MIT Technology Review

The World Health Organization’s latest global statistics report reads less like a progress update than a warning sign. Progress on some of the world’s biggest health threats is stalling, and in some cases reversing altogether. Here’s what the numbers reveal about the state of global health.

The world is on track to miss its health targets Progress in tackling some of the big killers is backsliding, putting the health of millions at risk.

To understand what the future holds for Earth’s northernmost waters, scientists are burrowing deep below the seabed.

Digging for clues about the North Pole’s past

The startup Boston Metal has raised a $75 million funding round to produce critical metals, MIT Technology Review can exclusively report. The additional money could help it survive at a time when support for industrial decarbonization has been waning in the US.

Green steel startup Boston Metal is doubling down on critical metals The company is focusing on metals like niobium, tantalum, and nickel rather than steel.

Automation, AI, and screening technologies are already transforming reproductive medicine.

What’s next for IVF

AI is everywhere, all at once. How does that make you feel?

The era of AI malaise

We don't really understand AI's inner workings, so we're effectively flying blind.

Why having “humans in the loop” in an AI war is an illusion

While AI appears to be expanding access to justice, it doesn’t seem to be improving people’s chances of winning. Judges are starting to question what rights and duties chatbots should have as they stand in for lawyers.

How courts are coping with a flood of AI-generated lawsuits Judges are wondering what rights and duties chatbots should have as they stand in for lawyers.

A new extraction process could unlock the world’s lithium, slashing costs and carbon emissions.

How a new extraction process could unlock the world’s lithium Startup Rock Zero is commercializing the research, which could cut costs and carbon emissions from lithium production.

The compounds have exploded in popularity, but big questions about safety and effectiveness are still unresolved.

Peptides are everywhere. Here’s what you need to know.

There’s plenty of precedent for AI being used for mass surveillance. While there’s not yet any smoking-gun evidence that the US government (or anyone else) is using LLMs to conduct surveillance in the way that could constitute a crime against humanity, there’s a clear appetite for such capabilities.

How LLMs could supercharge mass surveillance in the US The technology could make commercially available bulk datasets even more of a privacy concern.