China has landed a rover on Mars for the first time—here’s what happens next

A paralyzed man is challenging Neuralink's monkey to a match of mind Pong

Sponsored by KPMG The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology Another Mars landing 05.17.21 Good morning! Today: China has landed a rover on Mars for the first time, a paralyzed man is challenging Neuralink's monkey to a game of mind Pong, and how technology is revolutionizing archeology. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. China has landed a rover on Mars for the first time—here’s what happens next   The news: On March 14, China landed a rover on Mars for the first time, according to state media. The Zhurong rover joins NASA's Curiosity and Perseverance rovers as the only wheeled robots trekking around the surface of the planet.  Its mission: Zhurong is not as advanced as Perseverance, and it is only expected to last for 90 Martian days (though it may very well survive for longer). But in the meantime, it's still capable of doing some fascinating experiments. China’s Tianwen-1 mission comprises both an orbiter and the Zhurong rover, and together they will study the geology and soil mineralogy of Mars, map its water ice distribution, probe the electromagnetic and gravitational forces of the planet, and characterize its surface climate and environment.  Deep underground: Perhaps most intriguing is Zhurong’s ground-penetrating radar that will let it peer into activity and structures underground 100 meters deep—10 times further than Perseverance’s radar. The hope is that this instrument will be able to detect potential reserves of water ice underground. Read the full story. —Neel V. Patel A paralyzed man is challenging Neuralink’s monkey to a match of mind Pong A throwdown: A man with a brain implant that allows him to control computers via mental signals says he is ready to challenge Elon Musk’s neuroscience company Neuralink in a head-to-head game of Pong—with a monkey. Um, what? Neuralink is developing advanced wireless brain implants so humans can connect directly to computer networks. In April, researchers working with the company showed off videos of a rhesus monkey named Pager who can play the classic paddle game using thought signals. The company’s monkey MindPong video delighted Musk acolytes. But Nathan Copeland, a severely paralyzed man who six years ago received a different type of implant that he regularly uses to play video games, saw it and decided to challenge the monkey to the first “interspecies battle” in Pong. But why? A man vs. monkey mind match would do little to advance scientific understanding. What it would underscore is the promise of brain-machine interfaces to give severely paralyzed people freer access to computers and the internet for whatever purposes they need or want. Read the full story. —Antonio Regalado How technology helped archaeologists dig deeper Construction workers in New York were breaking ground for a new federal building back in 1991 when they unearthed hundreds of coffins. They eventually uncovered nearly 500 individuals, many buried with personal items such as buttons, shells, and jewelry. Further investigation revealed that the remains were all between 200 and 300 years old, and they were all African and African-American.  This discovery came at an inflection point in scientific history. Breakthroughs in chemical and genetic analysis allowed researchers to figure out where many of these people had been born, what kinds of physical challenges they faced, and even what route they took from Africa to get to North America. The site, known as the African Burial Ground, became one of the best-known archaeological discoveries in the country.  To find out more about how modern techniques such as 3D photography, lidar, satellite imagery, and more are revolutionizing archaeology, read the full story. —Annalee Newitz This story appears in the latest cities-themed edition of MIT Technology Review. It's for subscribers only, so if you want to read on, subscribe! And check out the full magazine. 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 video is just one giant hit of happiness.    + This Ottolenghi recipe is the perfect potluck dish.    + Ducklings jumping into water for the first time. Thank you Ewan for this GIFT.   + Baby hyena!   + If you feel like you're languishing, it might be worth trying out the New York Times "fresh start" challenge, which runs for 10 days from today. (NYT $)   + A livestream of a nest of curlews (a British wading bird).   + Beautiful turtle shells. Sponsor Message 5 steps to achieve the most value from AI New KPMG research reveals that business leaders are using artificial intelligence to solve major industry problems—including addressing challenges brought on by COVID-19, detecting fraud, and improving bureaucratic efficiency—but a comprehensive plan is needed. Discover five steps to achieve the most value from your AI investment. Read Thriving in an AI World. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 How can we ramp up covid-19 vaccine production?  Intellectual-property rights are far from the most pressing, or most restrictive, constraint. (The Economist $)   + The global Covax vaccine-sharing scheme is 140 million doses short because of the crisis in India. (BBC)  2 The CDC is under fire for its new mask guidance The trouble is that during a pandemic, individual choices are no longer individual choices. (The Guardian)   + Americans should probably continue to wear masks indoors for a little longer. (NYT $)   + The big problem? No one knows if you're vaccinated. (The Atlantic $)   3 Language models like GPT-3 could herald a new type of search engine Think less Google, more Wikipedia. (TR)   4 Ransomware gangs have been spooked by the Colonial Pipeline hack DarkSide, the group behind the hack, said it would stop operating amid heightened law enforcement scrutiny. (Reuters $)   + We can still expect many more hacks like it though. (The Atlantic $)  5 The pandemic might have killed snow days ❄️ Truly, a tragedy for kids everywhere. (Wired $)   6 This facial recognition website is a stalker's dream The fact that anyone can now access this sort of technology should seriously concern us all. (WP $)   + A new platform lets people clone their voices with AI. (The Verge)  7 What to make of Robinhood? Is it democratizing finance, or encouraging inexperienced investors to risk their life savings? (New Yorker $)   8 Jeff Bezos' yacht has its own yacht 🛥️ I guess $500 million probably doesn't seem like all that big a price tag when you're worth $200 billion. (BBC)   9 This guy's a dogecoin millionaire, and he's not selling He's watched the value of his investment go from $250,000 to $2 million. For now. (NYT $)   + How did we get here?! (NYT $)   + Bitcoin's price is dropping again, thanks to Elon Musk. (NBC)  10 How TikTok is changing Starbucks 🥤 Iced customized drinks are all the rage—and baristas have mixed feelings about it. (Buzzfeed) A special offer just for you. Get unlimited access to MIT Technoloogy Review, plus 2 months FREE, when you subscribe today. It's time to make MIT Technology Review your go-to resource for thought-provoking insights, analysis and news about the world of technology. Subscribe now and save. Take a stand "You can't fact-check someone's personal experience." —Jennifer Nilsen, a research fellow at Harvard University's Technology and Social Change Project, tells NBC why first-hand stories are such a powerful vehicle for anti-vaccine misinformation. Top image credit: Weibo Please send ducklings 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 today Re-envision the future of work Join us virtually | June 8-10, 2021 Register now   Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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