February 14, 2025
(MIT Technology Review) – As the electric-vehicle war in China calms down, leaving a few established players to dominate the field, Chinese EV giants are expanding into humanoid robotics. The shift is driven by financial necessity, but also by the advantages these … Read More
February 14, 2025
(The Walrus) – Singles—and their parents—are turning to algorithms for help with arranged marriages In India, marriage has long been the province of intelligence: the mind over the heart, sound reasoning exercised by the leadership of families to maintain their … Read More
February 12, 2025
(Associated Press) – Ebola cases in Uganda have risen to nine, while 265 other people were being monitored under quarantine, health authorities said Tuesday. The nine include the first victim, a male nurse who died the day before the outbreak was … Read More
February 11, 2025
(Wired) – Services supporting victims of online child exploitation and trafficking around the world have faced USAID and State Department cuts—and children are suffering as a result, sources tell WIRED. As Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has ravaged its way … Read More
February 11, 2025
(New York Times) – The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a multibillion-dollar global health initiative started under President George W. Bush, has brought hope to H.I.V.-positive mothers across Africa, and put the end of AIDS within reach. Through H.I.V./AIDS … Read More
February 11, 2025
(New York Times) – At times, Kevin Roose writes, it feels like he is watching policymakers on horseback trying to install seatbelts on a passing Lamborghini. World leaders, tech moguls and assorted hangers-on (including yours truly) are gathered in Paris … Read More
February 7, 2025
(Wall Street Journal) – It isn’t just artificial intelligence—Chinese biotechs are now developing drugs faster and cheaper than their U.S. counterparts The biotech industry’s DeepSeek moment came last fall. That is when Summit Therapeutics, backed by billionaire Bob Duggan, announced that … Read More
February 6, 2025
(The Conversation) – We brought together our expertise in economics and gender based violence to examine excess mortality (avoidable deaths) due to FGM/C. Our new research now reveals a devastating reality: FGM/C is one of the leading causes of death … Read More
February 6, 2025
(New York Times) – The stop-work order on U.S.A.I.D.-funded research has left thousands of people with experimental drugs and devices in their bodies, with no access to monitoring or care. When Ms. Zondi, 22, arrived at the clinic, she learned … Read More
February 6, 2025
(Wall Street Journal) – Lawmakers plan to introduce a bill Thursday that would ban DeepSeek’s chatbot application from government-owned devices, over new security concerns that the app could provide user information to the Chinese government. The legislation written by Reps. … Read More
February 5, 2025
(Washington Post) – Soup kitchens can no longer feed the hungry. First responders are unable to reach the dead and wounded. Mothers and fathers search in vain for the medicines that keep them alive. Across Africa, in bombed-out Sudanese cities, … Read More
February 3, 2025
(Wall Street Journal) – At a gathering there, Huang told customers and employees of his strong commitment to the Chinese market, according to a recording. That meant Nvidia intended to keep selling chips for artificial intelligence in China, holding back … Read More
February 3, 2025
(Reuters) – The U.S. State Department said on Saturday that the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) — the world’s leading HIV initiative – was covered by a waiver for life-saving humanitarian assistance during a 90-day pause in foreign … Read More
January 30, 2025
(BBC) – Uganda’s ministry of health has confirmed a new outbreak of the Ebola virus in the capital, Kampala, with one reported death. The victim was a 32-year-old male nurse whose symptoms included “high fever, chest pain, and difficulty in … Read More
January 30, 2025
(Wall Street Journal) – Chinese tech company DeepSeek has disrupted the AI world by releasing a top-notch artificial-intelligence model that offers provocative answers—although maybe not to questions about China. We put its chatbot to the test in New York on … Read More
January 29, 2025
(Wall Street Journal) – Silicon Valley-based company says Chinese entities have tried to exfiltrate data from its tools OpenAI is investigating whether Chinese artificial-intelligence startup DeepSeek trained its new chatbot by repeatedly querying the U.S. company’s AI models. A spokesperson … Read More
January 29, 2025
(The Telegraph) – DeepSeek’s Sputnik moment has debunked overblown projections of a data centre boom One of the abiding truths about technological innovation is that what starts off as clunky and barely worth the time and effort required to use … Read More
January 28, 2025
(Wired) – Amid ongoing fears over TikTok, Chinese generative AI platform DeepSeek says it’s sending heaps of US user data straight to its home country, potentially setting the stage for greater scrutiny. The United States’ recent regulatory action against the … Read More
January 27, 2025
(Wired) – When online romance and sextortion scammers sense they’ve found a victim who may send them money, they’ll use all kinds of villainous methods to get paid. They’ll frequently stoop to blackmail—and are constantly creating more devious approaches to … Read More
January 27, 2025
(MIT Technology Review) – The AI community is abuzz over DeepSeek R1, a new open-source reasoning model. The model was developed by the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which claims that R1 matches or even surpasses OpenAI’s ChatGPT o1 on multiple … Read More
January 24, 2025
(Science) – On 2 January, Japan’s regulatory agency issued a news release that startled some scientists: It had approved the antiviral drug tecovirimat, also known as TPOXX, for the treatment of mpox and two cousins, smallpox and cowpox. No treatments … Read More
January 24, 2025
(Optimist Daily) – In a nation known for its relentless work ethic, Tokyo is making waves by introducing a four-day workweek for government employees starting this April. It’s a move aimed at tackling Japan’s record-low fertility rates while promoting better … Read More
January 23, 2025
(MIT Technology Review) – WHO funds are spent on a range of global health projects—programs to eradicate polio, rapidly respond to health emergencies, improve access to vaccines and medicines, develop pandemic prevention strategies, and more. The loss of US funding … Read More
January 23, 2025
(DNYUZ) – ExThera, which has about 50 employees, makes a single product: a filter that it says can be used to remove the tumor cells that circulate in patients’ blood and enable cancer to metastasize. Early last year, the company … Read More
January 23, 2025
(BBC) – When Zhang Junjie was 17 he decided to protest outside his university about rules made by China’s government. Within days he had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital and treated for schizophrenia. Junjie is one of dozens of … Read More
