This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through November 15)
Every week, we scour the web for important, insightful, and fascinating stories in science and technology.
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Héctor J. Rivas on Unsplash
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Artificial Intelligence
Fei-Fei LI’s World Labs Speeds Up the World Model Race With Marble, Its First Commercial ProductRebecca Bellan | TechCrunch
"If large language models can teach machines to read and write, Li hopes systems like Marble can teach them to see and build. She says the ability to understand how things exist and interact in three-dimensional spaces can eventually help machines make breakthroughs beyond gaming and robotics, and even into science and medicine."
Computing
IBM Has Unveiled Two Unprecedentedly Complex Quantum ComputersKarmela Padavic-Callaghan | New Scientist ($)
"If large language models can teach machines to read and write, Li hopes systems like Marble can teach them to see and build. She says the ability to understand how things exist and interact in three-dimensional spaces can eventually help machines make breakthroughs beyond gaming and robotics, and even into science and medicine."
Space
Blue Origin Sticks First New Glenn Rocket Landing and Launches NASA SpacecraftSean O'Kane | TechCrunch
"Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has landed the booster of its New Glenn mega-rocket on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean on just its second attempt—making it the second company to perform such a feat, following Elon Musk’s SpaceX. It’s an accomplishment that will help the new rocket system become an option to send larger payloads to space, the moon, and beyond."
Tech
When AI Hype Meets AI Reality: A Reckoning in 6 ChartsChristopher Mims | The Wall Street Journal ($)
"The takeaway: The projections of AI companies and their partners don’t reflect shortages of equipment. At the same time, these projections assume a gargantuan market for AI-powered products and services. Analysts can’t agree whether that market will materialize as quickly as promised."
Computing
MIT’s Injectable Brain Chips Could Treat Disease Without SurgeryAbhimanyu Ghoshal | New Atlas
"[The technology] involves sub-cellular sized wireless electronic devices (SWED) that can be delivered to your brain via a jab in the arm. Once these tiny chips have been injected, they can autonomously implant themselves on target regions in the brain and power themselves as they deliver electrical stimulation to the affected areas."
Computing
Two Visions for the Future of AR Smart GlassesAlfred Poor | IEEE Spectrum
"Some tech companies are betting that today’s smart glasses will be the perfect interface for delivering AI-supported information and other notifications. The other possibility is that smart glasses will replace bulky computer screens, acting instead as a private and portable monitor. But the companies pursuing these two approaches don’t yet know which choice consumers will make or what applications they really want."
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Robotics
Waymo to Roll Out Driverless Taxis on Highways in Three US CitiesRafe Rosner-Uddin, Financial Times | Ars Technica
"Waymo’s rollout on highways marks a significant step for the robotaxi operator as it aims to encourage the mass adoption of driverless vehicles. It is the first time a company will carry out paid driverless services on the highway without a driver behind the wheel."
Biotechnology
Scientists Grow More Hopeful About Ending a Global Organ ShortageRoni Caryn Rabin | The New York Times ($)
"In a modern glass complex in Geneva last month, hundreds of scientists from around the world gathered to share data, review cases—and revel in some astonishing progress. Their work was once considered the stuff of science fiction: so-called xenotransplantation, the use of animal organs to replace failing kidneys, hearts, and livers in humans."
Future
These Technologies Could Help Put a Stop to Animal TestingJessica Hamzelou | MIT Technology Review
"Earlier this week, the UK’s science minister announced an ambitious plan: to phase out animal testing. ...Animal welfare groups have been campaigning for commitments like these for decades. But a lack of alternatives has made it difficult to put a stop to animal testing. Advances in medical science and biotechnology are changing that."
Tech
The Complicated Reality of 3D Printed ProstheticsBritt H. Young | IEEE Spectrum
"By the mid-2010s, 3D-printing was in the 'Peak of Inflated Expectations' phase, and prosthetics was no exception. ...Erenstone says [despite struggles to lower costs] the technology is finally getting closer to achieving some of the things everyone imagined was possible ten years ago."
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