How AI video games can help unlock the mysteries of the human mind

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Fish-safe hydroelectric technology could help keep more renewable energy coming onto the grid

Hydropower is the world's leading renewable electricity source, and in 2022 it will produce more electricity than all other renewables combined. But while hydropower helps clean up the power grid, it's not necessarily good for fish. Dams can alter fish habitats, and hydropower facilities can create dangerous or insurmountable barriers for migratory species.

That's why governments in some parts of the world are putting in place safeguards to protect ecosystems from the potential harm of hydropower. These safeguards can also force older facilities to close, which is a big problem because taking hydropower plants off the grid would remove a flexible, low-emissions source of power that could help make progress on climate change.

But there is good news: New technologies like fish-safe turbines may help utilities and regulators get closer to balancing the health of river ecosystems with global climate goals. Read the full story.

—Casey Crownhart

What does a space debris engineer do?

While much attention is focused on launching spacecraft into space, the question of what to do with the debris has, until recently, been largely ignored. Satellites are left in orbit at the end of their life, generating debris that must be monitored and, hopefully, avoided to avoid collisions.

But there are people working to clean up Earth's orbit: Stijn Lemmens. He's a senior space debris mitigation analyst at the European Space Agency. Lemmens works with spacecraft designers and across industry to prevent space pollution by creating missions that are less likely to clutter the orbital environment. Read all about him and his work.

—Erna Schütz

This article is an excerpt from the latest issue of MIT Technology Review. If you haven't already, please subscribe to it to read the full article.

Must-read

I've scoured the internet to find today's most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories in tech.

1 Apple plans to introduce AI features to Vision Pro
The company is likely hoping this will boost sales of the device, which has so far been disappointing. (Bloomberg)
+ Vision Pro is currently available outside the US(Ars Technica)

2 Detroit is changing how police use facial recognition technology
The rules have been significantly tightened after three cases of false arrests due to fraudulent matching. (NYT $)
+ The movement to restrict facial recognition technology may finally win a victory. (MIT Technology Review)

3 What does AI search help with?
Given that there are mistakes, the answer is best thought of as a starting point rather than a final answer. (Vox)
+ Why chatbots lie, and why it's a persistent problem(MIT Technology Review)
+ OpenAI has developed an AI tool that it claims can identify hallucinations. (IEEE Spectrum)

4 Amazon plans to spend over $100 billion on data centers over the next decade
Yes, you guessed it, it's all about meeting the demand for AI tools. (WSJ $)
+ Amazon is emulating Shane and Tem's strategy, prioritizing cheap prices over speed.(Atlantic$)

5 Brazil's Pantanal fire season is already breaking records
And it's not even scheduled to start yet. (ABC)
+ How NASA is using AI and drones to fight wildfires. (CNET)
+ Meet the scientists trying to understand the causes of the world's worst wildfires. (MIT Technology Review)

Six new coronavirus and influenza combination vaccines now available
Moderna has just successfully completed Phase 3 trials of the drug. (Nature)
+ The next generation of mRNA vaccines is coming. (MIT Technology Review)

7 Parents want a cell phone-free childhood
They are trying to do the right thing, but the odds are woefully stacked against them. (The Guardian)
+ New York City plans to ban cell phones from schools. (NPR)

8 Electric cars have a big problem: buggy software
With increased complexity comes increased points of failure. (The Verge)
+ How did China come to dominate the electric vehicle world? (MIT Technology Review)

9 Hot AI Jesus appears on Facebook
And he seems like a surprisingly popular potential fiancé. (The Atlantic)

10 Tennis hopes to use video games to attract new fans
In the end, it worked as a football strategy. (FT$)

Quote of the Day

“I think we're starting to lose more and more of our understanding of what an unedited face looks like.”

—Dr Kelly McInerney, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, told CNN that AI is accelerating already unrealistic beauty standards online.

The big story

The short and strange history of brainwashing

April 2024

On a spring day in 1959, war correspondent Edward Hunter testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee investigating “Communist Chinese influence in the United States.”

Hunter told the American people about a new concept, a so-called scientific system that could change people's minds and make them like things they once hated.

Though much of it was unsubstantiated, Hunter's sensational story became a key piece of the disinformation and pseudoscience that fueled the “mind control race” during the Cold War. U.S. authorities spent millions of dollars on research into manipulating the human brain as they prepared for a psychic war with the Soviet Union and China.

But while the science never quite explained it, the beliefs that were fostered by this strange collision continue to play a key role in ideological and scientific debate to this day. Read the full story.

—Annalee Newitz

Nice things are still available

A place that's comfortable, fun, and light-hearted enough to brighten your day. (Any ideas?) Contact me or Tweet me.

+ Take me to one of these beaches right away.
+ Sounds like sound parenting advice to me.
+ When it's hot, few things taste better than a cold noodle salad.
+ Boston trains are starting to have googly eyes.