June 17, 2026
(Nature) – The device has helped a man with motor neuron disease communicate and control his computer for nearly two years. The brain–computer interface (BCI) has given 48-year-old study participant Casey Harrell, who was diagnosed with a type of motor … Read More
June 17, 2026
(Wired) – A joint congressional report describes a spam operation that turned tens of thousands of fake podcasts into search-engine bait for illegal pharmacy and scam sites. For the past year, Spotify has been quietly purging tens of thousands of … Read More
June 17, 2026
(NYT) – In the age of A.I., Hany Farid is struggling to prove what’s real before the internet decides for itself. For more than two decades, Farid, 60, had been the world’s leading expert in the field of digital forensics, … Read More
June 16, 2026
(CT) – As GLP-1s become widely used for weight loss, Christians are split on whether they’re useful medications or spiritual shortcuts. The wellness industry and influencer world are shifting emphases and tactics in response to the GLP-1 boom, and Christian wellness … Read More
June 16, 2026
(NYT) – Faith and science are coming together to reduce stigma and improve care in the African American community. Roughly one in five Black Americans 65 and older has Alzheimer’s, compared with one in 10 white Americans. But it can … Read More
June 16, 2026
(Nature) – The papal letter goes beyond a religious document and diagnoses a failure in AI governance that the scientific community should heed. On 15 May, Pope Leo XIV signed his first encyclical letter, titled Magnifica humanitas (‘magnificent humanity’ in … Read More
June 15, 2026
(Ars Technica) – Thirteen other medical groups have already endorsed the independent schedule. ACOG’s 2026 Maternal Immunization Schedule differs most significantly from the CDC’s current schedule by including recommendations for COVID-19 and seasonal influenza vaccines. Those vaccines have been dropped from the … Read More
June 15, 2026
(MIT Technology Review) – Earlier this week, Life Biosciences, a biotech company focused on reversing age-related diseases, announced that it had dosed its first volunteer. A person with glaucoma has had an experimental treatment injected straight into their eyeball. The … Read More
June 12, 2026
(NPR) – Pope Leo XIV’s recent warning that artificial intelligence risks becoming a new form of colonialism reflects a critique long raised by technology writers and journalists, including Karen Hao, author of Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam … Read More
June 12, 2026
(The Guardian) – Datacentre off Shanghai coast uses less power and water than land-based equivalent The world’s first wind-powered underwater datacentre has started operations off the coast of Shanghai, as China presses forwards with solutions for energy challenges created by … Read More
June 11, 2026
(Wired) – The code WIRED identified is gone from the latest version of Meta AI, the companion app for the company’s smart glasses. Meta won’t say why or whether it’s coming back. One day after WIRED revealed that Meta had … Read More
June 11, 2026
(Business Insider) – Thanks to technology, we can know more about our bodies than ever before. From wearables to full-body scans, deep-dive blood and DNA tests, and even at-home vaginal microbiome kits, we have a wealth of insights at our … Read More
June 11, 2026
(NYT) – The current situation in eastern Congo and Uganda combines some of the most dangerous aspects of the 2014 and 2018 outbreaks — the worst Ebola outbreaks in history. The virus was already spreading for several months before it … Read More
June 10, 2026
(After Babel Substack) – The book was The Age of Addiction: How Bad Habits Became Big Business, by historian David Courtwright, at the University of North Florida. Courtwright begins with humanity’s eternal quest for pleasure from the plants and animals … Read More
June 10, 2026
June 9, 2026
(MIT Technology Review) – The next step in the youth quest is a technology called chemical reprogramming. The outspoken longevity scientist David Sinclair has been predicting that one day, you’ll go to the doctor and get a prescription that will … Read More
June 9, 2026
(Vox) – Humanity may be scrolling its way out of existence. Across the globe, fertility rates are plummeting. In 2023, the average number of births per woman worldwide fell beneath 2.1 — the minimum level necessary for averting population decline … Read More
June 9, 2026
(Axios) – Rest, longevity and fitness are the new status symbols, and burnt-out Americans are spending big on all of the above. Why it matters: The wellness economy is in its next phase, beyond fancy gym memberships and meditation apps. … Read More
June 9, 2026
(The Guardian) – Diagnostic interviews seen as ‘gold standard’ vary in reliability from condition to condition, study says Even though evidence on the reliability of these interviews has long been mixed, “they continue to be widely viewed as the best … Read More
June 9, 2026
(NYT) – Researchers relied on a newer gene-editing technique that may make it possible to engineer embryos, a prospect that has long alarmed bioethicists. Scientists at Columbia University have edited the DNA of early human embryos with unprecedented accuracy, an … Read More
June 9, 2026
(WSJ) – The $1 trillion startup warns artificial-intelligence models are nearing capability to improve without human intervention Anthropic is calling for top artificial intelligence labs to weigh slowing the pace of development, suggesting that AI systems are advancing so rapidly … Read More
June 8, 2026
(404 Media) – Planning documents for “Scout” say the plan is to “make people addicted” to the tool before adding new features. An internal Microsoft strategy document says that the plan for its just-announced “Scout” personal assistant AI is to … Read More
June 8, 2026
(Wired) – With $500 million in funding and a reported $2.5 billion valuation, Flourish wants to reinvent AI by putting real neurons under the microscope. Here’s what Bezos, sitting on his yacht somewhere, read while Williams anxiously watched on Zoom: … Read More
June 8, 2026
(New Things with Joanna Stern on Youtube) – People across the country are offering a service on Facebook Marketplace to disable the recording light on Ray-Ban Meta glasses. They call it “Stealth Mode.” Joanna paid $100 for the modification and … Read More
June 5, 2026
(NYT) – A Chinese company has been trying to develop artificial intelligence-powered technology that would enable authoritarian governments to not just monitor dissidents but also potentially predict who could become one in the future. The work, which appears to be … Read More
