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The Download: Starlink’s satellite signals, and joyless tech

Advances in reproductive technologies are forcing us to reconsider what it means to be a parent—even at a genetic level. While IVF allows would-be parents to use eggs and sperm donated by... Read more »

Starlink signals can be reverse-engineered to work like GPS—whether SpaceX likes it or not

In a non peer-reviewed paper that he has posted on his lab’s website, Humphreys claims to have provided the most complete characterization of Starlink’s signals to date. This information, he says, is... Read more »

How reproductive technology is changing what it means to be a parent

Four or more parents? There are other technologies on the horizon that might enable even more people to share genetic parenthood of a baby. Scientists are working hard to turn human skin... Read more »

We used to get excited about technology. What happened?

I had blinked at the aesthetic poverty of the most recent pitch for Meta’s Horizon Worlds VR game, featuring Mark Zuckerberg’s dead-eyed cartoon avatar against a visual background that one Twitter wag... Read more »

Billions in funding could kick-start the US battery materials industry

Both public and private funding for battery manufacturing in the US have exploded, sped by the passage earlier this year of the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides incentives for electric vehicles. Under... Read more »

A bias bounty for AI will help to catch unfair algorithms faster

The EU’s new content moderation law, the Digital Services Act, includes annual audit requirements for the data and algorithms used by large tech platforms, and the EU’s upcoming AI Act could also... Read more »

The Download: Bill Gates’s new climate plans, and an AI bug bounty

Casey’s story is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s new weekly climate newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday. A bias bounty for AI will help to catch... Read more »

Should we believe in — or even want — immortality?

Most of these trials are going to fail, Kirkland said. Most trials do. “People should try to be dispassionate, even though everyone has a stake in this game. I mean, every living... Read more »

The bird is fine, the bird is fine, the bird is fine, it’s dead

Most of these trials are going to fail, Kirkland said. Most trials do. “People should try to be dispassionate, even though everyone has a stake in this game. I mean, every living... Read more »

When you lose weight, where does it go?

We use energy all the time, whether we’re running, eating, or sleeping. The energy we use at rest—to pump blood, digest food, regulate temperature, repair cells, breathe, or think—is our baseline metabolism,... Read more »