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FDA advisors just said no to the use of MDMA as a therapy

If the FDA denies approval of MDMA therapy, Lykos or another company could conduct additional studies and reapply. Many of the committee members said they believed MDMA does hold promise, but that... Read more »

The Download: gaming climate change, and Boeing’s space mission leaks

—Casey Crownhart There are two things I love to do at social gatherings: play board games and talk about climate change. Don’t I sound like someone you should invite to your next... Read more »

This classic game is taking on climate change

Teuber also seemed laser focused on not preaching, and it feels as if New Energies goes out of its way not to make players feel bad about climate change. In fact, as... Read more »

The Download: more energy-efficient AI, and the problem with QWERTY keyboards

On a table in his lab at the University of Pennsylvania, physicist Sam Dillavou has connected an array of breadboards via a web of brightly colored wires. The setup looks like a... Read more »

How QWERTY keyboards show the English dominance of tech

Last week, MIT Technology Review published an excerpt from a new book, The Chinese Computer, which talks about how this problem was solved in China. After generations of work to sort Chinese... Read more »

How a simple circuit could offer an alternative to energy-intensive GPUs

For Dillavou, one fascinating aspect of the circuit is what he calls its “emergent learning.” In a human, “every neuron is doing its own thing,” he says. “And then as an emergent... Read more »

The Download: AI for good, and China’s shrinking internet

—Melissa Heikkilä Last week, Geneva played host to the UN’s AI for Good Summit. The summit’s big focus was how AI can be used to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, such... Read more »

What I learned from the UN’s “AI for Good” summit

The conference featured lots of robots (including one that dispenses wine), but what I liked most of all was how it managed to convene people working in AI from around the globe,... Read more »

The Download: MDMA for PTSD, and Boeing’s rearranged space flight

MDMA has been banned in the United States for more than three decades. But now, this potent mind-altering drug is poised to become a badly needed therapy for PTSD. On June 4,... Read more »

What’s next for MDMA

However, for drugs that carry a risk of serious side effects, the FDA can add a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy to its approval. For MDMA that might include mandating that the... Read more »