Brain Hacks, Care Bots, and the Weaponization of Food
May 18, 2026
Agentic systems and data extraction are penetrating intimate biological and ecological domains, from neuro-hackable implants and automated care robots to the financialization of nature and food trade leverage. This expansion of algorithmic capture collides with grassroots resistance and geopolitical instability, as student protests and information gaps signal a rupture in the legitimacy of technocratic authority while health emergencies underscore the vulnerability of structural power.
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US says China to buy billions in agricultural goods after Trump-Xi talks
China will buy 'at least' $17bn worth of US agricultural goods annually, the White House says.
- geopolitics
- structural power
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Nature is good for business – and we now have numbers to show it
Getty Images When rivers degrade, pests spread or drought hits crops, nature sends a bill. Yet it’s one rarely itemised on any balance sheet, because nature’s contribution to business remains genuinely hard to quantify. One major obstacle is data. Businesses rarely disclose their precise operating l…
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WHO declares Ebola outbreak in DRC a global health emergency
An Ebola outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain has killed dozens in Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- geopolitics
- structural power
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Revamped Siri will reportedly offer auto-deleting chats
Apple is hoping that its record on privacy can be the differentiator on the AI front, and maybe even buy it a little slack as it continues to lag behind the competition. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the more chatbot-like Siri set to debut in iOS 27 will include the option to autodelete chat…
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ElliQ is a surprisingly helpful companion robot for older adults
A week before the ElliQ robot arrived, a neurologist told me we need to rebalance my mom's life. Her Parkinson's disease medication had steadily become less effective over the previous month, and with it, she had slowly stopped doing many of the things crucial to managing the disease - exercising, s…
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Brain implants allow us to move and talk. But they could also be hacked
EThamPhoto/Getty The human brain is remarkably complex, with trillions of connections that control how you move, think and feel. Yet it’s still vulnerable to debilitating conditions such as paralysis, stroke, epilepsy and various neurodegenerative diseases. Scientists are investigating if a kind of…
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Australian teens impacted by the social media ban are getting less news: new research
Stefania Pelfini la Waziya/Getty In the months leading up to the implementation of Australia’s social media ban in December 2025, there was much discussion about the possible negative consequences. Among these were concerns that teenagers would consume less news. As most young adults use social medi…
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University of Arizona students boo Eric Schmidt’s AI cheerleading during commencement
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt delivered the commencement address at the University of Arizona on Friday. And, as his speech veered into talk of AI, he was repeatedly drowned out by boos. AI is already a contentious topic, and it's not surprising that those about to enter a ravaged job market feel p…
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Chatbots at the drive-thru are just the beginning
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more news about how AI is seeping into our daily lives, follow Emma Roth. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started In 2021, McDonald's…