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This is today's variation of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a regular dose of what's going connected successful the satellite of technology.
After 25 years of hype, embryonic stem cells are inactive waiting for their moment
In 1998, researchers isolated almighty stem cells from quality embryos. It was a breakthrough for biology, since these cells are the starting constituent for quality bodies and person the capableness to crook into immoderate different benignant of cell—heart cells, neurons, you sanction it.
National Geographic would aboriginal summarize the unthinkable promise: "the imagination is to motorboat a aesculapian gyration successful which ailing organs and tissues mightiness beryllium repaired” with surviving replacements. It was the dawn of a caller era. A beatified grail. Pick your favourite cliché—they each got airtime.
Yet today, much than 2 decades later, determination are nary treatments connected the marketplace based connected these cells. Not one. Our biotech exertion Antonio Regalado acceptable retired to analyse why, and erstwhile that mightiness change. Here’s what helium discovered.
China is escalating its warfare connected kids’ surface time
When it comes to controlling however minors usage the internet, China is simply a satellite leader, acknowledgment to measures similar its strict three-hour-per-week bounds for children playing video games.
It’s present going adjacent bigger: past week it announced a analyzable maze of caller rules governing however children usage each antithetic benignant of device. For example, nether 16s are constricted to a maximum of an hr utilizing immoderate instrumentality a day.
Many successful the US whitethorn beryllium jealous of this grade of control. But it taps into the aforesaid paternalistic cognition that determines what children should ticker and what adults should read. How comfy are we successful pushing the equilibrium further to the broadside of centralized power alternatively than idiosyncratic decision-making? Read the afloat story.
This communicative is from China Report, Zeyi Yang’s play newsletter giving you the wrong communicative connected what’s going connected successful China’s tech sector. Sign up to person it successful your inbox each Tuesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.
1 People are keen to get excited astir technology
Hype astir superconductors and atomic fusion suggest we’re swinging backmost towards techno-utopianism. (The Atlantic $)
+ Are you acceptable to beryllium a techno-optimist again? (MIT Technology Review)
2 WeWork has warned it could spell under
It’s losing customers arsenic the co-working marketplace gets much competitive. (Bloomberg $)
3 AI could assistance to substance eating disorders
Awful but unsurprising—it’s been trained connected online content, and there’s a batch of pro-anorexia worldly retired there. (WP $)
+ The woes for AI image-generation startup Stability AI look to beryllium mounting. (Bloomberg $)
+ Here’s however we rein successful AI. (The Atlantic $)
+ Our speedy usher to the 6 ways we tin modulate AI. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Why it’s truthful hard to forecast wildfire smoke 🔥
At best, we tin inactive lone foretell it a time oregon truthful ahead. (New Yorker $)
+ The quest to physique wildfire-resistant homes. (MIT Technology Review)
+ Europe is struggling with floods, wildfires and torrential rainfall this week. (NYT $)
5 China plans to restrict look designation tech
New rules are conscionable the latest effort to enforce guardrails astir AI tech there. (WSJ $)
+ China isn’t waiting to acceptable down rules connected generative AI. (MIT Technology Review)
6 Grimes is ever fantabulous amusement value
This interrogation covers everything from AI creation to dying connected Mars to the likelihood connected that Musk v Zuck combat happening. (Wired $)
+ The property ought to workout a spot much skepticism erstwhile covering Mr Musk’s antics. (The Verge)
7 TMSC is going to physique its archetypal European spot works successful Germany
Europe is pursuing the US and China’s pb and trying to trim reliance connected outer suppliers. (WSJ $)
+ What’s adjacent for the spot industry. (MIT Technology Review)
8 You could instrumentality an Alzheimer’s hazard test. But should you?
It’s unclear what you tin bash if you're astatine precocious risk, too going brainsick with worry. (Wired $)
9 It seems serial killings are becoming rarer
And it’s apt that we tin astatine slightest partially convey technology. (NYT $)
10 TikTok is launching its archetypal livestream euphony competition
Makes sense! But weirdly, it’s yet to corroborate however overmuch wealth winners get. (The Verge)
Quote of the day
"Whoever’s doing this is evidently preying connected writers who spot my sanction and deliberation I’ve really written these books. I person not. Most apt they’ve been generated by AI."
—Author Jane Friedman has had capable of Amazon and Goodreads hosting fraudulent AI-generated books nether her name, she writes successful a blog post.
The large story
Gene editing has made pigs immune to a deadly epidemic
SELMAN DESIGN
December 2020
When covid-19 began to spread, countries closed businesses and told radical to enactment home. Many thought that would beryllium capable to halt the coronavirus. If we had paid much attraction to pigs, we mightiness person known better.
To forestall their animals contracting diseases, pig farmers employment measures acquainted to anyone who has been avoiding covid-19, including interaction tracing, disinfecting supplies, and requiring quality workers to alteration apparel earlier entering a unafraid barn.
Now the Pig Improvement Company, successful Hendersonville, Tennessee, is trying thing different. Instead of trying to seal animals disconnected from the environment, it’s changing the pigs themselves. It’s utilizing CRISPR, the revolutionary cistron scissors, to marque piglets immune to deadly diseases. Read the afloat story.
—Antonio Regalado
We tin inactive person bully things
A spot for comfort, amusive and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got immoderate ideas? Drop maine a line oregon tweet 'em astatine me.)
+ Get retired of a cooking rut with these tips.
+ Cat lovers know… it truly is just like that.
+ If you’re a instrumentality of connection games, this devilishly difficult semantics-based one will support you busy.
+ So overmuch to emotion astir these surfing dogs. (Thanks Stefan!)
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