How the humble pixel changed history

Our 35 Innovators Under 35 competition for 2022 is now open!

Sponsored by PwC The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology Our 35 under 35 is launched 11.19.21 Good morning! Today we unveil the nomination process for this year's iteration of our famous 35 Innovators under 35 list—and share a book review from our recent Computing issue, all about the cultural power of computer graphics. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. How the humble pixel unleashed a staggering creative force Computer scientist Alvy Ray Smith cofounded both Lucasfilm’s computer graphics division and Pixar Animation Studios. For those achievements alone, he is one of the most important technological innovators in cinema since at least the end of the Second World War. But Smith is not a Hollywood guy, and his intriguing, foundational new book A Biography of the Pixel is not a Tinseltown book.  Smith is chasing more profound themes, arguing in effect that the great project he was part of—the invention and development of computer graphics—is far more important than anything that ever happened in Hollywood. In A Biography of the Pixel, Smith’s aim is to set down clearly the trajectory of two important, intertwined stories. The first story is the development of computer images, from origin to digital ubiquity. The second story, unfolding in parallel, is about the impact of those images—a transformative force Smith calls “Digital Light.”  It encompasses basically everything we experience through screens, and he argues convincingly that it is among the most important innovations in human communication since the first simple depictions of daily life were etched on the walls of caves. Read the full book review. —Chris Turner This story comes from the latest issue of MIT Technology Review, which is all about computing. If you're not a subscriber already, sign up to read the full magazine. The 35 Innovators Under 35 competition for 2022 is now open for nominations We’ve been publishing a list of young innovators for more than two decades now. The list always includes fascinating stories of young people working to employ technology to make the world a better place, but beyond that it’s a way for us to showcase the technologies that will likely play a big role in all our lives in the coming years. You’ve probably heard of many of the people we’ve selected over the years—Andrew Ng, Helen Greiner, Feng Zhang, Neha Narkhede, Ian Goodfellow, Stephanie Lampkin, Julie Shah, Joy Buolamwini. Many of these distinguished scientists, entrepreneurs, humanitarians, and businesspeople list the honor of being selected prominently on their bios. Now you can be a part of our 2022 list by nominating someone (or even yourself) here. And for all the details and requirements please visit our frequently asked questions page.  You can nominate great candidates from now until 10 p.m. EST on January 24, 2022. Find out more about what we’re looking for here. —The Editors 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.)   Hubble has collected a spectacular new set of pictures of the solar system’s outer planets. Enjoy the winners of the comedy wildlife photography awards! Just a bear, keeping its hands sanitized, in the 7-Eleven. I have been alerted to this podcast, all about things people like or makes them feel happy! (thanks Chelsea!) You’ve never heard Billie Jean played on guitar like this before. (This guy also does Careless Whisper too.) Every Brit right now. (Isn't it mild?) How to survive your first post-vax Thanksgiving with family. A TikTok account that is just Sylvanian Families characters having little dramas. Every Harry Potter film, RANKED. I suspect some people might have feelings about this. Monarch butterflies are returning to California. Join MIT Technology Review's Global Insights Panel (membership is free).  Take part in original research and gain valuable business insights into today’s most important technology trends. Join our Global Insights Panel. Sponsor Message Cloud will be the next competitive frontier. Are you prepared? In PwC's inaugural US Cloud Business Survey, 74% of business leaders are involved in cloud strategy — and many see it as a platform for growth and innovation — but 53% of companies are not realizing substantial value from their cloud investments. How can you get the results you expect by using cloud to enhance how you operate, serve customers and power new products and services? PwC’s survey looks across the C-Suite to explore executive views on cloud-powered business transformation and outlines four ways to harness ROI. See where they're placing their bets. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The first known covid case was linked to Wuhan animal market, finds new analysis Yeah, this debate about lab-leak/natural origin certainly isn’t over yet. (NYT)   + Here’s the full article if you want to get deep. (Science)   + The pandemic’s next turn hinges on these three unknowns. (Atlantic) 2 Austria is going to make covid vaccination compulsory  And it's going into a nationwide lockdown now, too. (Politico)   + Yes, you should just get a booster now. (Atlantic)   + A third of US healthcare workers weren’t vaccinated as of September. (WaPo)   + Ivermectin seems to work —for people with worms. (Economist) 3 Your boss wants to spy on your feelings The world of emotional AI is full of issues. (SciAm, $) 4 How Amazon has failed to protect your data It handles your information less carefully than it handles your packages. (Wired) 5 Google is getting all cozy with the Pentagon again The lessons of the Project Maven furore have been forgotten, perhaps. (Wired) 6 Facebook will test giving users more control over their News Feed Here we go again. (Verge)   + How Twitter got research right. (Platformer, $) 7 The school kids who are obsessed with crypto-investing The fact that it’s illegal for children to do it doesn’t deter them at all. (FT)   + A crypto experiment almost bought one of the last copies of the Constitution. (New Scientist)   + Africa’s first e-currency is off to a shaky start. (Rest of World) 8 Can a machine ever learn morality? One AI lab has a pretty ludicrous claim that “Delphi” can make ethical judgments. Hmmm. (NYT)   + How close are we to artificial general intelligence? (TR) 9 Amazon is facing a wave of strikes for Black Friday Protesters want workers to get a living wage and the firm to pay its share of taxes. (Vice) 10 The real danger of supercheap, drop-shipped sex toys You get what you pay for. (Refinery29)   + Inside the booming world of post-vax sex parties. (The Cut) Quote of the day “You know, we travel a lot, but we don't vacation that much.” It’s a hard life being a travel influencer, as this couple explains to Vice. Top image credit: ANDREA DAQUINO Please send your clothing suggestions for mild days to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @niallfirth. Thanks for reading! —Niall Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up today Shape the future of tech Take part in original research and gain valuable business insights into today's most important technology trends. Join today Want to change how you receive these emails? 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