What's New

Scientists know enough about exoplanets to speculate about how simple plants might arise on them. But don't count on them being green.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Investor Marc Andreessen called tech ethics and safety teams “the enemy” in his “Techno-Optimist Manifesto” last year. Today he clarified he’s in favor of online guardrails for his 9-year-old son. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're bringing an extra episode from our show Science, Spoken. Christopher Columbus was blamed for bringing syphilis to Europe. New DNA evidence suggests it was already there. Maybe both stories are true. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wyoming’s secretary of state has proposed ways of “preventing fraud and abuse of corporate filings by commercial registered agents” in the aftermath of the scheme’s exposure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Generative AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot are becoming part of everyday business life. But they come with privacy and security considerations you should know about. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Data breaches at Ticketmaster and financial services company Santander have been linked to attacks against cloud provider Snowflake. Researchers fear more breaches will soon be uncovered. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google rushed out fixes after its AI search feature made errors that went viral. Fundamental limitations of generative AI mean that it will still screw up sometimes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're bringing an extra episode from our show Business, Spoken. Tiny houses started as a minimalist revolution. They ended up as an Instagram aesthetic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2022’s NASA mission proved it was possible to knock an incoming near-Earth object off course. But that creates debris—which might also be a threat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The US says a Chinese national operated the “911 S5” botnet, which included computers worldwide and was used to file hundreds of thousands of fraudulent Covid claims and distribute CSAM, among other crimes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why does some wildlife thrive in the city? Figuring this out is the first step to boosting urban biodiversity. And that's good for everyone.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're bringing an extra episode from our show Science, Spoken. A clinical trial reveals the first evidence of how the brain restructures physically in the first month on SSRIs—and the link between neuroplasticity and depression. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The US military aims to maintain its dominance by building autonomous attack drones that collaborate with humans and overwhelm defenses in swarms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Solar winds at a million miles an hour and freaky magnetic turbulence are sparking some of the best light shows in centuries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Chinese-owned app is in serious trouble in Washington, but a survey of US creators suggests TikTok’s influencer economy is carrying on with business as usual. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If Scarlett Johansson pursues legal action against OpenAI for giving ChatGPT a voice she calls “eerily similar to mine,” she might claim the company breached her right to publicity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're bringing you a special episode from our Business, Spoken show. Check it out wherever you're listening. Tech companies have laid off more than 400,000 people in the past two years. Competition for the jobs that remain is getting more and more desperate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They predict the ups and downs of Bitcoin based on planetary movements, and their super-secretive clientele listens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ken Segall is the reason so many Apple products start with “i.” Now he says it’s time to drop the prefix entirely. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We wanted to bring you one of our favorite stories from 2023: The wide-ranging scams, often disguised as game promotions, can all be linked back to one network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The emotional mimicry of OpenAI’s new version of ChatGPT could lead AI assistants in some strange—even dangerous—directions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Loaded with ever more renewables, the grid will need to store a whole lot of energy. Enter: a new kind of magic school bus—one that can both charge and give power back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alexey Pertsev, cofounder of the crypto-anonymizing tool, has been sentenced to over five years behind bars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wearable AI gadgets from Rabbit and Humane were panned by reviewers, including at WIRED. Their face-plants show that it’s still tough to compete with big tech in the age of ChatGPT. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Neuralink experienced a mechanical issue with its first human brain-computer interface implant. Its novel design may make it more prone to failure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices