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The Download: robotic bees, and China’s surveillance state

Something was wrong, but Thomas Schmickl couldn’t put his finger on it. It was 2007, and the Austrian biologist was spending part of the year at East Tennessee State University. During his... Read more »

How robotic honeybees and hives could help the species fight back

Schmickl, who now leads the Artificial Life Lab at the University of Graz in Austria, wasn’t wrong. Studies in various parts of the world have since found that insect populations are declining... Read more »

The Chinese surveillance state proves that the idea of privacy is more “malleable” than you’d expect

“They probably saved millions of lives by using those technologies,” he says, “and the result is that sold [the necessity of] state surveillance to a lot of Chinese people.” Does “good” surveillance... Read more »

The Download: music-making AI, and Kasparov’s defeat

Jess’s story is from The Checkup, her new weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things health and tech-related. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday. The... Read more »

Google’s new AI can hear a snippet of song—and then keep on playing

“There is a lot of what we could call linguistic information that is not in the words that you pronounce, but it’s another way of communicating based on the way you say... Read more »

Is a covid and flu “twindemic” on the horizon?

As the weather cools in the Northern Hemisphere, and people increasingly mix indoors, we can expect cases to rise, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO, told journalists at a press... Read more »

I Was There When: AI mastered chess

Commentator 2: Deep Blue! Kasparov, after the move C4, has resigned! [Applause] Jennifer: I’m Jennifer Strong, and this is I Was There When—an oral history project featuring the stories of breakthroughs and... Read more »

AI and data fuel innovation in clinical trials and beyond

Laurel: So mentioning the pandemic, it really has shown us how critical and fraught the race is to provide new treatments and vaccines to patients. Could you explain what evidence generation is... Read more »

Power beaming comes of age

The global need for power to provide ubiquitous connectivity through 5G, 6G, and smart infrastructure is rising. This report explains the prospects of power beaming; its economic, human, and environmental implications; and... Read more »

Moving money in a digital world

“The common denominator across almost all post-pandemic behavioral shifts is the growing importance of digital payments,” says Paul Fabara, executive vice president and chief risk officer at Visa, whose worldwide networks handled... Read more »