A trader looks at a screen with green numbers late in the afternoon in a glassy office tower close to Wall Street. Nvidia is flashing higher once more. Microsoft is slowly increasing. The ticker displays another headline about investments in AI. The atmosphere in the room is familiar, almost exuberant. As investors click the buy button, AI has emerged as the market’s favorite narrative. However, a smaller group is subtly acting in the opposite way behind the excitement. They’re wagering against it. Michael Burry, the investor who first noticed the housing crisis long before most people realized what was going…
Author: umerviz@gmail.com
A contemporary pharmacy’s supplement section seems strangely dramatic. Stronger immunity, improved focus, radiant skin, and improved sleep are all promised by bright labels. Each bottle on the long, fluorescent rows of shelves—fish oil next to mushroom extracts, collagen powders next to testosterone boosters—hints at a tiny biological miracle. It’s difficult to avoid feeling a subtle suspicion as you stand there and read those labels. Half of today’s health issues might go away if all of these medications truly performed as promised. However, the company continues to grow. Supplements now bring in close to $70 billion annually in the US alone.…
Strange memories of the early days of COVID-19 are still present. Thermometers used to scan people’s foreheads in airports. In the silent rows of hand sanitizer bottles that remain next to elevators. And in the thoughts of epidemiologists who watched infection curves rise more quickly than governments could respond during those months. The walls of a research office in Copenhagen, where epidemiologist Samir Bhatt and his associates study disease patterns, are covered in maps, some of which depict the spread of viruses from previous outbreaks and others of which are layered with complex digital data patterns. Temperature changes. routes of…
The lights in a small cybersecurity operations center outside of Austin flickered against rows of monitors late one spring evening. Analysts were observing how corporate networks were affected by traffic patterns. Nothing out of the ordinary at first. Millions of dubious login attempts suddenly flooded a healthcare database. The room became tense and quiet in a matter of minutes. The attack appeared to be automated, someone muttered. Most likely AI-powered. In the global economy, such moments are becoming commonplace. Investors are starting to take notice. Corporate budgets used to prioritize software licensing and IT upgrades over cybersecurity. It feels more…
Neither a Silicon Valley startup nor a trading pit are experiencing the quietest revolution on Wall Street. It is taking place in retirement communities, living rooms, and estate planning offices. There is a massive transfer of wealth occurring throughout the United States and increasingly throughout developed economies. Over the next 20 years, an estimated $70 trillion—possibly more—will be transferred from older to younger generations. Although the term barely describes its scope, investors have begun referring to it as the Great Wealth Transfer. There’s a feeling that something more profound is changing beneath the financial system as we watch this play…
Office workers stream past glass towers reflecting the pale sky on a bright winter afternoon in Toronto’s financial district, their phones blazing with notifications from apps that promise convenience and connection. Few people stop to think about the invisible trail they leave behind, including the searches they conduct, the links they click, and the late-night scrolling sessions they do in the kitchen. However, that once-ephemeral trail is becoming more and more valuable. Allegations that browsing information and network usage patterns may be shared, combined, or sold through middlemen to feed the rapidly expanding AI data market have brought renewed attention…
State lawmakers were discussing a topic that felt both incredibly modern and oddly antiquated on a muggy March morning in Tallahassee, where live oaks cast tangled shadows over the Capitol steps and the aroma of magnolia fills the air: should bloggers who cover politicians be required to register with the government? Senate Bill 1316, the bill that started this conversation, would have mandated that anyone who writes paid commentary about Florida’s governor, lawmakers, or cabinet members register with the Commission on Ethics or the Office of Legislative Services. Additionally, authors would be required to reveal their pay source and amount…
The streets of the suburbs of Didsbury and Hale in Manchester can seem strangely quiet on winter evenings. Long driveways are empty, curtains are drawn tight, and tall gates are still closed. Some homes have lights that never turn on. Rain-slick pavements reflect rows of graceful facades that look better captured on camera than actually inhabited. Heat sensors are a novel tool that city officials are considering using to demonstrate their belief that some of these properties—which are investment assets rather than residences—are vacant for the majority of the year. CategoryDetailsCityManchester, EnglandInitiativeUse of heat-sensing technology to detect unoccupied high-value homesPolicy…
Bicycles rest against the honey-colored college walls on a soggy Oxford evening as students rush across cobblestones with their scarves pulled tight against the wind. Screens glow late into the night in dorm rooms that are barely wider than their single beds. A few pupils are engaged in their studies. A few are playing video games. Additionally, more and more people are conversing with AI companions who refer to them as “love.” These digital partners are now being evicted from college housing by an increasing number of Oxford students. CategoryDetailsInstitutionUniversity of OxfordLocationOxford, EnglandFoundedc. 1096Current IssueStudent push to restrict AI romantic…
While schoolchildren huddle around maps that promise civilizations in every direction, visitors enter the Great Court of the British Museum, which is covered by glass, their footsteps resonating against the pale stone on a gloomy London morning. Millions of items are stored in crates and drawers outside of the public galleries, where they are labeled, cataloged, and occasionally forgotten. By 2028, the museum hopes to have digitized its entire collection, which could make over eight million artifacts available online. It sounds like a big goal. It sounds long overdue, too. CategoryDetailsInstitutionBritish MuseumLocationLondon, United KingdomEstablished1753Collection Size8+ million objectsDigitization GoalFull digital documentation…