The gray market for abortifacient sales to the US is evolving alongside a shifting legal landscape.
Internal records undercut claims that Twitter censored pro-Trump content before the Capitol riot and show a reluctance to suspend Trump’s account until Jan. 8 (Drew Harwell/Washington Post)
Drew Harwell / Washington Post: Internal records undercut claims that Twitter censored pro-Trump content before the Capitol riot and show a reluctance to suspend Trump’s account until Jan. 8 — In the internal video call from Jan. 5, 2021, workers were told not to take tougher action against a growing wave of tweets they feared […]
JPMorgan expands its JPM Coin, launched in 2019 for USD transactions, to euro payments; the digital token has been used to process ~$300B in transactions so far (Anna Irrera/Bloomberg)
Anna Irrera / Bloomberg: JPMorgan expands its JPM Coin, launched in 2019 for USD transactions, to euro payments; the digital token has been used to process ~$300B in transactions so far — JPMorgan Chase & Co. expanded one of the most high-profile projects to bring blockchain technology to traditional banking …
Lithuania announces Tech Zity, a €100M tech campus touted as Europe’s largest at ~592K sq. ft., with facilities for 5,000 workers, co-living spaces, and more (Paul Sawers/TechCrunch)
Paul Sawers / TechCrunch: Lithuania announces Tech Zity, a €100M tech campus touted as Europe’s largest at ~592K sq. ft., with facilities for 5,000 workers, co-living spaces, and more — Lithuania is vying to become one of the major European tech hubs, bolstered by a growing number of so-called “unicorn” …
10 Best Early Amazon Prime Day Deals: Pixel Phones, Apple Watches, and More
Amazon’s big sale event arrives in July, but the discounts have already started—including on the Apple Watch Series 8.
Missing Sub Passengers Believed Dead After Debris Found From Likely Implosion
Wreckage matching the missing submersible was found by a remotely operated vehicle, and so far evidence points to a catastrophic implosion.
The 13 Best Movies on Apple TV+ Right Now
From CODA to Beastie Boys Story, here’s everything you should be watching on Apple’s streaming service.
YouTube updates its policy for fan channels, requiring them to make it obvious in their name or handle that they’re fan accounts, effective August 21, 2023 (Andrew Romero/9to5Google)
Andrew Romero / 9to5Google: YouTube updates its policy for fan channels, requiring them to make it obvious in their name or handle that they’re fan accounts, effective August 21, 2023 — Fan Channels that have a little too much in common with other accounts are going to be subject to YouTube’s updated policies …
AWS is investing $100M in a new program to help companies, including Highspot and Twilio, build generative AI products by connecting them with AWS AI experts (Jordan Novet/CNBC)
Jordan Novet / CNBC: AWS is investing $100M in a new program to help companies, including Highspot and Twilio, build generative AI products by connecting them with AWS AI experts — – Amazon’s cloud unit said Thursday that it’s allocating $100 million for a center to help companies use generative artificial intelligence.
Meta will remove news content from Facebook and Instagram for users in Canada after the country’s Senate passed the Online News Act, which goes for Royal Assent (Anja Karadeglija/National Post)
Anja Karadeglija / National Post: Meta will remove news content from Facebook and Instagram for users in Canada after the country’s Senate passed the Online News Act, which goes for Royal Assent — With Bill C-18 on the verge of becoming law, Canadians could soon see news removed from their Facebook pages and Google searches
Clever design makes sticky tape that’s strong but easily removed
A ‘shocklingly simple’ design based on kirigami, the Japanese art of paper cutting, makes sticky tape 60 times stronger, but easy to peel off in one direction
Which quantum computer is the most powerful ever? It’s complicated
IonQ has become the latest company to claim its quantum computer is more powerful than any other computer in existence – despite not having built it yet. But how exactly do you benchmark a quantum computer?
MIT-Pillar AI Collective announces first seed grant recipients
The MIT-Pillar AI Collective has announced its first six grant recipients. Students, alumni, and postdocs working on a broad range of topics in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science will receive funding and support for research projects that could translate into commercially viable products or companies. These grants are intended to help students explore […]
Physicists discover a new switch for superconductivity
Under certain conditions — usually exceedingly cold ones — some materials shift their structure to unlock new, superconducting behavior. This structural shift is known as a “nematic transition,” and physicists suspect that it offers a new way to drive materials into a superconducting state where electrons can flow entirely friction-free. But what exactly drives this […]
Unraveling connections between the brain and gut
The brain and the digestive tract are in constant communication, relaying signals that help to control feeding and other behaviors. This extensive communication network also influences our mental state and has been implicated in many neurological disorders. MIT engineers have designed a new technology for probing those connections. Using fibers embedded with a variety of […]
Start Your New Leadership Role with the End in Mind
It’s never too early to start thinking about your legacy.
What Roles Could Generative AI Play on Your Team?
Six ways technologies like ChatGPT could change how we work.
How the Best Leadership Teams Navigate Uncertain Times
Seven factors that set high-performing executive teams apart.
Walmart and Amazon’s Race to Rule Shopping
This week, we talk about how the two giants changed the digital—and IRL—retail landscape over the course of their decades-long rivalry.
Military AI’s Next Frontier: Your Work Computer
Spycraft developed by defense contractors are now being sold to employers to identify labor organizing. Regulators must step up to protect workers’ privacy.
Docs Show FBI Pressures Cops to Keep Phone Surveillance Secrets
Newly released documents highlight the bureau’s continued secrecy around cell-site simulators—spying tech that everyone already assumes exists.
a16z, Accel, Bain, Bessemer, Kleiner, and, sources say, Coatue and Tiger are increasingly buying startup shares on the secondary market, often at cheap prices (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg: a16z, Accel, Bain, Bessemer, Kleiner, and, sources say, Coatue and Tiger are increasingly buying startup shares on the secondary market, often at cheap prices — It’s a bargain-hunter’s dream, and for sellers it’s sometimes the only good option left. — Secondary markets …
Comcast-owned UK broadcaster Sky launches Sky Live, a camera designed to add social, fitness, and gaming features to its smart TVs, for £290 (Jon Porter/The Verge)
Jon Porter / The Verge: Comcast-owned UK broadcaster Sky launches Sky Live, a camera designed to add social, fitness, and gaming features to its smart TVs, for £290 — Comcast-owned British broadcaster Sky has launched a new camera that’s designed to add more social, fitness, and gaming features to its smart TVs.
A look at TikTok’s effect on small businesses in the US, as the app has become “a billion-person focus group”, disrupting business cycles and corporate R&D (Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street Journal: A look at TikTok’s effect on small businesses in the US, as the app has become “a billion-person focus group”, disrupting business cycles and corporate R&D — The social-media giant has become ‘a billion-person focus group,’ disrupting business cycles and upending corporate R&D
A clean alternative to one of the world’s most common ingredients
Never underestimate the power of a time crunch. In 2016, MIT classmates David Heller ’18, Shara Ticku, and Harry McNamara PhD ’19 were less than two weeks away from the deadline to present a final business plan as part of their class MAS.883 (Revolutionary Ventures: How to Invent and Deploy Transformative Technologies). The students had […]
18 Best Portable Battery Chargers (2023): For Phones, iPads, Laptops, and More
Keep your phone, tablet, laptop, and other electronics running with these handheld power banks.
13 Best Hair Straighteners We’ve Tested (2023): Flat Irons, Hot Combs, and Straightening Brushes
Curls and waves are beautiful. But when you want to smooth them out, these hot tools—irons, brushes, and combs—work wonders.
NYC-based newsletter platform beehiiv raised a $12.5M Series A led by Lightspeed and says it has 7,500 active newsletters with 350M monthly impressions (Ingrid Lunden/TechCrunch)
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: NYC-based newsletter platform beehiiv raised a $12.5M Series A led by Lightspeed and says it has 7,500 active newsletters with 350M monthly impressions — The world took a double take at the potential of newsletters after Substack started to blow up a few years ago.
Apple patches three zero-days in its operating systems, including Operation Triangulation iMessage exploit described by Kaspersky earlier in June (Sergiu Gatlan/BleepingComputer)
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer: Apple patches three zero-days in its operating systems, including Operation Triangulation iMessage exploit described by Kaspersky earlier in June — Apple addressed three new zero-day vulnerabilities exploited in attacks installing Triangulation spyware on iPhones via iMessage zero-click exploits.
Apple releases visionOS SDK, and says the company will open developer labs and applications for Apple Vision Pro developer kits next month (Chance Miller/9to5Mac)
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac: Apple releases visionOS SDK, and says the company will open developer labs and applications for Apple Vision Pro developer kits next month — When Apple announced Vision Pro at WWDC, the company promised to make a robust set of tools available for developers.
Microsoft says its weird new particle could improve quantum computers
Researchers at Microsoft say they have created elusive quasiparticles called Majorana zero modes – but scientists outside the company are sceptical
Ultra-fast boxing robots could be used for real-life fighting game
Robots that respond to a person’s movements in a fraction of a second could be used for a real-life fighting game
Six with MIT ties win 2023 Hertz Foundation Fellowships
The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation has announced that it has awarded graduate fellowships to six students with ties to MIT. These prestigious awards provide each student with five years of doctoral-level research funding (up to a total of $250,000), which gives them flexibility and autonomy to pursue their own research interests, beyond the traditional […]
Charting the future of production
On Tuesday, May 23, the Manufacturing@MIT Working Group hosted its second annual symposium in Wong Auditorium, titled “Charting the Future of Production in a Time of Shifting Globalization.” Speakers covered topics including the history of labor markets, the future of digital production, global supply chains, China’s role, and effective regional initiatives, along with deep dives […]
Atlas of human brain blood vessels highlights changes in Alzheimer’s disease
Your brain is powered by 400 miles of blood vessels that provide nutrients, clear out waste products, and form a tight protective barrier — the blood-brain barrier — that controls which molecules can enter or exit. However, it has remained unclear how these brain vascular cells change between brain regions, or in Alzheimer’s disease, at […]
How the Best Brand-Influencer Partnerships Reach Gen Z
Five lessons from companies leaning into the creator economy.
How AI Can Help Stressed-Out Managers Be Better Coaches
Employees want more feedback but managers feel increasingly stretched thin. AI tools can help bridge the gap.
Where Religious Identity Fits into Your DEI Strategy
Seven best practices to help companies embrace religious diversity.
Review: Modern Barrel Co. Moba Smart Barrel
Modern Barrel’s Wi-Fi-enabled urn ingests a bottle of booze and spits out a barrel-aged version after a week.
How the Most Popular Cars in the US Track Drivers
Vehicles from Toyota, Honda, Ford, and more can collect huge volumes of data. Here’s what the companies can access.
Criticizing LGBTQ+ Pride Merch Just Got More Complicated
As companies like Target face conservative backlash for their Pride merchandise, the LGBTQ+ TikTokkers who review it aren’t holding back.
A look at the vast and mostly hidden “tasker” underclass, including subject-matter experts, hired by companies like Scale AI to annotate data for AI training (Josh Dzieza/The Verge)
Josh Dzieza / The Verge: A look at the vast and mostly hidden “tasker” underclass, including subject-matter experts, hired by companies like Scale AI to annotate data for AI training — As the technology becomes ubiquitous, a vast tasker underclass is emerging — and not going anywhere.
In his new book The Coming Wave, DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman proposes a “modern Turing test” for AI, seeking to find “artificial capable intelligence” (Brad Stone/Bloomberg)
Brad Stone / Bloomberg: In his new book The Coming Wave, DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman proposes a “modern Turing test” for AI, seeking to find “artificial capable intelligence” — A new book floats a provocative idea for testing whether machines are capable of human-like intelligence.
Filing: Embracer paid ~$395M for the rights to Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in 2022, far below ~$2B estimates; Amazon reportedly paid $250M for TV rights (K.J. Yossman/Variety)
K.J. Yossman / Variety: Filing: Embracer paid ~$395M for the rights to Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in 2022, far below ~$2B estimates; Amazon reportedly paid $250M for TV rights — Embracer Group, the Swedish gaming conglomerate that snapped up the rights to “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” …
Study: Microtargeting works, just not the way people think
Recent U.S. elections have raised the question of whether “microtargeting,” the use of extensive online data to tailor persuasive messages to voters, has altered the playing field of politics. Now, a newly-published study led by MIT scholars finds that while targeting is effective in some political contexts, the “micro” part of things may not be […]
Charlie Farquhar: Forger of chemical and social bonds
Charlie Farquhar entered college intending to major in history, but quickly pivoted after taking an introductory chemistry course and becoming fascinated by chemistry’s biomedical applications. “I’m interested in how these small chemicals and molecular interactions can make really large-scale changes in the body,” says Farquhar, noting that the practice of chemistry itself is similar. […]
The Best Video Game Deals (June 2023): Xbox, PC, Switch, PlayStation
Games for every console, plus DLC and freebies—all in one spot.
The 16 Best Shows on Apple TV+ Right Now
From Silo to The Crowded Room, here’s everything you need to be watching on the streamer.
How to Find the Titanic Sub Before It’s Too Late
Rescue teams are scrambling to find the sub, which has gone missing near the wreckage of the Titanic, before those aboard run out of oxygen.
Letter: Grab CEO tells staff the company plans to cut 1,000 jobs, or 11% of its workforce, citing the need to manage costs and ensure more affordable services (Xinghui Kok/Reuters)
Xinghui Kok / Reuters: Letter: Grab CEO tells staff the company plans to cut 1,000 jobs, or 11% of its workforce, citing the need to manage costs and ensure more affordable services — Singapore-based Grab Holdings (GRAB.O), Southeast Asia’s leading ride-hailing and food delivery app, is cutting 1,000 jobs or 11% …