Can we find ways to live beyond 100? Millionaires are betting on it.
Scientists and biotech companies have been networking with uber-wealthy investors at a swanky conference in Switzerland this week, making the case for longevity science and anti-aging strategies. My colleague Jess Hamzelou, our senior biomedicine reporter, joined them, and got a peek at some of the most cutting-edge work in the field. Read about what she discovered.
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 must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Hurricane Ian has left vast swathes of Florida underwater
As it heads towards South Carolina, Biden has warned it could become the deadliest in Florida history. (The Guardian)
+ Coral reefs are an effective natural defense against hurricanes. (Vox)
+ The storm is a potent mix of powerful and unpredictable. (The Atlantic $)
+ It could be on course to join the list of storms as severe as Katrina. (New Yorker $)
2 Iran is ramping up internet blackouts and censorship
Thus far, it’s not achieving the government’s desired outcome. (Slate $)
+ A niche tech publisher is shining a light on China’s surveillance machine. (The Atlantic $)
3 What makes plastic so useful also makes it a nightmare to recycle
A new method of breaking it down could help. (Economist $)
+ A French company is using enzymes to recycle one of the most common single-use plastics. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Why Russia’s cyber war never really materialized
The attacks it did land didn’t deliver the intended consequences. (FT $)
+ Here’s how the war in Ukraine could end. (New Yorker $)
+ Russian men are reportedly pretending to have HIV to escape conscription. (Rest of World)
5 Jack Dorsey tried to get Elon Musk a place on Twitter’s board
But the other members saw the appointment as too risky. (CNBC)
+ The former CEO also tried to get Musk and CEO Parag Agrawal off on the right foot. (WSJ $)
+ Musk wanted to search for ‘Trump’ in his hunt for bot data. (Bloomberg $)
+ Musk also toyed with appointing Oprah to Twitter’s board. (The Information $)
6 The Arctic Ocean is rapidly becoming more acidic
Unsurprisingly, climate change is the culprit. (Motherboard)
+ China, the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter, is suffering. (Vox)
7 Reboosting the Hubble Telescope would give it a new lease of life
NASA and SpaceX think they could do just that. (BBC)
+ NASA has taken stunning photos of Jupiter’s moon Europa. (New Scientist $)
8 Brace yourself for a new wave of at-home tests
They’re not just for covid, either. (Neo.Life)
+ Genome sequencing has never been so cheap, or easy. (Wired $)
9 Why voice notes are so controversial
Send yours with caution. (WSJ $)
+ Lasers can send a whispered audio message directly to one person’s ear. (MIT Technology Review)
10 AI is creating horrible new Pokémon
Don’t say I didn’t warn you. (WP $)
+ This artist is dominating AI-generated art. And he’s not happy about it. (MIT Technology Review)
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