The Download: robotic table tennis, and future space habitats
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.
Google DeepMind trained a robot to beat humans at table tennis
What’s new: Google DeepMind has trained a robot to play table tennis at the equivalent of amateur-level competitive performance, the company has announced. It claims it’s the first time a robot has been taught to play a sport with humans at a human level.
How good is it? The system is far from perfect. Although the table tennis bot was able to beat all beginner-level human opponents it faced and 55% of those playing at amateur level, it lost all the games against advanced players. Still, it’s an impressive advance.
Why it matters: The research represents a step towards creating robots that can perform useful tasks skillfully and safely in real environments like homes and warehouses, which is a long-standing goal of the robotics community. Read the full story.
—Rhiannon Williams
This futuristic space habitat is designed to self-assemble in orbit
More people are traveling to space, but the International Space Station can only hold 11 people at a time. The Aurelia Institute, a nonprofit space architecture lab based in Cambridge, MA, has an approach that may help: a habitat that can be launched in compact stacks of flat tiles and self-assemble in orbit.
Building large space habitats is difficult, and dangerous. But the Aurelia Institute’s TESSERAE space habitat, which resembles a futuristic, one-story-tall soccer ball, could make it much easier. Read the full story.
—Sarah Ward
Watch a video showing what happens in our brains when we think
What does a thought look like? We can think about thoughts resulting from shared signals between some of the billions of neurons in our brains. Various chemicals are involved, but it really comes down to electrical activity. We can measure that activity and watch it back.
Ben Rapoport is the cofounder and chief science officer of Precision Neuroscience, a company doing just that. Rapoport and his colleagues have developed thin, flexible electrode arrays that can be slipped under the skull through a tiny incision. Once inside, they can sit on a person’s brain, collecting signals from neurons buzzing away beneath.
So far, 17 people have had these electrodes placed onto their brains. And Rapoport has been able to capture how their brains form thoughts. Check out his video of the brain thinking.
—Jessica Hamzelou
This story is from The Checkup, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things health and biotech. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 The ad group being sued by X is shutting down
It doesn’t have the cash to keep operating while fighting the company in court. (NYT $)
+ X had rejoined the group little more than a month ago, before relations soured. (Ars Technica)
+ But ultimately, the lawsuit is likely to drive even more advertisers from the platform. (The Guardian)
2 CRISPR gene-editing is being offered to British blood disorder patients
People with thalassaemia will receive the pioneering treatment for free. (BBC)
+ Controversial CRISPR scientist promises “no more gene-edited babies” until society comes around. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Donald Trump wants to be a TikTok star
Years after he failed to ban the app, the former president is embracing TikTok fame. (WP $)
+ But Kamala Harris is surging ahead in the meme wars. (Slate $)
+ Overseas accounts are pushing anti-Trump TikToks to Americans. (WSJ $)
+ US election officials are being targeted by hackers in Iran, too. (Reuters)
4 YouTube in Russia is living on borrowed time
The platform is experiencing mass outages, leaving entire regions unable to access it. (Reuters)
5 Inside the race to develop quantum cryptosystems
The EU, US, China and India are all scrambling to create the new global standard. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ PsiQuantum plans to build the biggest quantum computing facility in the US. (MIT Technology Review)
6 AI search engine Perplexity’s popularity is soaring
But that doesn’t mean its results are always reliable. (FT $)
+ Why you shouldn’t trust AI search engines. (MIT Technology Review)
7 FTX has agreed to pay customers more than $12 billion
It’s a lot more than many experts ever thought its victims would receive.(Ars Technica)
+ It’s the largest ever recovery in the US regulator’s history. (The Guardian)
8 Computer crash reports are a treasure trove of valuable data
You’d better hope they don’t fall into the wrong hands. (Wired $)
9 The irony of paying for budgeting apps
A word to the wise: you do not need to do this. (Vox)
10 Airbnb’s summer is going from bad to worse
Poor-quality listings and fights with city officials are just some of its problems. (NY Mag $)
+ Travel in China is going from strength to strength. (Bloomberg $)
Quote of the day
“I managed to mess up a Pikachu with mind control, which was pretty fun.”
—Twitch streamer Perri Karyal describes using a brain-computer interface to play Super Smash Bros to the Guardian.
The big story
After 25 years of hype, embryonic stem cells are still waiting for their moment
August 2023
In 1998, researchers isolated powerful stem cells from human embryos. It was a breakthrough for biology, since these cells are the starting point for human bodies and have the capacity to turn into any other type of cell—heart cells, neurons, you name it.
National Geographic would later summarize the incredible promise: “the dream is to launch a medical revolution in which ailing organs and tissues might be repaired” with living replacements. It was the dawn of a new era. A holy grail. Pick your favorite cliché—they all got airtime.
Yet today, more than two decades later, there are no treatments on the market based on these cells. Not one. Our biotech editor Antonio Regalado set out to investigate why, and when that might change. Here’s what he discovered.
We can still have nice things
A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ If you’ve never seen the digestive tissues of a coral polyp before, now you have.
+ I’m sad to report the death of a legend—Jack Karlson, the original Australian meme, has gone to the succulent Chinese restaurant in the sky.
+ Finally, today is the Olympic event everyone’s been waiting for: breakdancing!
+ What it means to place fourth at the Olympics, and what us mortals can learn from it.
