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Big data centers are infiltrating cities


You may have never heard of Hikvision, but you’ve probably already been caught by one of its millions of cameras. The Chinese company’s products can be found everywhere from police surveillance systems to baby monitors in more than 190 countries. Its ability to produce good quality products at cheap prices (and its ties to the Chinese government) has helped make Hikvision the world’s largest manufacturer of video surveillance equipment.

But while Hikvision’s close ties with the Chinese government have helped it grow, those ties may now be its downfall. The firm helped establish China’s massive police surveillance system and adapted it to repress Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang. As a result, the US government has imposed various sanctions on him over the past three years. This year, the U.S. Treasury is reportedly considering adding Hikvision to its Specially Designated Citizens and Blocked Persons (SDN) List, which is usually reserved for countries like North Korea or Iran.

Here’s everything you need to know about Hikvision: a company that once flew under the radar, but is now in danger of becoming the world’s most sanctioned tech company. Read the full story.

—Zeyi Yang

Scientists hack a grasshopper’s brain to sniff out cancer

What did they do? Some animals, including dogs, have been taught to detect signs that humans are sick. It is thought that people can sense the chemicals they emit through body odor or breathing. The mix of chemicals can vary depending on a person’s metabolism, which is thought to change when we get sick. However, dogs are expensive to train and care for, and it is still very difficult to make a device that mimics a dog’s nose. So the scientists decided to “hijack” an insect’s brain instead.

How did they do this? They exposed the brain of a living grasshopper and placed electrodes in the lobes that receive signals from the antennae they use to detect the scents of insects. Grasshoppers’ brains reacted markedly to odors emanating from both cancerous and non-cancerous human cells in a lab — the first time a living insect brain has been tested as a tool for detecting disease.

What’s next? The team behind the study hopes it could one day lead to an insect-based breath test that could be used to screen for cancer, or inspire an artificial version that works just as well. Although this is a long road. Read the full story.

—Jessica Hamzelou

Energy-hungry data centers are quietly moving into cities



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