Tag Archives: download

The Download: three-parent baby issues, and a solar balloon test

The Download: three-parent baby issues, and a solar balloon test

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Three-parent baby technique could create babies at risk of severe disease When the first baby born using a controversial procedure that meant he had three genetic parents was born back in 2016, it […]

Making Bitcoin greener, and Elon Musk’s chatbot plans

Making Bitcoin greener, and Elon Musk’s chatbot plans

Last year, Ethereum went green. The second-most popular crypto platform transitioned to proof of stake, an energy-efficient framework for adding new blocks of transactions, NFTs, and other information to the blockchain.  When Ethereum completed the upgrade, known as “the Merge,” in September, it reduced its direct energy consumption by 99%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin continues to consume […]

Police drones, and the Supreme Court’s web cases

Police drones, and the Supreme Court’s web cases

In the skies above Chula Vista, California, where the police department runs a drone program 10 hours a day, seven days a week, it’s not uncommon to see an unmanned aerial vehicle darting across the sky.  Chula Vista is one of a dozen departments in the US that operate what are called drone-as-first-responder programs, where […]

Blocking AI porn, and brain data privacy

The news: The popular AI image generator Midjourney bans a wide range of words about the human reproductive system from being used as prompts, MIT Technology Review has discovered. What’s included? The list of banned words seem to skew predominantly female, including terms such as “placenta,” “fallopian tubes,” and “mammary glands.” The company says it’s […]

The Download: hydrogen’s potential, and Twitter’s terrorism accusations

The Download: hydrogen’s potential, and Twitter’s terrorism accusations

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. When hydrogen will help climate change—and when it won’t.  Hydrogen is often heralded as a climate hero because when it’s used as a fuel in things like buses or steel production, there are […]

China’s EV dominance, and making ChatGPT safer

China’s EV dominance, and making ChatGPT safer

Before most people could realize what was happening, China became a world leader in electric vehicles. And the momentum hasn’t slowed: In just the past two years, the number of EVs sold annually in the country grew from 1.3 million to a whopping 6.8 million.  The industry is growing at a speed that has surprised […]

The Download: crime app concerns, and helpful AI

The Download: crime app concerns, and helpful AI

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. How Citizen is trying to remake itself by recruiting elderly Asians Members of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community in the US are living through a period of ongoing race-based attacks—most recently in […]

The oldest corner of the metaverse, and how EV batteries work

The oldest corner of the metaverse, and how EV batteries work

Today’s headlines treat the metaverse as a hazy dream yet to be built. But if it’s defined as a network of virtual worlds we can inhabit, its oldest corner has been already running for 25 years. It’s a medieval fantasy kingdom created for the online role-playing game Ultima Online.  It was the first to simulate […]

K-pop activists, and the future of search

K-pop activists, and the future of search

How K-pop fans are shaping elections around the globe Back in the early ‘90s, Korean pop music, known as K-pop, was largely conserved to its native South Korea. It’s since exploded around the globe into an international phenomenon, emphasizing choreography and elaborate performance.  It’s made bands like Girls Generation, EXO, BTS, and Blackpink into household […]

Mitigating methane emissions, and testing AI-developed drugs

Mitigating methane emissions, and testing AI-developed drugs

A Palo Alto–based startup wants to begin releasing iron particles into the exhaust stream of a shipping vessel crossing the ocean within the next 18 months. Blue Dot Change hopes to determine whether the particles will accelerate the destruction of methane, one of the most powerful greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. It’s among a handful […]