Techmeme
October 15, 2018, 5:35 AM

Top News

Megan Molteni / Wired:
Researchers: 60% of Americans of European descent can be identified via public DNA databases, regardless of whether they've submitted their own DNA data or not  —  IN 2013, A young computational biologist named Yaniv Erlich shocked the research world by showing it was possible to unmask …
Alison Griswold / Quartz:
How Uber's team of economists tests new features and incentives, writes highly-cited academic papers, and provides talking points for public policy initiatives  —  It's hard to explain just how much economists love Uber.  —  Economists love Uber like a mother loves her child.
Alex Blumberg / New York Magazine:
Interview with former Groupon CEO and founder Andrew Mason on how he built and scaled the company, passed on Yahoo and Google acquisition offers, and got fired  —  Andrew Mason started Groupon ten years ago.  He was a graduate student in his mid-20s, making money on the side by building websites.
Ian Hathaway:
Since 2015, first VC financings declined 25% to 40% annually for startups operating in sectors exposed to the core activities of Google, Facebook, and Amazon  —  UPDATE: A quick note of clarity, since many readers are misinterpreting (ie, not fully reading) the analysis done here.
Aditya Kalra / Reuters:
As India takes a firm stance on data localization and works on a data protection framework, two US senators write to encourage “light touch” regulation  —  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators have called on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to soften India's stance on data localization …
More: Engadget and PYMNTS.com
Erica Klarreich / Quanta Magazine:
Urmila Mahadev, a UC Berkeley grad student, solves the fundamental problem of finding a protocol by which a classical computer can verify a quantum computation  —  Urmila Mahadev spent eight years in graduate school solving one of the most basic questions in quantum computation …
Michael Joseph Gross / The Atlantic:
Inside DARPA's neurotechnology research program for healing and enhancement of the human body and mind through neural implants and brain-machine interfaces  —  I. Who Could Object?  —  “Tonight I would like to share with you an idea that I am extremely passionate about,” the young man said.

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Earlier Picks

Noah Kulwin / New York Magazine:
Garrett M. Graff / Wired: