Yearly, poachers shoot lots of of rhinos, fishing crews haul thousands and thousands of sharks out of protected seas, and smugglers carry numerous animals and crops throughout borders. This criminal activity is extremely laborious to disrupt, because it’s backed by refined felony networks and the perpetrators know that their probabilities of being caught are slim. With an annual worth of $20 billion, in line with Interpol, it’s the world’s fourth-most-lucrative felony enterprise after trafficking in medicine, weapons, and other people.
The environmental guardians going through as much as these nefarious networks—dispersed alliances of rangers, neighborhood teams, and legislation enforcement officers—have lengthy been sick outfitted and underfunded.
Nonetheless, there may be real hope that tech may assist flip the tide—and forestall poaching on the supply. Learn the complete story.
—Matthew Ponsford
This story is from the subsequent print situation of MIT Know-how Overview journal, which is all about crime. Should you haven’t already, subscribe now to obtain future points as soon as they land.
Peptides are all over the place. Right here’s what you’ll want to know.
Wish to drop some pounds? Get shredded? Keep mentally sharp? A wellness influencer would possibly let you know to take peptides, the newest cure-all within the various medication arsenal. They’re all over the place on social media, and that recognition appears poised to develop.
The advantages and dangers of many of those compounds, nevertheless, are largely unknown. Among the hottest peptides have by no means been examined in human trials. They’re bought for analysis functions, not human consumption, and a few are unlawful knockoffs of wildly profitable weight-loss medicines. That raises massive questions on their security and effectiveness, that are nonetheless unresolved. Learn the complete story.
—Cassandra Willyard
This story is a part of MIT Know-how Overview Explains: our sequence untangling the advanced, messy world of expertise that can assist you perceive what’s coming subsequent. You possibly can learn extra from the sequence right here.
