The official global death toll for covid-19 has now passed 5 million

PLUS: More delights from the Computing issue

Sponsored by Palo Alto Networks The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology Another milestone 11.02.21 Good morning! It's Niall stepping in for Charlotte while she eats pastel de nata at WebSummit in Lisbon —we should hear more about what she's been up to later on in the week! Meanwhile, today I'm sharing my colleague Bobbie's thoughts on the world passing the 5 million covid death mark. And I've got a bumper crop of stories from the Computing issue. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. The official global death toll for covid-19 has now passed 5 million The word has just passed a grim new milestone. From the first documented cases in China in November 2019 to this morning, there have been 5,005,638 fatalities worldwide. America, the richest country on earth, has seen more deaths than anywhere else: more than 746,000 so far. Brazil has registered more than 607,000 deaths; India almost 460,000.  And those are just the ones we know about. 5 million is certainly a significant undercount.  In May, the WHO said the real total could be two to three times higher than we currently know. According to Science, cities around the world underreport covid deaths by an average of around 30%; in rural areas it could be far higher.  But it’s also because of infrastructural challenges. In India, for example, only 22% of any deaths were medically certified before covid appeared—a rate that hasn’t improved through the course of the pandemic.  The Economist has a good depiction of the gap between recorded covid-19 fatalities and excess deaths, which suggests that in some countries there may be many more pandemic deaths than reported. Even in countries with better tracking, it’s more likely that covid deaths have been undercounted than overcounted. Despite some persistent misinformation, not all deaths of people who have covid are registered as “caused by covid.”  The pace does seem to be easing a little—perhaps thanks to vaccinations. But it’s still 5 million. And it’s not over. —Bobbie Johnson Read more from Bobbie every Monday in the brilliant (and free) Coronavirus Tech Report newsletter. Sign up here.   Today I’m also sharing a whole bunch more stories from the Computing issue. Over the next few weeks we'll be picking a handful to focus more deeply on in this newsletter, but in the meantime, see if anything below takes your fancy!  + Whatever happened to DNA computing? Many alternatives to silicon have been proposed over the years. Some are finding their way into computing. + How two new supercomputers will improve weather forecasts. Each of the upgrades by the US National Weather Service is the size of 10 refrigerators, has the capacity of 12.1 petaflops, and will help predict storms made worse by climate change. + How Alibaba tracks China’s delivery drivers. The food delivery service Eleme, owned by Alibaba, built a Bluetooth tracking system to make “instant delivery” a reality. + 3 space science questions that computing is helping to answer. Astronomers are using AI, supercomputing, and the cloud to tackle the universe’s biggest mysteries. + We are awash in digital light. In a book by Pixar co-founder Alvy Ray Smith, the humble pixel gets the attention it deserves. + FICTION: Be a good example. "It was in the newspaper, but the towers fell the next day, and what I’d done was quickly lost." + How computing has transformed. Jeanette Wing believes trustworthy AI and causal reasoning can help society solve real-world problems. But it won’t be easy. + This chemist is reimagining the discovery of materials using AI and automation. Alán Aspuru-Guzik is using AI, robots, and even quantum computing to create the new materials that we will need to fight climate change. + How tackling tech’s diversity challenges can spur innovation. Computer scientist Nicki Washington spends much of her time talking with white and Asian men about how their identities influence their work.  + How we covered the evolution of computing. Flip through the archives of MIT Technology Review is to see the development of the computer unfold as it happened. 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 AI-inspired art installation in London looks amazing. This little cutie is the bird of the year. (It’s not a bird.) Whatever happened to the garish McDonald's restaurants of our childhoods? A lovely piece about how Google Street View lets us wander back in time. Advancing the promise of technology.  Make MIT Technology Review your go-to resource for thought-provoking insights, analysis, and news about the world of technology. Get unlimited access when you subscribe today. Sponsor Message How many unknown assets are putting your attack surface at risk? In 2021, MIT Technology Review Insights, in association with Cortex® Xpanse™ by Palo Alto Networks, surveyed senior executives across the globe. Of those executives, 67% expected their boards to request an Attack Surface Management plan this year. This ask by boards appears to be in response to experienced risk, because about half of organizations have seen attacks on unknown or unmanaged assets.   Having a comprehensive and up-to-date inventory of assets is step one to discovering, monitoring, and evaluating risks on your attack surface. How many unknown assets does your organization have? Download the full report The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The COP26 climate summit has started—and old rifts have quickly re-emerged No surprise—pesky politics has reared its head already. (NYT)   + Leaders will pledge to end deforestation later today. (NYT)   + An annotated guide to the Paris Climate Change Agreement. (Economist)   + We need to stop telling kids they’ll die of climate change. (Wired)   + The summit will be a disappointment—but there are other ways to get there. (TR)   + Facebook’s employees have been sounding the alarm on climate misinfo for years. (Protocol) 3 America is dodging the biggest questions on how it lives with covid For example, what long-term measures do we keep when it becomes endemic?  (Atlantic)   + The world is watching the UK to see how covid finally ends. (Guardian)   + The race to develop a shot for every coronavirus. (Wired)   + What parents need to know about the Pfizer shot for kids. (Science News) 3 The hidden health dangers of fake meats You've got to think about what’s added—and what’s being taken away. (New Scientist)  + Your next cup of coffee could be grown in a lab. (Wired) 4 Can AI one day help us communicate with whales? As language AI improves, the possibilities start to get genuinely exciting. (Hakai) 5 AI is helping to discover lost art masterpieces But the students behind it are in potential legal trouble. (NBC) 6 Meet the four friends behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT craze I’m saying nothing. (Rolling Stone)   + The McRib at McDonalds is now also an NFT. (NBC)   + The US Treasury says stablecoins should be regulated like banks. (Verge)   + A Squid Game ‘memecoin’ rose to $2,800 — then crashed to zero. (Vice) 7 iPhones could detect car crashes and auto-dial 911 next year The feature may also appear in the next Apple Watch. (WSJ) 8 How do we get more energy into our lives? Feeling sluggish? You’re not alone, believe me. (New Yorker) 9 Meta is making tactile skin for robots Forget fingers, let’s plan on a future that is tentacular. (IEEE) 10 Stripe is discriminating against witches Psychic services are considered high-risk... (Wired) Quote of the day “Nature gives us life. It is beautiful but it is also fragile. I was reminded of this in July when I went into space.” —Jeff Bezos, in his speech at COP26 today, dropping the tone-deaf humblebrag hard. But he also announced a $2bn pledge to "restore nature and transform food systems." Top image credit: Luis Barron/Eyepix/NurPhoto via AP Please send Big Macs 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 Build your strategic defense again cybercriminals Join us virtually | November 16-17, 2021 Register now Want to change how you receive these emails? 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