The information: Eight years in the past, a affected person misplaced her energy of speech due to ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s illness, which causes progressive paralysis. Now, after volunteering to obtain a brain implant, the lady has been in a position to quickly talk phrases at a charge approaching regular speech.

Why it issues: Even in an period of keyboards, thumb-typing, emojis, and web abbreviations, speech stays the quickest type of human-to-human communication. The scientists from Stanford College say their volunteer smashed earlier data by utilizing the brain-reading implant to speak at a charge of 62 phrases a minute, thrice the earlier finest. 

What’s subsequent: Though the examine has not been formally reviewed, consultants have hailed the outcomes as a major breakthrough. The findings might pave the best way for experimental brain-reading expertise to go away the lab and turn into a helpful product quickly. Learn the total story.

—Antonio Regalado

Resolving to dwell the 12 months of the Rabbit to the fullest

By Zeyi Yang, China reporter

This previous Sunday was the Lunar New 12 months, crucial vacation for Chinese language and a number of different Asian cultures. It’s imagined to be a possibility for us to reset and seize new alternatives.

In that spirit, I’ve lately revisited a few of my favourite China-focused MIT Expertise Evaluate tales from the final 12 months and gone again to the individuals I interviewed. I requested them whether or not they’d resolved any troubling challenges, and what they’re hoping for within the 12 months of the Rabbit.