listing. — After shifting to a 4-day working week last month, lender Atom Bank has raised …
Chinese online streaming service Bilibili plans to hire 1,000 censors after the death of a 25-year-old worker; Bilibili had 2,413 censors at the end of 2020 (Cissy Zhou/Financial Times)
Cissy Zhou / Financial Times: Chinese online streaming service Bilibili plans to hire 1,000 censors after the death of a 25-year-old worker; Bilibili had 2,413 censors at the end of 2020 — Content monitoring team to be increased 40% amid debate on overwork — Chinese online video streaming service Bilibili plans …
3 Questions: New changes to MIT’s Covid-19 strategy
With the Covid-19 Omicron surge largely behind us and the corresponding steep drop in the Covid-19 positivity rate on campus, MIT has begun loosening some Covid-19 related restrictions. Perhaps most notable is the move from mandatory to optional testing for all faculty and employees, and the drop from twice-a-week testing to once-a-week testing for students […]
Size matters in particle treatments of traumatic injuries
Traumatic injuries are the leading cause of death in the U.S. among people 45 and under, and such injuries account for more than 3 million deaths per year worldwide. To reduce the death toll of such injuries, many researchers are working on injectable nanoparticles that can home in on the site of an internal injury […]
The US Watches Warily for Russia-Ukraine Tensions to Spill Over
Conversations with more than a dozen senior cybersecurity leaders in both the public and private sector outline the major areas of risk.
The Best Theragun (and Other Great Massage Guns)
Therabody’s percussive therapy devices help soothe achy muscles. Here’s our guide to its lineup—and some cheaper alternatives.
The Best Way to Learn Online? Be a Lurker
The internet has made me immune to a coherent narrative. In order to truly understand anything, I’ve taught myself to read networks.