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Newly-revealed coronavirus data has reignited a debate over the virus’s origins

Data collected in 2020—and kept from public view since then—potentially adds weight to the animal theory. It highlights a potential suspect: the raccoon dog. But exactly how much weight it adds depends... Read more »

The next generation of connected IoT

Today, technical advances such as lower power chips, better connectivity, and advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are unlocking new Internet of Things (IoT) use cases. Applications in healthcare, manufacturing,... Read more »

Investing in life sciences R&D by design

Issues facing the global community have also spurred innovation in life sciences. Research in areas like agriculture technology and virology could help address some of the challenges wrought by climate change, which,... Read more »

Innovation in the space industry takes off

Space technologies are taking off in the UK, alongside other emerging technologies like quantum computing. “I don’t think there’s a way we can do comprehensive space research and travel, if you like,... Read more »

The Download: the battle for satellite internet, and detecting biased AI

What’s coming: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are about to lock horns once again. Last month, the US Federal Communications Commission approved the final aspects of Project Kuiper, Amazon’s effort to deliver... Read more »

Taking stock of our climate past, present, and future

Before you say anything, I do know that it is, in fact, nearly April. But this week has the distinct feeling of a sort of climate change New Year’s to me. Not... Read more »

Amazon is about to go head to head with SpaceX in a battle for satellite internet dominance 

Amazon has applied to the FCC to increase its constellation to 7,774 satellites, which would allow it to cover regions further north and south, including Alaska, as Starlink does. There are riches... Read more »

These new tools let you see for yourself how biased AI image models are

One theory as to why that might be is that nonbinary brown people may have had more visibility in the press recently, meaning their images end up in the data sets the... Read more »

The Download: Google’s Bard experiment, and Ernie Bot’s rehabilitation

Google has launched Bard, the search giant’s answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bing Chat. Unlike Bing Chat, Bard does not look up search results—all the information it returns is generated by... Read more »

The bearable mediocrity of Baidu’s ChatGPT competitor

3. President Xi Jinping traveled to Russia to meet with Vladimir Putin this week. The economic relationship between the two countries has weakened in recent years. (Wall Street Journal $) 4. A... Read more »