Two years ago, the cognitive psychologist and philosopher Susan Schneider that the dystopian future dream up by Elon Musk in which human brains and computers are merged into one would be “suicide for the human mind.” Like it or not, since then scientists and engineers working for the billionaire entrepreneur have made a lot of progress toward that vision.Last August, Musk’s neurotech startup Neuralink proved that its brain-machine interface worked in pigs. During a live demo, an audience was shown real-time neural signals from a pig who had a chip implanted in his head. Last week, the...…Two years ago, the cognitive psychologist and philosopher Susan Schneider that the dystopian future dream up by Elon Musk in which human brains and computers are merged into one would be “suicide for the human mind.” Like it or not, since then scientists and engineers working for the billionaire entrepreneur have made a lot of progress toward that vision.Last August, Musk’s neurotech startup Neuralink proved that its brain-machine interface worked in pigs. During a live demo, an audience was shown real-time neural signals from a pig who had a chip implanted in his head. Last week, the...WW…

Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci, the who founded German pharma firm BioNTech, were studying a potential vaccine for tumors using a novel technology known as messenger RNA (mRNA) when they learned about a new type of coronavirus spreading in China in January 2020.The couple decided to investigate the possibility of making a vaccine for that mysterious and highly contagious virus using mRNA. Within weeks, BioNTech scientists developed an experimental vaccine in partnership with American pharma giant Pfizer. And 10 months later, the vaccine cleared clinical trials and regulatory hurdles and began...…Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci, the who founded German pharma firm BioNTech, were studying a potential vaccine for tumors using a novel technology known as messenger RNA (mRNA) when they learned about a new type of coronavirus spreading in China in January 2020.The couple decided to investigate the possibility of making a vaccine for that mysterious and highly contagious virus using mRNA. Within weeks, BioNTech scientists developed an experimental vaccine in partnership with American pharma giant Pfizer. And 10 months later, the vaccine cleared clinical trials and regulatory hurdles and began...WW…

For most of 2020, Elon Musk has dominated news headlines for and Tesla’s , so much so that it’s easy to forget that another Musk-owned transportation venture, has also been making rapid progress.On Tuesday, Musk announced on Twitter that, after a full year in the making, The Boring Company’s“Tunnels under cities with self-driving electric cars will feel like warp drive,” the entrepreneur described the future in .Tunnels are the final piece along with electric vehicles and self-driving to complete Musk’s green, driverless urban transportation dream.The Boring Company built a test tunnel in...…For most of 2020, Elon Musk has dominated news headlines for and Tesla’s , so much so that it’s easy to forget that another Musk-owned transportation venture, has also been making rapid progress.On Tuesday, Musk announced on Twitter that, after a full year in the making, The Boring Company’s“Tunnels under cities with self-driving electric cars will feel like warp drive,” the entrepreneur described the future in .Tunnels are the final piece along with electric vehicles and self-driving to complete Musk’s green, driverless urban transportation dream.The Boring Company built a test tunnel in...WW…

Welcome to The Observer Innovation section’s new interview series, Changing the World. Every week, we’ll talk to an innovator, entrepreneur, and/or company that is making the world better through science, business, and technology.The technology of fabricating information online has come a long way. Nowadays, not only do we have fake Twitter accounts and , but we also have fake videos—and which are ultra-realistic videos synthesized using machine learning algorithms.Most deepfake videos are created using a subset of machine learning algorithms called generative neural network architectures,...…Welcome to The Observer Innovation section’s new interview series, Changing the World. Every week, we’ll talk to an innovator, entrepreneur, and/or company that is making the world better through science, business, and technology.The technology of fabricating information online has come a long way. Nowadays, not only do we have fake Twitter accounts and , but we also have fake videos—and which are ultra-realistic videos synthesized using machine learning algorithms.Most deepfake videos are created using a subset of machine learning algorithms called generative neural network architectures,...WW…

Since the coronavirus outbreak in January, has been more involved in than any other philanthropist—so much so that at one point he even found himself caught up in the conspiracy theories alleging that he’d planted the virus for his own evil purposes.The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has to backing vaccine development at several pharma companies, including Novavax, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. While there’s a general consensus among the medical community that we’ll have the first working vaccine by the end of this year, the billionaire philanthropist warns that it may not be...…Since the coronavirus outbreak in January, has been more involved in than any other philanthropist—so much so that at one point he even found himself caught up in the conspiracy theories alleging that he’d planted the virus for his own evil purposes.The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has to backing vaccine development at several pharma companies, including Novavax, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. While there’s a general consensus among the medical community that we’ll have the first working vaccine by the end of this year, the billionaire philanthropist warns that it may not be...WW…

As the nears its final lap with multiple phase 3 trials underway, the primary question has shifted from whether we will have a working vaccine at all to how much one (or more of them) will cost.The good news is that it probably won’t be as outrageous as most medical innovations wind up costing in the U.S. when first released. Given the unusual circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government is expected to the development of the first available COVID-19 vaccine, and most vaccine developers have promised to sell their products on a not-for-profit basis. Still, prices vary...…As the nears its final lap with multiple phase 3 trials underway, the primary question has shifted from whether we will have a working vaccine at all to how much one (or more of them) will cost.The good news is that it probably won’t be as outrageous as most medical innovations wind up costing in the U.S. when first released. Given the unusual circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government is expected to the development of the first available COVID-19 vaccine, and most vaccine developers have promised to sell their products on a not-for-profit basis. Still, prices vary...WW…

NASA and ‘ grand dream of taking humans back to the moon now has a dashing new participant from Japan.Late last month, Tokyo-based startup revealed the final design of its lunar lander, Hakuto-Reboot (Hakuto-R), paving the way for the company to make its first touchdown on the moon as soon as 2022, using a Falcon 9 rocket.The new expected launch date is almost a year behind ispace’s original timeline. “The new target launch date was chosen in order to ensure higher reliability for Hakuto-R customers and overall mission success,” the company said in a statement.The Hakuto-R lander is a...…NASA and ‘ grand dream of taking humans back to the moon now has a dashing new participant from Japan.Late last month, Tokyo-based startup revealed the final design of its lunar lander, Hakuto-Reboot (Hakuto-R), paving the way for the company to make its first touchdown on the moon as soon as 2022, using a Falcon 9 rocket.The new expected launch date is almost a year behind ispace’s original timeline. “The new target launch date was chosen in order to ensure higher reliability for Hakuto-R customers and overall mission success,” the company said in a statement.The Hakuto-R lander is a...WW…

President Donald Trump is threatening and planning to ban the popular video sharing app TikTok from the US because of the security risk.The meteoric rise of TikTok, Gen Z’s favorite short-video app, is nothing short of a miracle. Never in digital history have we seen a consumer product made by a foreign company But the timing of its rise may also be its downfall, as it comes in the midst of between the U.S. and China. TikTok’s overnight success has now become the worst nightmare for its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.Last Friday, Trump said he’s ready to sign an executive order to ban...…President Donald Trump is threatening and planning to ban the popular video sharing app TikTok from the US because of the security risk.The meteoric rise of TikTok, Gen Z’s favorite short-video app, is nothing short of a miracle. Never in digital history have we seen a consumer product made by a foreign company But the timing of its rise may also be its downfall, as it comes in the midst of between the U.S. and China. TikTok’s overnight success has now become the worst nightmare for its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.Last Friday, Trump said he’s ready to sign an executive order to ban...WW…

On Wednesday, the world’s richest man, Amazon CEO, went to Capitol Hill (virtually) to for the first time, and along with the CEOs from , and , answered questions about their companies’ anti-competitive behavior.During the five-hour-long Q&A session, Bezos was , about topics ranging from Amazon’s controversial use of third-party seller data to turning a blind eye to counterfeit products to ongoing negotiations in the company’s streaming media department. You’d think that, as the company’s founder, chairman and CEO, Bezos would know Amazon better than anyone else. Yet, turns out, he...…On Wednesday, the world’s richest man, Amazon CEO, went to Capitol Hill (virtually) to for the first time, and along with the CEOs from , and , answered questions about their companies’ anti-competitive behavior.During the five-hour-long Q&A session, Bezos was , about topics ranging from Amazon’s controversial use of third-party seller data to turning a blind eye to counterfeit products to ongoing negotiations in the company’s streaming media department. You’d think that, as the company’s founder, chairman and CEO, Bezos would know Amazon better than anyone else. Yet, turns out, he...WW…

If you remember about coronavirus in the pandemic’s early days (including his dead-wrong prediction that the U.S. would be free of COVID-19 cases by the end of April), you should probably think twice before taking him seriously on other pandemic-related issues. But when the Tesla CEO talks, the internet listens.In a spontaneous tweet storm seen by his 37 million followers Friday morning, Musk spoke his mind on the heated debate in Washington over “Another government stimulus package is not in the best interests of people, [in my opinion],” the billionaire said bluntly.Another government...…If you remember about coronavirus in the pandemic’s early days (including his dead-wrong prediction that the U.S. would be free of COVID-19 cases by the end of April), you should probably think twice before taking him seriously on other pandemic-related issues. But when the Tesla CEO talks, the internet listens.In a spontaneous tweet storm seen by his 37 million followers Friday morning, Musk spoke his mind on the heated debate in Washington over “Another government stimulus package is not in the best interests of people, [in my opinion],” the billionaire said bluntly.Another government...WW…