2 years ago
216
The news: The US is launching a nationalist proceedings to measure however effectual tests designed to spot signs of aggregate kinds of crab successful humor drawn from a patient’s limb truly are. The extremity is to assistance find however humor trial results for crab should beryllium interpreted, and it should supply a modular attack to launching crab screening studies arsenic companies flood the tract with caller tests.
Why it matters: Most cancers can’t beryllium reliably screened for earlier symptoms begin—tools similar mammograms and pap smears are exceptions, not the rule. Most of these multi-cancer aboriginal detection tests enactment by looking for remnants of tumor cells that detonate aft the immune strategy attacks them. Debris from dormant tumors turns up successful the bloodstream, wherever it tin perchance beryllium detected to pass of crab earlier idiosyncratic feels sick. If imaging confirms the finding, a biopsy follows.
What’s next: The trial, tally by the National Cancer Institute, volition statesman enrolling participants successful 2024 and trial however effectual assorted humor tests are astatine spotting crab successful 24,000 steadfast patients implicit 4 years. If the findings look promising, a objective proceedings astir 10 times arsenic ample volition commence. Read the afloat story.
—Hana Kiros
Why Ethereum is switching to impervious of involvement and however it volition work
Later this week, 1 of the world’s biggest blockchains should determination to a caller mode to o.k. transactions, and distant from the energy-intensive “proof of work” system.
If successful, the process, known arsenic The Merge, should trim Ethereum’s vigor depletion by astir 99.95%, and perchance assistance it scope 100,000 transactions per second. If The Merge continues astatine its current rate, the process should implicit connected Thursday. Read our explainer connected how it volition work.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.
1 Russia’s authorities has been deed with its archetypal clime alteration lawsuit
A radical of activists hopes to unit the country’s authorities to adhere to the Paris clime accord. (The Guardian)
+ Russia wood biome is astatine terrible hazard from clime change. (FT $)
+ Europe’s accrued request for ember is undermining its clime credentials. (Reuters)
2 A caller crab cause appears to beryllium much effectual than chemotherapy
However, there’s nary grounds it reduced the full fig of deaths. (WSJ $)
3 Twitter’s whistleblower is appearing earlier the US Senate
Peiter Zatko’s grounds adjacent week could alteration the people of Elon Musk’s ineligible conflict with the platform. (CNN)
+ Here’s conscionable immoderate of the questions Zatko could face. (The Guardian)
+ Why China’s authorities bargain adverts connected Twitter, contempt banning it. (Reuters)
4 A Blue Origin rocket suffered a booster nonaccomplishment during a launch
No humans were connected board, though. (WP $)
+ Maybe we request to widen our hunt for ‘intelligent life’. (The Atlantic $)
5 Why it’s truthful important to recognize wherefore immoderate radical don’t get covid
And wherefore plentifulness of radical deliberation they’re immune erstwhile they’re not. (Wired $)
+ Long covid’s encephalon fog is disproportionately affecting women. (The Atlantic $)
+ A conflict is raging implicit agelong covid successful children. (MIT Technology Review)
6 CRISPR needs its smartphone moment
A propulsion into mainstream adoption could alteration however we dainty familial mutations. (The Atlantic $)
+ Protein factories could assistance america radiance a airy connected life’s origins. (New Scientist $)
+ Edits to a cholesterin cistron could halt the biggest slayer connected earth. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Why the Internet Archive’s ineligible suit could alteration integer history
It could suffer a immense chunk of it successful the process, too. (Slate $)
8 Antarctica is successful peril
We’re inactive learning however susceptible the East Antarctic crystal expanse truly is. (CNET)
9 How quality AI repackaged physiognomy for selfie-lovers
Its claims to work property traits from facial features aren’t supported by science. (The Information $)
+ The combat for “Instagram face” (MIT Technology Review)
10 WhatsApp groups are tricking america into a mendacious consciousness of intimacy
But leaving them is easier said than done. (The Guardian)
Quote of the day
“Our main request is not to get killed.”
—Camila, a pupil successful Mexico City, tells Rest of World however her classmates way each other’s whereabouts utilizing WhatsApp amid a melodramatic emergence successful unit against women successful Mexico.
The large story
The 50-year-old occupation that eludes theoretical machine science
October 2021
In July 2021, a impervious appeared online astatine the esteemed diary ACM Transactions connected Computational Theory. The effect purported to lick the occupation of each problems—the Holy Grail of theoretical machine science, worthy a $1 cardinal prize and fame rivaling Aristotle’s.
This treasured problem—known arsenic “P versus NP”—is considered astatine erstwhile the astir important successful theoretical machine subject and mathematics and wholly retired of reach. It addresses questions cardinal to the promise, limits, and ambitions of computation, asking: Why are immoderate problems harder than others? Which problems tin computers realistically solve? How overmuch clip volition it take?
The million-dollar question posed by P vs. NP is this: Are these 2 classes of problems 1 and the same? Which is to say, could the problems that look truthful hard successful information beryllium solved with an algorithm successful a tenable magnitude of time, if lone the right, devilishly accelerated algorithm could beryllium found? Because if each the tricky problems could beryllium transformed with specified algorithmic sleight of hand, the consequences for society—for humanity and our planet—would beryllium enormous. Read the afloat story.
—Siobhan Roberts
We tin inactive person bully things
A spot for comfort, amusive and distraction successful these weird times. (Got immoderate ideas? Drop maine a line or tweet 'em astatine me.)
+ Netflix’s caller thriller Glass Onion, a Knives Out sequel, looks a batch of fun.
+ This Twitter relationship of a cat vibing implicit music is the champion (thanks Melissa!)
+ Whether you’re comfy successful h2o oregon not, we tin each hold that waves are beauteous majestic-looking.
+ Teen TV shows are amazingly bully astatine dealing with death. Here’s why.
+ TikTok is throwing its value down California’s striking farmworkers.
English (US) ·