Month: April 2022

Conservation Week

Illustration by Melissa Mathieson / The Verge A big part of imagining the future is picturing what we’ll bring with us from the present. Some things will stubbornly cling to us — like a produce sticker refusing to be composted. But other visions of the future will take a bit more work to manifest. During

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Algorithmic stablecoins like TerraUSD have surged in popularity, but critics say they are inherently risky as they aren’t backed by any assets at all (Alexander Osipovich/Wall Street Journal)

Alexander Osipovich / Wall Street Journal: Algorithmic stablecoins like TerraUSD have surged in popularity, but critics say they are inherently risky as they aren’t backed by any assets at all  —  Algorithmic stablecoins that use financial engineering to link their value to the dollar have surged in popularity

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A Helicopter Will Try to Catch a Rocket This Week

(Photo: Rocket Lab)Tomorrow a private aerospace company will attempt to snatch its own rocket booster out of mid air using a helicopter.  Southern California-based Rocket Lab builds and launches a variety of aerospace equipment, but its claim to fame is a reusable small launch vehicle called Electron. Just 18 meters tall, this two-stage rocket booster

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A look at AI-powered surveillance in South Africa, as CCTV cameras and fiber internet proliferate; one company operates 5,000+ cameras in Johannesburg (MIT Technology Review)

MIT Technology Review: A look at AI-powered surveillance in South Africa, as CCTV cameras and fiber internet proliferate; one company operates 5,000+ cameras in Johannesburg  —  As firms have dumped their AI technologies into the country, it’s created a blueprint for how to surveil citizens and serves as a warning to the world.

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Hustler at the end of the world

Illustrations by Emily Lopez for The Verge authors_name publish_date hero_image_large As the world shut down in March 2020, anxious knowledge workers barricaded themselves at home, scrubbing produce with soap. Fear sometimes manifested as altruism: checking on neighbors, organizing mutual aid. But the crisis also prompted cynics to root around for new loopholes to exploit, for

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