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Tech
The Art and Science of Boarding an Airplane in a Pandemic
Jason Steffen studies planets in other solar systems. His most famous work—OK, second-most famous work—was with NASA’s Kepler Mission, a…
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Alphabet Is Grounding Loon—but Won’t Call It a Failure
The interesting thing is how far Loon got before Alphabet pulled the plug. When Teller first heard the idea, he…
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Facebook’s Oversight Board to Decide on Trump Ban
In the wake of this month’s violent insurrection at the US Capitol, Facebook suspended the account of the inciter-in-chief Donald…
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This Chinese Lab Is Aiming for Big AI Breakthroughs
BAAI opened a year later, in Zhongguancun, a neighborhood of Beijing designed to replicate US innovation hubs such as Boston…
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Palantir’s God’s-Eye View of Afghanistan
The company’s software can sift through enormous amounts of data, and those metrics can be used to make life-or-death decisions.…
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Facebook Can’t Fix What It Won’t Admit To
I told Zuckerberg that right now my News Feed is basically … Trump, Trump, Trump, married, Trump, baby, Trump. I…
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AI-Powered Text From This Program Could Fool the Government
In October 2019, Idaho proposed changing its Medicaid program. The state needed approval from the federal government, which solicited public…
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An Algorithm Is Helping a Community Detect Lead Pipes
More than six years after residents of Flint, Michigan, suffered widespread lead poisoning from their drinking water, hundreds of millions…
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The Local Politics of Airbnb’s Ban on DC Rentals
On January 9—three days after supporters of President Trump started a riot at the US Capitol—Sean Evans decided it was…
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The Parler Bans Open a New Front in the ‘Free Speech’ Wars
In letters sent to Parler about their decisions, Amazon, Apple, and Google all cited the social media company’s lack of…
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