MIT Technology Review

A new industrial facility in suburban Seattle is giving off a whiff of futuristic technology. It can safely treat fecal waste from people and livestock while recycling nutrients that are crucial for agriculture but in increasingly short supply across the nation’s farmlands: https://trib.al/HbZ5LR2 Within the 2.3-acre plant, which smells lightly of ammonia, giant rotating spindles turn steaming-hot septic sludge and biosolids from local wastewater treatment plants into what an engineer calls “poop crepes.” Giant scrapers then deposit the baked biomatter onto a combination conveyor belt and dryer to yield a growing pile of sterilized fertilizer.

This gastroenterologist wants to see access to treatments for bacterial infections expand with the development of oral “crapsules.”

Today in The Download, our daily newsletter: How poop could help feed the planet

Over the next few years, artificial intelligence is going to have a bigger and bigger effect on us and the way we live. Are we ready to trust AI with our bodies? https://trib.al/jsEFIPL

Neurona Therapeutics’ epilepsy treatment could be a breakthrough for stem-cell technology. https://trib.al/JdNTYtu

Police bodycams have generated millions of hours of video footage, most of which goes unwatched. Sifting through all of that footage for court cases or accountability purposes is nearly impossible. AI programs that analyze and transcribe bodycam footage promise to improve transparency around policing but are doing very little to change culture. https://trib.al/2MXzLg9

Our in-depth journalism goes behind the scenes to bring you the who, what, why, and how on key innovations in emerging technology. Take advantage of our New Year’s sale now to save big on year-long access: https://ter.li/msoxfg

AI consciousness isn’t just a devilishly tricky intellectual puzzle; it’s a morally weighty problem with potentially dire consequences. Fail to identify a conscious AI, and you might unintentionally subjugate, or even torture, a being whose interests ought to matter. Mistake an unconscious AI for a conscious one, and you risk compromising human safety and happiness for the sake of an unthinking, unfeeling hunk of silicon and code. Philosophers, cognitive scientists, and engineers are grappling with what it would take for AI to achieve consciousness—and whether it's even possible. https://trib.al/hYECgqc

Systems that store energy as heat could help cut emissions from heavy industry. https://trib.al/0dIfB1k

Every day across Hollywood, scores of film school graduates and production assistants work as script readers. Their job is to find the diamonds in the rough from the 50,000 or so screenplays pitched each year and flag any worth pursuing further. Each script runs anywhere from 100 to 150 pages, and it can take half a day to read one and write up a “coverage,” or summary of the strengths and weaknesses. With only about 50 of these scripts selling in a given year, readers are trained to be ruthless. Now the film-focused tech company Cinelytic, which works with major studios like Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures to analyze film budgets and box office potential, aims to offer script feedback with generative AI. https://trib.al/s3QxI4m