News

Volkswagen and Didi Chuxing Have Teamed Up on a New Self-Driving Venture

Why the utopian vision of William Morris is now within reach

Civilization Is Built on Code

The word “code” derives from the Latin codex, meaning “a system of laws.” Today “code” is used in various distinct contexts—computer code, genetic code, cryptologic code (such as Morse code), ethical code, building code, and so forth—each of which has a common feature: They all contain instructions that describe a process. Computer code requires the action of a compiler, energy, and (usually) inputs in order to become a useful program.

NetChain: Scale-free sub-RTT coordination

NetChain won a best paper award at NSDI 2018 earlier this month. By thinking outside of the box (in this case, the box is the chassis containing the server), Jin et al. have demonstrated how to build a coordination service (think Apache ZooKeeper) with incredibly low latency and high throughput.

NASA green lights self-assembling space telescope

His idea involves programming thousands of individual hexagon-shaped modules, each 1 meter across and topped with an edge-to-edge active (adjustable) mirror assembly. These would form the primary and secondary mirrors.

Introducing Nanoscope: An Extremely Accurate Method Tracing Tool for Android

Computers Match Accuracy of Radiologists in Screening for Breast Cancer Risk

Australia Is Deploying 150 Solar Devices That Suck Water From Thin Air

China is monitoring employees’ brain waves and emotions

Chinese businesses and the military are monitoring employees’ brain activity and emotions. The ’emotional surveillance technology’ helps employers identify mood shifts so they can change break times, an employee’s task, or even send them home. The technology reportedly increases productivity and profitability, with one company claiming its profits jumped by $315 million.

Tesla Doesn’t Burn Fuel, It Burns Cash

Tesla is going through money so fast that, without additional financing, there is now a genuine risk that the 15-year-old company could run out of cash in 2018. The company burns through more than $6,500 every minute, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Free cash flow—the amount of cash a company generates after accounting for capital expenditures—has been negative for five consecutive quarters.