MIT Technology Review
BrainGate: Opening the door for paralyzed patients to use computers
In a 12-by-20-foot room at a skilled-nursing facility in Menlo Park, California, researchers are testing the next evolution of the ...
‘It’s allowed me to build a life that’s worth living’: Personalized brain implant can zap you with electricity when depression threatens
Sarah, a 36-year-old woman living in California, had lived with chronic depression for five years. She felt suicidal multiple times ...
Can biotechnology extend your life? A Russian-born billionaire is betting he can make it happen
[Yuri] Milner is a Russian-born billionaire who made a fortune on Facebook and Mail.ru and previously started the glitzy black-tie ...
Challenging ‘infodemics’: How AI helped create — and maybe could help contain — the growing boom in disinformation
There’s nothing new about conspiracy theories, disinformation, and untruths in politics. What is new is how quickly malicious actors can ...
’AI is neither artificial nor intelligent’: Kate Crawford’s new book ‘Atlas of AI’ views technology through a social justice prism
[In her book “Atlas of AI,” Kate Crawford brings] us on a global journey, from the mines where the rare ...
DNA test for couples? Start-up Orchid claims its over-the-counter kit can identify complex inherited disorders. Is it ready for prime time?
A new startup called Orchid is offering the chance for couples planning a pregnancy to learn their odds of passing ...
Viewpoint: As meat consumption reaches record highs, it’s clear that substituting plants for meat won’t help address climate concerns. Here’s what will
[G]lobal emissions from food production are expected to rise 60% by 2050, in large part because of increased livestock production ...
Human embryo research restrictions: Scientists move to drop 14-day limit on research
For the last 40 years, the rule, which is law in some countries and a guideline in others, has served ...
Lab-made embryos? Israeli researchers grow mice in artificial wombs
[Israeli] researchers have grown mice in an artificial womb for as long as 11 or 12 days, about half the ...
Drug development revolution: Messenger RNA has taken the lead in the COVID response – and that’s only the beginning
Unlike traditional vaccines, which use live viruses, dead ones, or bits of the shells that viruses come cloaked in to ...
Immunity from serious cases of COVID-19 could last for years, emerging research shows
[A new] study, published January 6 in Science, contrasts with earlier findings that suggested covid-19 immunity could be short-lived, putting millions ...
Pfizer vaccine data offer hope for a return to normalcy
[A]dvisors to the US Food and Drug Administration voted in favor of emergency authorization for Pfizer’s covid-19 shot, and the data in ...
Out-of-the-box vaccine candidate: Nasal drops of a very slow-growing, synthetic-biology developed version of COVID. It just might work
[S]ynthetic biology has led to a way to create a weakened form of the pandemic coronavirus that causes covid-19. Although ...
Viewpoint: AI ethics guidelines will fail unless they account for regional and cultural differences
AI systems have repeatedly been shown to cause problems that disproportionately affect marginalized groups while benefiting a privileged few. The ...
Brain hunger: The hunt to understand loneliness
Kay Tye set out to answer a question that has taken on new resonance in the age of social distancing: ...
Limited COVID herd immunity may be developing in hardest hit areas, but it may last only months
Millions of US residents have been infected by the virus that causes covid-19, and at least 160,000 are dead. One ...
DIY COVID-19 vaccine? George Church, other scientists experimenting with home brewed versions
Nearly 200 covid-19 vaccines are in development, and some three dozen are at various stages of human testing. But in ...
How can we better expose ‘silent’ war crimes? Thousands of human rights violations identified through crowdsourced evidence
By some estimates, [a coalition between Saudi Arabia and eight other Sunni Arab states has] carried out over 20,000 air ...
Why controlling COVID-19 outbreaks could make it harder to test a vaccine
The aim is a vaccine by January, and money is no object. On May 21, the US said it would ...
Struggling to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic? These apps could help you stay sane
Set a reminder to write down how you’re feeling every day. Now you’ve started a mood diary. These sorts of ...
‘Automation is in a tailspin’: How the pandemic has disrupted AI’s ability to understand us
When covid-19 hit, we started buying things we’d never bought before. The shift was sudden: the mainstays of Amazon’s top ...
Is IVF an essential medical procedure during a pandemic?
The pandemic confronts patients and health-care providers with new ethical dilemmas. Is it too risky to pursue a fertility procedure ...
Can Google’s medical AI improve our medical system? Laboratory results and real life offer different answers
[A] study from Google Health—the first to look at the impact of a deep-learning tool in real clinical settings—reveals that ...
Coronavirus opens door for expanded use of artificial intelligence at hospitals
The Royal Bolton Hospital is among a growing number of health-care facilities around the world that are turning to AI ...
Are coronavirus antigen tests the key to finding a way out of the pandemic crisis?
PCR testing isn’t perfect, but it’s seen as the most accurate form of testing available for viruses. Unfortunately, it takes ...
Is life worth living after 75? Why this medical ethicist isn’t a fan of extending the human life span
In October 2014, [physician and medical ethicist] Ezekiel Emanuel published an essay in the Atlantic called “Why I Hope to ...
‘It’s going to be a project’: Looking at unconventional efforts to ramp up our coronavirus testing ability
Right now, [coronavirus] gene tests—the most accurate kind—are run only in labs or on special hospital instruments. But [biotech entrepreneur ...
