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For years, Tidal, a task wrong Alphabet’s “moonshot factory” X division, has been utilizing cameras, machine imaginativeness and instrumentality learning to get a amended knowing of beingness beneath the oceans, including monitoring food disconnected the seashore of Norway.
Now, MIT Technology Review tin report, Tidal hopes its strategy tin assistance sphere and reconstruct the world’s seagrass beds, accelerating efforts to harness the oceans to suck up and store distant acold much c dioxide.
The project’s ambitious ngo is to amended our knowing of underwater ecosystems successful bid to pass and incentivize efforts to support the oceans amid mounting threats. It could besides supply important answers to the galore questions hanging implicit seagrass’ relation successful some sucking up c and regulating the climate. Read the afloat story.
—James Temple
China is copying Russia’s predetermination interference playbook
China is progressively interfering successful US authorities by getting its agents to make societal media accounts posing arsenic American citizens, according to probe co-led by Renée DiResta, the method probe manager astatine the Stanford Internet Observatory, who has studied overseas power connected societal media for years.
DiResta published a study mounting retired the standard of the occupation conscionable a fewer days ago, successful which she and her colleagues precocious analyzed 3 China-based networks of accounts that pretended to beryllium mean Americans connected the close oregon near of the governmental spectrum.
The phony accounts’ strategy for stoking the governmental conflicts successful an already polarized America intimately resembled the enactment of the fake Russian accounts that thrived earlier the 2016 elections—but were little effectual than their Russian counterparts. Read the afloat story.
This communicative is from China Report, our play newsletter giving you the wrong way connected each things happening successful China. Sign up to person it successful your inbox each Tuesday.
EmTech MIT podcast special: What’s adjacent for abstraction research?
The International Space Station hosts scores of experiments that can’t beryllium done connected Earth. But it’s besides showing its age—with repairs and information concerns becoming progressively communal arsenic it draws nearer to its extremity of life.
In this occurrence of our podcast, In Machines We Trust, we bring you a speech with astronaut Michael López-Alegría astir the way guardant for probe successful debased Earth orbit, from MIT Technology Review’s flagship conference, EmTech MIT. Listen to it connected Apple Podcasts, oregon wherever other you usually listen.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.
1 The combat for power of the US Senate is hanging successful the balance
All eyes are turning to Nevada, Georgia, and Arizona. (Vox)
+ Election deniers were retired successful unit earlier polls adjacent closed. (The Atlantic $)
+ The predicted “red wave” ne'er genuinely emerged. (New Yorker $)
+ Political misinformation is nearing boiling point. (WP $)
+ Politicians are contented creators these days. (The Verge)
2 Crypto’s biggest speech has bailed retired its biggest rival
Binance has reached a woody to bargain FTX, aft immoderate decidedly dodgy behaviour each round. (NYT $)
+ FTX’s laminitis was a crypto superstar. Now what? (WSJ $)
+ His $16 cardinal worthy has been astir wholly wiped out. (Insider $)
+ The exchanges person a agelong and checkered relationship. (Reuters)
+ It’s good to opt retired of the crypto revolution. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Anthony Fauci has nary clip for covid deniers
But helium wants to judge we’re amended prepared for the adjacent pandemic than we would person been pre-covid. (Wired $)
4 How to enactment optimistic portion the satellite is burning
Philosophy tin thatch america immoderate invaluable lessons successful however to hole for the future. (NY Mag $)
+ Economic maturation doesn't person to mean higher emissions. (Economist $)
5 Your aboriginal transfusion could beryllium with lab-grown humor 🩸
The breakthrough is large quality for radical with uncommon humor types. (The Verge)
6 The archetypal AI copyright suit has begun
A projected people enactment wants to punish companies for utilizing unattributed human-written code. (New Scientist $)
+ AI’s top-ranking Go exemplary has been defeated. (Ars Technica)
7 Social media is simply a hellscape, aft all
All due to the fact that they chose to pander to advertisers alternatively of users. (Motherboard)
+ There’s small inducement to marque it better, either. (The Information $)
+ Meta’s oversight committee wants to grow beyond conscionable Meta. (Wired $)
8 Video games are creation now
Consequently, some disciplines are gaining caller fans. (FT $)
+ We whitethorn ne'er afloat cognize however video games impact our well-being. (MIT Technology Review)
9 What sliding into someone’s DMs tin thatch us
Namely that disarming trolls is easier successful backstage than successful public. (The Atlantic $)
10 Blind dating apps are connected the rise
Gen Z is blessed to instrumentality looks retired of the equation successful the hunt for the cleanable match. (The Guardian)
+ Here’s however the net’s newest matchmakers assistance you find love. (MIT Technology Review)
Quote of the day
“I americium precise acold from invisible.”
—Steve Tidball, laminitis of futuristic covering institution Vollebak, admits to the Guardian that his effort to make an “invisible” thermal camouflage overgarment is successful the highly aboriginal stages of development.
The large story
The US authorities is ending the China Initiative. Now what?
February 2022
The US Justice Department announced successful February 2022 that it would extremity its arguable China Initiative and pivot to a caller strategy to antagonistic threats from federation states. The programme began nether the Trump medication arsenic an effort to basal retired economical espionage, but drew disapproval for falling abbreviated of that stated extremity portion progressively focusing connected academics and researchers of Chinese descent.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said that portion the department’s actions were driven by genuine nationalist information concerns, by grouping cases nether the China Initiative, the DOJ helped make a cognition that it treats radical with ties to China differently. Instead, it volition usage a caller strategy focused broadly connected threats from hostile countries.
However, adjacent with the extremity of the initiative, determination is simply a palpable fearfulness successful the world community, particularly among Asian Americans. Read the afloat story.
—Jess Aloe & Eileen Guo
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.)
+ Acting successful a Call of Duty video crippled sounds ridiculously intense.
+ Gavin Naylor has a precise chill job: shark onslaught researcher.
+ Now it’s (supposed to be) getting colder outside, Amazon Prime has a batch of amusive TV shows close now.
+ If you’re a gardening amateur, here’s immoderate terms you’ll decidedly request to get to grips with.
+ I would precise overmuch similar to bent retired with Harry the babe highland cow (thanks Charlotte!)
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