MIT Technology Review 2016-01

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When will
someone bring the
future forward faster?
We started by connecting the phone to the Internet,
now we’re connecting the Internet to everything.
By inventing technologies that connect
your car, your home, and the cities in which
we all live, we’re accelerating a smarter,
more seamless and intuitively synchronized world.
We are Qualcomm, and these are just a few of
the ways we’re bringing the future forward faster.
#WhyWait to join the discussion
Qualcomm.com/WhyWait
© 2016 Qualcomm Incorporated. Qualcomm is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated, registered in the
United States and other countries. Why Wait is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated.
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Client: QUALCOMM Document: P56191 Brain_MIT-Tech-Review_DEC_m3.indd Date: 11-20-2015 4:01 PM Notes:December 1
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B:16.625”
T:16.375”
S:15.625”
S:10” T:10.5” B:10.75”
When will
someone bring the
future forward faster?
We started by connecting the phone to the Internet,
now we’re connecting the Internet to everything.
By inventing technologies that connect
your car, your home, and the cities in which
we all live, we’re accelerating a smarter,
more seamless and intuitively synchronized world.
We are Qualcomm, and these are just a few of
the ways we’re bringing the future forward faster.
#WhyWait to join the discussion
Qualcomm.com/WhyWait
© 2016 Qualcomm Incorporated. Qualcomm is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated, registered in the
United States and other countries. Why Wait is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated.
Untitled-2 3 11/30/15 2:26 PM
D22648_1a_P56191 Brain_MIT-Tech-Review_DEC_m3.indd D22648c01A_Brain_Blue_3u.tif
11.23.15
Epson
HP
Client: QUALCOMM Document: P56191 Brain_MIT-Tech-Review_DEC_m3.indd Date: 11-20-2015 4:01 PM Notes:December 1
Job No.: P56191 DDB Office: San Francisco
Trim: 16.375” x 10.5”
Description: MIT TECH REVIEW
Pick-up Job No.: NONE Gutter: None Color(s): 4C
Miller, Jason APPROVAL DATE OK/WC
APPROVAL DATE OK/WC
APPROVAL DATE OK/WC
APPROVAL DATE OK/WC
APPROVAL DATE OK/WC
APPROVAL DATE OK/WC
APPROVAL DATE OK/WC
APPROVAL DATE OK/WC
APPROVAL DATE OK/WC
APPROVAL DATE OK/WC
MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
VOL. 119 | NO. 1 TECHNOLOGYREVIEW.COM
From the Editor
I don’t recall when I first heard about cli- generated by renewable sources or gen-
mate change. It was before Jim Han- erate power from safer, cheaper nuclear
sen, then director of NASA’s Institute reactors. These efforts will require smart
for Space Studies in Manhattan, testi- energy policies, international treaties,
fied before the U.S. Congress on June 23, and a significant increase in the amount
1988. Then, he told the Senate Energy nations spend on energy R&D.
and Natural Resources Committee, “It Other unknowns are the climate’s
is time to stop waffling so much and say sensitivity to increases in atmospheric
that the evidence is pretty strong that the carbon dioxide and the impact those
greenhouse effect is here.” temperature increases will have. David
I am 48 years old; I have been hear- Rotman, MIT Technology Review’s edi-
ing about climate change most of my tor, argues (see “Hot and Violent,” page
life. We have been waffling the whole 70), “No one knows how climate change
time. Yet until recently there was some will transform our lives. Not only is it
sense, however inchoate, that significant uncertain how much elevated levels of
changes were still avoidable if we acted. carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will
It’s now clear to everyone except the raise temperatures and affect precipita-
most inveterate climate-change skeptics tion in different parts of the world, but
that what Hansen told Congress in 1988 there remains much to learn about how
is the case: climate change is here. As these changes will reduce agricultural
Ken Caldeira, a climate scientist at the productivity, damage human health, and
Carnegie Institution for Science, writes affect economic growth.” Could climate
in “Stop Emissions!” on page 40, part of change, Rotman asks, “lead to a far more
this issue’s coverage of climate change: violent world?”
“Already, in the middle latitudes of the At least 2 °C of global warming,
Northern Hemisphere, average tem- which was once thought the upper
peratures are increasing at a rate that band of what we could bear as a civili-
is equivalent to moving south about 10 zation, now seems locked in. More may
meters (30 feet) each day.” We failed to be likely. We must begin to imagine the
act in time. social, economic, agricultural, and engi-
What’s left to be discovered is how neering implications of living in that
bad it will be, how fast it will happen, future, and plan accordingly. It will be
and what we will do about it. The first hotter; seas will rise and flood cities;
great unknown is how quickly we will there will be more droughts and storms,
abandon coal, petroleum, and natural and crops will fail; the nations will fight;
gas. If we burn all available fossil-fuel and refugees will stream from the poor
resources and dump the resulting car- parts of the world.
bon dioxide into the air, global average Faced with all this, it’s easy to recall
temperatures could rise as much as the words of Job 3:25—“The thing
9 °C; mammals might not be able to live which I greatly feared is come upon me,
at the waist of the Earth. That probably and that which I was afraid of is come
won’t happen, but to limit temperature unto me.” But it’s never too late until it’s
increases, we must swiftly deploy the too late; life goes on unless it doesn’t.
low-carbon energy technologies that we We have to decide what we want to do
do understand, such as solar and wind next. That’s the moral imperative and
power, while researching and developing the practical reality. Don’t panic. TI
T
solutions to energy problems that still Write me and tell me what you think O VI
D
elude us, like how to store the electricity at [email protected]. UI
G
2
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MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
VOL. 119 | NO. 1 TECHNOLOGYREVIEW.COM
Contents
Front Back
January / February 2016
2 From the Editor
CLIMATE BUSINESS REPORT
10 Feedback
61 Funding Innovation
Around the world, investment in
VIEWS
innovation is exploding.
12 Early Intervention
CHANGE
It should be possible to help
REVIEWS
people with Down syndrome
even before they’re born. 70 Hot and Violent
Tempers will rise as climate
12 Child’s Play change strains resources.
Smarter computers will mimic By David Rotman
the brains of children.
76 The End of Advertising as
13 The Encryption Myth We Know It
We don’t need to make it easier Ad blockers present a great
for law enforcement to get our opportunity for better ads.
data; it’s already easy enough. By Doc Searls
80 Are Young Athletes Risking
UPFRONT
Brain Damage?
15 Google’s Great Virtual- The earlier kids play contact
Reality Experiment sports, the worse the problem.
With Cardboard, Google hopes By Amanda Schaffer
to push high-end VR gadgets
into irrelevance.
DEMO
18 Gene-Edited Dogs 84 The Ideal Fuel
How genome engineering gave Taking a lesson from leaves.
us a super-muscular beagle. By Katherine Bourzac
20 The Fast Rise of
Ad Blockers What’s Next? ..............................................................................38 26 YEARS AGO
A look at the incredible surge
Stop Emissions! ........................................................................40 88 A Conservative Proposition
in popularity of software that
makes online ads invisible. Witnessing Climate Change Everywhere .....................44 for Global Warming
From 1990, a proposal for
The Evidence .............................................................................48
22 Taking Carbon from Air kicking our fossil-fuel habit.
A Canadian plant aims to turn A Sensible Climate Policy ....................................................49
carbon dioxide into fuels.
The Energy Startup Conundrum ......................................51 ON THE COVER
24 Battery Firepower
Adaptable batteries could help EZ
ÁV
your smartphone last longer on 30 | A Change of Mind PVOL. 119 NO. 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 20A16 US $6.99/CAN $7.99 N(DON’T) IC N CH
a charge. A champion of prenatal testing for Down syndrome now NSO
BI
26 Shared Robot Knowledge wants to find a way to treat it. By Bonnie Rochman RO
Why should we teach robots AEL
H
C
how to do everything? They 52 | Kindergarten for Computers MI
can teach each other. Making artificial intelligence more human might require D.WCCOLHHp IAAMA. BN3TA8 OGTTUEOE. T H BY
P
A
picking up some pointers from children. By Will Knight GR
O
OT
Design by Neil Donnelly H
P
4
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Who will prevent downtime
and equipment failure?
You and NI will. With an integrated platform that combines flexible,
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Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies. 24241
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MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
VOL. 119 | NO. 1 TECHNOLOGYREVIEW.COM
The MIT Press
Technology
Review.com/mustreads
Visit us online for daily news and analysis, Business Reports,
magazine archives, and more.
BIOMEDICINE
With This Genetic-
Engineering Technology,
There’s No Turning Back
Designers of a “selfish” gene able
to spread among mosquitoes say
it could wipe out malaria, but the
scientific community is at odds over
whether or not we should use it.
A guided tour
through the
Internet of Things,
ENERGY COMPUTING
a networked
New Material Makes It Claimed Breakthrough
Easier to Store Slays Classic
world of connected
Lots of Natural Gas Computing Problem
devices, objects,
and people that
ROBOTICS MOBILE
is changing How Robots Can Track Your Heart with
Quickly Teach Each Other Your Phone, Even If
the way we live to Grasp New Objects Your Phone’s in Your Bag
and work.
BIOMEDICINE COMPUTING
THE MIT PRESS ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE SERIES Patients Favor Changing The Ad-Blocking Kingpin
184 pp., $12.95 paper
the Genes of the Next Reshaping the Web
Generation with CRISPR as He Prefers It
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Virtual Reality Check World Changing Ideas
October 1993 April 2005
Even in its nascency, virtual A look at technological
reality showed much of the projects and problems from
promise we’re realizing today. seven countries around the
globe.
TECHNOLOGYREVIEW.COM/ TECHNOLOGYREVIEW.COM/
1993VIRTUAL 2005WORLD
Subscribers and MIT alumni can access our complete online article archive by activating their Insider accounts at
mitpress.mit.edu technologyreview.com/activate. Not a subscriber or alum?  Subscribe now at technologyreview.com/getinsider.
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Special Advertising Section
Introducing Turkey’s
Next-Generation Mobile Network
In August 2015, Turkey took a major several technology and network compa-
step toward a new era of wireless commu- nies. The infrastructure itself requires
nication, when the government distributed an investment of about USD $7.7
frequency rights for a 4.5G network among billion by the tender winners.
the country’s three mobile operators as part Local development of network
of a USD $3.9 billion government tender. hardware and software,
as specified by govern-
Turkish officials expect the next- ment requirements, will
generation network to generate immensely benefit the
USD $17 billion for Turkey’s country’s information
economy in the next few years. and communications
technology (ICT)
The new LTE Advanced network,
companies. It will also
scheduled to launch by April 1, 2016,
give Turkey’s fast-
will provide Turkey’s current 61 million
growing ICT industry a
3G mobile subscribers with a speedier,
competitive edge in the
smoother, more secure way to access the
international arena as
Internet, make calls, watch streaming video,
new markets adopt the
listen to music, and more. Officials expect
next-generation
the country’s mobile users, especially its
wireless technologies.
dynamic, tech-savvy young people, to
Turkish officials expect
embrace the improved network.
the new 4.5G network to
generate USD $17 billion for
The new network will also be essen-
Turkey’s economy in the next
tial for achieving the goals of Vision
few years. The e-commerce sector
2023, the ambitious set of economic
in particular will benefit as the network
and technology initiatives that Turkey
strengthens mobile commerce and provides
has targeted for the centennial of
subscribers with faster and easier avenues leading up to 2023, the topics of digital
its founding.
for online shopping. transformation and broadband policies and
Boasting speeds up to 14 times faster Early adopters, Internet businesses, strategies will only grow in prominence as
than the 3G networks, the new 4.5G technology companies, and the mobile- Turkey prepares economically, politically,
network represents a significant upgrade to gaming industry all stand to gain com- and infrastructurally for its next century
Turkey’s telecommunications infrastructure. petitive advantage from the new network. of existence.
According to government specifications, Public institutions such as ministries and
the network will reach 95 percent of municipalities, which serve millions of Boasting speeds up to 14 times
Turkey’s 77 million residents, bringing the citizens every day, will also invest in faster than the 3G networks, the
latest in wireless communications to the new technologies so that they can offer new 4.5G network represents a
country’s remotest corners and further better services. significant upgrade to Turkey’s
bolstering the republic’s status among the telecommunications infrastructure.
The new network will also be essential
world’s most developed nations.
for achieving the goals of Vision 2023, the
For more information, visit: invest.gov.tr
The effort to establish the Advanced LTE ambitious set of economic and technology
network in Turkey resulted from collabora- initiatives that Turkey has targeted for the
tion between the wireless operators and centennial of its founding. In the years
Untitled-1 1 12/9/15 6:10 PM
MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
VOL. 119 | NO. 1 TECHNOLOGYREVIEW.COM
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