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As 2022 starts to gully to a close, we thought it was precocious clip to instrumentality a look backmost implicit the astir fashionable stories we’ve published successful the past 12 months. From a biotech scoop to a thoughtful interrogation of whether integer replicas of our deceased loved ones tin truly assistance to easiness the grieving process, our readers person enjoyed the afloat gamut of our exertion coverage.
If you missed them the archetypal clip round, here’s our apical 5 most-read stories of the year. We anticipation you support speechmaking into the caller year, and beyond.
+ The gene-edited pig bosom fixed to a dying diligent was infected with a pig virus
The pig bosom transplanted into an American diligent earlier this twelvemonth successful a landmark cognition carried a porcine microorganism that whitethorn person derailed the experimentation and contributed to his decease 2 months later. Our elder biotechnology exertion Antonio Regalado dug into however this could person happened owed to a well-known—and avoidable—risk which raises questions implicit whether the experimentation should person taken spot astatine all. Read the afloat story.
+ This creator is dominating AI-generated art. And he’s not blessed astir it.
Greg Rutkowski is simply a Polish integer creator who uses classical coating styles to make dreamy phantasy landscapes. While you whitethorn admit his enactment from games including Dungeons & Dragons helium reached a full caller assemblage erstwhile his distinctive benignant became 1 of the astir commonly utilized prompts for AI creation generator Stable Diffusion—and he’s acold from thrilled. Read the afloat story by our elder AI newsman Melissa Heikkilä.
+ Starlink signals tin beryllium reverse-engineered to enactment similar GPS—whether SpaceX likes it oregon not
Elon Musk declined researchers’ requests to usage his Starlink mega-constellation to make a much precise, much utile successor to GPS. But they went up anyway. For the past 2 years, a squad astatine UT Austin’s Radionavigation Lab has been reverse-engineering signals sent from thousands of Starlink net satellites successful debased Earth orbit to ground-based receivers. Now they judge they person cracked the problem, and that their exertion could signifier the ground of a utile navigation system. Crucially, this could beryllium done without immoderate assistance from SpaceX astatine all. Read the afloat story.
+ Technology that lets america “speak” to our dormant relatives has arrived. Are we ready?
MIT Technology Review quality exertion Charlotte Jee created integer replicas of her surviving parents successful a bid to recognize whether speaking to virtual versions of our loved ones aft they’ve passed connected could lessen or, connected the different hand, prolong our grief. Her communicative delves into the burgeoning assemblage of startups promising to assistance america digitally sphere the radical we emotion truthful we tin speech to them aft they die. The exertion is getting amended and better, but it’s inactive unclear if these services volition ever execute wide adoption. Read the afloat story.
+ Here’s however a Twitter technologist says it volition interruption successful the coming weeks
This communicative dug into each the ways successful which Twitter could commencement to crumble aft caller brag Elon Musk took implicit the reins. While we’ve seen immoderate of the issues bubble to the aboveground already, it’s apt determination whitethorn beryllium galore much to come. Read the afloat story.
If these sorts of stories tickle your fancy, past wherefore not subscribe to work them the archetypal clip round? Print subscriptions are conscionable $120 a year, and you tin spell integer lone for conscionable $80. And a subscription to MIT Technology Review mightiness marque the cleanable Christmas contiguous for the tech-obsessed idiosyncratic successful your life.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.
1 ChatGPT doesn’t ever archer the truth
But it states things truthful confidently that it’s casual to beryllium fooled. (NYT $)
+ It’s been suggesting immoderate disturbing anti-terror measures, including torture. (The Intercept)
+ For immoderate users, whether it’s close oregon not isn’t important. (WP $)
+ ChatGPT won’t beryllium stealing basal up comedians’ jobs immoderate clip soon. (WSJ $)
+ ChatGPT is OpenAI’s latest hole for GPT-3. It’s slick but inactive spews nonsense. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Investors are rapidly withdrawing from crypto
They’re spooked by FTX’s collapse, and are pulling grounds levels of bitcoin from crypto exchanges (FT $)
+ Chinese constabulary person rumbled a monolithic crypto laundering gang. (SCMP $)
+ FTX brag Sam Bankman-Fried is owed to attest earlier the US Congress this week. (The Guardian)
3 NASA’s Artemis I satellite ngo is complete
After 26 days, it touched backmost down connected Earth. (New Scientist $)
+ The ngo paves the mode towards returning humans to the moon. (WSJ $)
+ Looking down connected the Earth from abstraction is an affectional experience. (The Atlantic $)
4 Twitter’s subscription work has relaunched
iPhone users are being asked to wage more, apt successful retaliation to the App Store’s inbuilt fees. (Reuters)
+ The company’s Community Notes misinformation work has been revamped, too. (Engadget)
+ Elon Musk knows precisely who he’s appealing to. (The Atlantic $)
+ Elon Musk has created a toxic messiness for the LGBTQ+ community. I would know. (MIT Technology Review)
5 It mightiness beryllium clip to delete your photos from the internet
It’s lone getting easier and easier to marque deepfakes. (Ars Technica)
+ A horrifying caller AI app swaps women into porn videos with a click. (MIT Technology Review)
+ Lensa’s AI avatars are concerning, particularly for women. (WSJ $)
6 Amazon is failing to fulfill its committedness to assistance Tijuana residents
It pledged to make the country surrounding its fulfillment center, but workers accidental thing has changed. (Rest of World)
7 This twelvemonth has been a spot of a mess
But hard information tin assistance america recognize why—and what to hole for adjacent year. (Vox)
8 Tech graduates are warring implicit excessively fewer jobs
Talented grads are acceptable to work, but hardly anyplace is hiring close now. (NBC)
9 Star gazing is successful jeopardy 🌌
Light contamination is to blame—and a batch of it is wholly unnecessary. (The Guardian)
10 What Match.com has learned astir love
It was the archetypal large dating tract to follow a technological attack to calculating a couple’s compatibility. (The Atlantic $)
+ Here’s however the net’s newest matchmakers assistance you find love. (MIT Technology Review)
Quote of the day
“It makes maine consciousness better. Happier; freer.”
—Julian Gough, an Irish writer who penned a poignant poem that displays erstwhile a subordinate finishes Minecraft, explains his determination to enactment it into the nationalist domain for anyone to use, Motherboard reports.
The large story
Minneapolis constabulary utilized fake societal media profiles to surveil Black people
April 2022
The Minneapolis Police Department violated civilian rights instrumentality done a signifier of racist policing practices, according to a damning study by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. The study recovered that officers stop, search, arrest, and usage unit against radical of colour astatine a overmuch higher complaint than achromatic people, and covertly surveilled Black radical not suspected of immoderate crimes via societal media.
The findings are accordant with MIT Technology Review’s probe of Minnesota instrumentality enforcement agencies, which has revealed an extended surveillance web that targeted activists successful the aftermath of the execution of George Floyd. Read the afloat story.
—Tate Ryan-Mosley and Sam Richards
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.)
+ Rock, paper, scissors is 1 of those games that demands your afloat attention.
+ Even geniuses request a hobby.
+ I emotion the stories down these pictures of The Cure.
+ Bar carts undeniably bring a interaction of people to immoderate room. Here’s what to banal yours with.
+ You’ve heard of velocity reading, but did you cognize that slow reading is besides a skill?
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