Author: zppiot
As efficient creators and stewards of wetlands, beavers provide a hospitable ecosystem for dozens of other creatures, from insects, frogs, and turtles to owls, otters, great blue herons, and even moose and deer. What’s more, by harvesting undergrowth for their dams and creating ponds and bogs that raise the moisture content of the soil, beavers lessen the likelihood that forest fires will spread. As forest fires devastated Oregon in 2021, beaver wetlands remained green and lush, acting as natural firebreaks. On aerial images of the charred landscape, the beaver’s habitat stands out, a wide and verdant ribbon running through the…
Remember when Microsoft first unveiled the Surface Duo and it was the coolest phone you’d ever seen? At $1,399, it was also one of the most expensive phones back then and in case you were short by $1,171, the phone is currently 84 percent off. The Surface Duo is an amazing piece of tech but it’s certainly not for everyone. For starters, it was released in late 2020, so it doesn’t have the latest specs. That’s not even the worst part.It’s dated even for a 2020 phone. It doesn’t support wireless charging. It doesn’t have NFC. It can’t connect to 5G networks.…
The road to economics Thompkins’s experiences as a youth advocate set her up to dream big about what she might accomplish on behalf of the disabled community. Her hope as a teenager had been to go to law school and become a disability rights attorney—that is, until she surprised herself by falling in love with an economics course in high school. She majored in mathematical economics at Scripps College. And by the time she arrived on MIT’s campus for grad school, she had become enthusiastic about the possibility of using economics as a tool for disability justice. Angrist, a Nobel…
Google launched the YouTube Create app last year in order to provide content creators with an easy way to record, edit, and add effects to their videos right from their mobile devices. The app initially launched in beta and was limited to only a few countries, including the United States.However, today YouTube announced via its blog that the app is now expanding to thirteen more countries, joining the existing eight. This update now makes the app available to download via the Play Store in the United States, France, Singapore, Germany, South Korea, India, the United Kingdom, and Indonesia, plus the…
As our alumni and friends know better than anyone, the intellectual excellence and bold ingenuity of the people of MIT are the Institute’s greatest strength. While IAP supplied its welcome respite, the first part of the year also offered inspiring reminders of MIT’s ability to make a powerful, positive difference in the world. Here are just two examples. The MIT Shaping the Future of Work Initiative In January, we engaged the MIT community with a day of fascinating panel discussions to launch the MIT Shaping the Future of Work Initiative. Participants from government, industry, and academia explored questions like What…
Just the other day, we told you how a court document related to Google’s antitrust battle with the Justice Department revealed that Microsoft tried to sell its Bing search engine to Apple. The latter was not impressed with the “search quality” of Bing and did not pursue a deal with Microsoft. And now, all these years later, the full story has finally come out and it turns out that Apple rejected Bing after the search engine failed to give a correct answer to a question about a former rock star.A court filing submitted by Google (via The Register) reveals one…
The latest iteration of a legacyFounded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1899, MIT Technology Review is a world-renowned, independent media company whose insight, analysis, reviews, interviews and live events explain the newest technologies and their commercial, social and political impact. #Roundtables #Breakthrough #Technologies
Rings with superpowers have always grabbed my imagination. Whether in fantasy tales or superhero epics, those rings had me dreaming of getting one. Although I am still waiting on rings that can make me invisible, grant my wishes, or cut through glass with a laser, technology has given us the next best thing: smart rings, the latest trend in wearable tech. And with Samsung entering the scene with its Galaxy Ring, I just can’t help but wonder: Are smart rings the next big thing? Are they a fleeting trend or the future of wearable technology? It’s time to dive into…
William Warin Bainbridge Jr., Class of 1922, and Kenneth Tompkins Bainbridge, Class of 1926, grew up on Manhattan’s Riverside Drive, the eldest of three sons of an upwardly mobile stationer who dabbled in real estate. Both went to MIT. And both would play important roles in World War II—one on the front lines at Normandy and at the Battle of the Bulge, the other with J. Robert Oppenheimer in Los Alamos. William Warin Bainbridge Jr., Class of 1922COURTESY OF DAVID BAINBRIDGE Before making their way to MIT, the brothers attended the Horace Mann School, where they participated in athletics and…
Picture-in-Picture (PiP), the feature that lets you watch videos in a floating window while using other apps, is a staple for many mobile users. While Android has made PiP as part of the operating system for some time, the YouTube app itself has been more selective about its availability.Until recently, only YouTube Premium subscribers outside the US could take advantage of PiP, unlike in the US where free users have had that benefit. That seems to be changing, though, as reports are circulating of non-Premium users in Europe suddenly discovering access to YouTube’s PiP functionality.Conflicting information and speculation among usersConfusingly,…
Google CEO Sundar Pichai is putting heat on the internet company’s engineers to fix its Gemini AI app pronto, calling some of the tool’s responses “completely unacceptable.”The new search tool, which the company has touted as revolutionary, came under fire after some users asked it to generate images of people drawn from history, such as German soldiers during World War 2, and popes, who have historically been White and male. Some of Gemini’s images portrayed Nazi soldiers as Black and Asian and popes as female.Google has temporarily halted its Gemini image generator following backlash to the AI tool’s responses. “I want to…
In the town of Alter do Chão, where my professor lived, traditional Paraense carimbó music dominated everyone’s social lives. As an undergraduate who was double-majoring in music, I decided to join the town’s major carimbó group, Grupo Cobra Grande. Despite my rudimentary grasp of Portuguese, I knew that I could communicate with the group through music. With the help of offline Google Translate and charades, I managed to learn not only the intricate rhythms and dance moves involved in this traditional musical style, but also the meanings of the lyrics and the associated folklore. We began every rehearsal and performance…
If you thought Samsung’s inability to keep a secret about its unreleased products was limited to Galaxy S and Z-series high-enders, you might want to think again, as the impending mid-end Galaxy A55 and A35 5G handsets have also become essentially as transparent as glass in recent months.Without further ado, we give you the Galaxy A35 5G spec sheet in full:6.6-inch Super AMOLED display with 2380 x 1080 pixel (FHD+) resolution and 120Hz refresh rate technology;Samsung Exynos 1380 processor;6 and 8GB RAM options;128 and 256GB internal storage space;External expansion with up to 1TB more via microSD;50MP primary rear-facing shooter with…
Smidt says she loves the lathe but is also very fond of a small tool called a French curve scraper, which she used to sand the curves of the desk that was her ambitious first project in the shop. The piece, which Smidt calls her “noodle desk,” consists of a butcher block top that S-curves to the floor for support. It’s made of reclaimed maple from MIT’s basketball court renovation, which the shop had salvaged. “It’s always such a pleasure to use the perfect hand tool,” she says. (Find a link to photos and step-by-step instructions for building the desk…
Google TV is once again getting a design tweak. Following the addition of new landing pages last year aimed at simplifying navigation, the “For you” screen is now tackling the “Your apps” row, introducing several updates to make navigation easier and your overall viewing experience more enjoyable.Circular and modern app iconsThe app icons on your Google TV are sporting a brand new look, with the old squares and rectangles gone and circular app icons replacing them. This change aims to give your home screen a more modern feel while also making it easier to locate your favorite applications.Faster access to…
Launching a legacy. As the steward of Paul’s estate, Mimi knew that using it to make an endowed scholarship gift would be a fitting way to honor his memory. “Paul’s MIT degree launched him on the career of his dreams,” she says. “I wanted to make a scholarship gift that will last in perpetuity so that others achieve their goals as well, and so that his name will be remembered.” A lasting bond. Paul’s Theta Chi fraternity brothers invited Mimi to what would have been Paul’s 30th reunion—a “beautiful, but bittersweet” experience for her. The friendships he formed at MIT made a profound impact…