The Download: building anti-aging hype, and exploring the universe with sound
It’s not every day that police storm through the doors of a scientific session and eject half the audience. But that’s what happened on Friday at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center during a round of scientific presentations featuring Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a specialist in “rejuvenation” technology at a secretive, wealthy, anti-aging startup called Altos Labs.
Police ordered anyone without a seat to clear out, after an overflow crowd began jostling in the aisles for space and violating the building’s fire code. The brouhaha shows how excitement is building as researchers uncover the secrets of life. Some, like Belmonte, claim they’ll eventually radically extend it, by 40 years or more. Read the full story.
—Antonio Regalado
How sounds can turn us on to the wonders of the universe
Astronomy should, in principle, be a welcoming field for blind researchers. But across the board, science is full of charts, graphs, databases, and images that are designed to be seen.
So researcher Sarah Kane, who is legally blind, was thrilled three years ago when she encountered a technology known as sonification, designed to transform information into sound. Since then she’s been working with a project called Astronify, which presents astronomical information in audio form.
For millions of blind and visually impaired people, sonification could be transformative—opening access to education, to once unimaginable careers, and even to the secrets of the universe. Read the full story.
—Corey S. Powell
Corey’s story is from the forthcoming print edition of MIT Technology Review, which is all about accessibility. If you haven’t already, subscribe to make sure you don’t miss out on future stories—subscriptions start from just $80 a year.
