First he held a superspreader event. Then he recommended fake cures.

What giving birth during a pandemic taught me about progress

Sponsored by Darktrace The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology Doubling down 03.12.21 Good morning! Today: Peter Diamandis held a superspreader event—then tried to peddle fake cures to infected attendees. Also: an essay on parenthood during the pandemic. I hope you have a great weekend! Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. First he held a superspreader event. Then he recommended fake cures.   In late January, tech impresario Peter Diamandis hosted an exclusive, indoor conference for a group of ultra-wealthy patrons in Los Angeles. As MIT Technology Review reported, the get-together, where no masks were required, became a covid-19 superspreader event. Four days later, as staff, speakers, and attendees began testing positive for the virus, an email went out to those who had taken part. It invited them to join an “informational webinar” featuring a doctor who had been at the event—an attempt to put their minds at ease. The webinar on January 30 featured Matt Cook, a trained anesthesiologist from the San Francisco Bay Area who had started a medical practice using alternative therapies. A follow-up email sharing the URL to view a recording of the call was accompanied by an order form for products from Fountain Life, a company focused on longevity treatments, of which Diamandis is a cofounder and director. Attendees were also told about a range of products that were claimed to either treat covid-19 or prevent it outright. What they were not told was that seven of the recommended products were also classified by the US Food and Drug Administration as “covid-19 fraudulent.” Read the full story. —Eileen Guo What giving birth during a pandemic taught me about progress Millennials are putting off parenthood. That trend pre-dates the pandemic and it’s partly due to necessity—they control less than half the amount of wealth their parents did at their age. But nearly a year into this pandemic, the baby bust is only worsening. In a survey, 30% of respondents said they were changing their family planning decisions because of covid-19. Of those, roughly three-quarters said they would delay having children—or reconsider having them at all.   However, Susie Cagle writes, choosing to have children is an inherently optimistic act—either because one already has hope for the world or because, having created and committed to caring for part of a new generation, one must find some. Read the full story. This story is for subscribers only. It's from the latest issue of MIT Technology Review, which is all about progress. Read the full magazine, and why not subscribe so you get future issues, too? It's just $50 a year. We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + This drone footage is Hollywood-worthy.   + Hopper-inspired Tintin prints.   + The Sleeping Forecast: an hour of peace, brought to you by the BBC.    + Maurice Ravel's Bolero, broken down section-by-section (thanks Dario!)   + Ducks love lettuce. Like, really love it.    + A fisherman rescued some kittens.   + Have you tried journaling? It can be really therapeutic. (WP $)   + What to eat when you're feeling under the weather.    + A new archeological find suggests women may have been more powerful in Bronze Age European societies than previously thought. (NYT $) Sponsor Message It’s time for AI to take on AI Hosted by MIT Technology Review and presented by Darktrace, Enabling Autonomous Cybersecurity takes you inside the minds of researchers, development teams, and those on the frontline of cyber defense, exploring how Cyber AI protects digital infrastructures and dynamic workforces, keeping pace with the evolving threat landscape. Register now > The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 It's a year since the day of reckoning ⏳ It was this time in March 2020 that the scale of the covid-19 threat became horribly clear. (Buzzfeed)   + What's your covid-19 risk? (The Economist $)   + Bit by bit, the pandemic is ending. (The Atlantic $)   + The US is hoarding tens of millions of AstraZeneca doses. (NYT $)   + With three vaccines already available in the US, it's getting harder to test new ones. (Wired $)   + The EU has approved Johnson & Johnson's covid-19 vaccine. (CNBC)  2 A digital artwork has sold for $69 million in cryptocurrency 💰 That's more than anything sold by Turner or Goya. (The Verge)   + Who's buying NFTs? Mostly crypto bros. (ARTnews)   + "Cryptojacking" is a huge problem. (TechTarget)  3 How different are Americans' Facebook feeds? See for yourself. (The Markup)    + Almost a fifth of Facebook employees are working on AR and VR. (The Information $)  4 Netflix knows you share your password, and it wants to stop you Spoilsport. (NBC)   5 Uber and Lyft will share data on dangerous drivers Men accused of sexual assault or harrassment won’t be able to just switch from one app to the other. (WP $)   6 Verdaka workers had extensive access to its private security cameras  What happens when the security company you rely on… is itself not very secure? (Bloomberg $)   7 How a YouTuber ended up taking a cat hostage 🐈 Well that's one way to conduct business negotiations, I guess. (The Daily Beast $)   8 The problem isn't Slack. It's your colleagues. Set some boundaries. (Wired UK)   + We need better laptops to work from home. (WSJ $)   + We are all BBC Dad now. (The Verge)  9 Climate change activism is flourishing on TikTok But can it translate into real-world action? (Wired $)   + Teens say TikTok has been a lifeline this past year. (The Atlantic $)   10 How much of your digital life do you actually own? It's scary how much of it could be snatched away in a second. (NYT $) 10 days until our annual AI conference! Join us at EmTech Digital to get the engineering, organizational, and social know-how to successfully enable AI at your enterprise.   EmTech Digital is happening soon! Register today. Quote of the day "If we do this together, by July the 4th there’s a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day." —In a speech, US President Joe Biden says he's directed states to make all adult Americans eligible to receive coronavirus vaccines no later than May 1. Top image credit: MS TECH | GETTY Please send Bronze Age crowns for queens to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up for free The age of implementation Join us virtually | March 23–25, 2021   Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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