MIT Technology Review: Reaching 100 percent clean electricity

MIT Technology Review    
09.07
   
The Download

Good morning! Here are today's most important stories in emerging technology. (Know a friend or colleague that would enjoy the Download? You can send them to sign up here.)

America to North Korea: We’ve spied your hacking spy

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has brought charges for the first time against a North Korean hacker.
The target: Park Jin Hyok is accused of being part of the Lazarus Group, a hacker collective that does the bidding of North Korea’s military intelligence agency. According to the DOJ’s complaint, the North Korean agent worked through a front company called Chosun Expo Joint Venture, and operated out of both North Korea and China.
His targets: The Lazarus Group launched a high-profile cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, which was targeted in 2014 after putting out a film called “The Interview” that made fun of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-Un. Investigators believe it also pulled off an $81 million cyberheist and created WannaCry 2.0, a ransomware program that causes havoc by encrypting data and freezing computers.
A growing list: The DOJ seems to be increasingly willing to name and shame nation-state hackers. Earlier this year, Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 11 Russians accused of meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, and the department has called out Chinese hackers for stealing intellectual property secrets.

—Martin Giles

How California could affordably reach 100 percent clean electricity
MIT researchers have found that depending on solar and wind without “firm low-carbon resources” would be extremely expensive.
Last week… California lawmakers passed a bill requiring 100 percent of the state’s electricity to come from carbon-free sources by the end of 2045, and the historic bill is on its way to the governor’s desk.
Bettering the odds: The portfolio of technologies employed in pursuit of such policies could radically alter the costs—and odds—of reaching the end goal. A new paper by MIT researchers concludes that building out a substantial level of resources like nuclear power or natural-gas plants that capture carbon dioxide—rather than relying exclusively on renewable resources backed up with batteries—could cut electricity costs by as much as 62 percent.
Why? The sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. As our own James Temple writes, as these variable sources become a growing portion of the grid, vast amounts of energy storage and renewable generation are needed to balance out supply and demand. That gets expensive.

AI will prompt large economic growth—and inequality
A report released by consultancy group McKinsey predicts the main economic impact of artificial intelligence hasn't yet arrived.
By the numbers: The study predicts that 70 percent of companies will adopt at least one form of AI by 2030. The result is a potential $13 trillion in additional economic activity worldwide. AI could contribute an average of 1.2 percent to global annual GDP growth for the next decade.
Unequal impact: More technologically advanced countries have higher wages, which creates an increased incentive to replace human work with automation. That’ll lead to inequality between top executives (who will profit) and workers (who stand to lose out—see “Who will own the robots?”).
On a global scale... Less wealthy nations have fewer resources to dedicate to AI, and so won’t gain as much from its development. The report predicts this will widen the divide between wealthier and less-advanced countries.

Blockchain for a Better Society. Learn more next week at EmTech.

Can cryptocurrencies play a serious role in the world financial system? Attend EmTech MIT and get a look at their potential for social good. Secure your seat today!

Ten Fascinating Things

Our roundup of today's top tech news to get you thinking and debating.
1
   

We must slow innovation in internet-connected things
That’s the view of security expert Bruce Schneier, who fears lives will be lost in a cyber disaster unless governments act swiftly. (TR)
2
   

It’s been a year since Amazon started its hunt for HQ2
The search has provided the company with a massive collection of information on US cities. (Axios)
+ Finalist cities are scrambling for clues as to who the winner might be. (NYT)
3
   

British Airways suffered a customer data breach
About 380,000 transactions were involved. (BBC)
4
   

IBM used New York security cameras to train its AI
It reportedly worked with the NYPD in secrecy to develop technology that can search by skin color. (The Intercept)
5
   

Lyft enters the scooter game
It’s starting with 250 scooters available for rent in Denver. (Tech Crunch)
6
   

AI is helping bolster rural medical treatment
It’s identifying vision loss in patients with diabetes. (Quartz)
7
   

Apple’s next big thing
The tech giant is becoming a wearables company. (WSJ)
8
   

Fighting illegal fishing from space
Infrared and radar combine powers to put a stop to the illicit seafood trade. (The Economist)
9
   

Roombas that remember
The robot vacuum will now map and memorize your house. (The Verge)
10
   

Meet the crying, bleeding, peeing medical robot
This $48,000 bot is creating eerily real training scenarios for nurses. (Wired)

Quote of the Day

“That creates a lot of pressure to frame the work in terms of near-future miracles, and that will almost always fail.”

—Timothy Caulfield, a law professor at the University of Alberta, on how $3 billion in taxpayer funding is making the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine aggressively push clinical trials.
Erin Winick
   

Top image credit: AN RONG XU

Please send black market fish and crying robots to hi@technologyreview.com.
I also write our future of work newsletter, Clocking In. Sign up here.

Follow me on Twitter at @erinwinick. Thanks for reading!

—Erin
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