10 months ago
129 It’s not each time that constabulary tempest done the doors of a technological league and eject fractional the audience. But that’s what happened connected Friday astatine the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center during a circular of technological presentations featuring Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a specializer successful “rejuvenation” exertion astatine a secretive, wealthy, anti-aging startup called Altos Labs.
Police ordered anyone without a spot to wide out, aft an overflow assemblage began jostling successful the aisles for abstraction and violating the building’s occurrence code. The brouhaha shows however excitement is gathering arsenic researchers uncover the secrets of life. Some, similar Belmonte, assertion they’ll yet radically widen it, by 40 years oregon more. Read the afloat story.
—Antonio Regalado
How sounds tin crook america connected to the wonders of the universe
Astronomy should, successful principle, beryllium a welcoming tract for unsighted researchers. But crossed the board, subject is afloat of charts, graphs, databases, and images that are designed to beryllium seen.
So researcher Sarah Kane, who is legally blind, was thrilled 3 years agone erstwhile she encountered a exertion known arsenic sonification, designed to alteration accusation into sound. Since past she’s been moving with a task called Astronify, which presents astronomical accusation successful audio form.
For millions of unsighted and visually impaired people, sonification could beryllium transformative—opening entree to education, to erstwhile unimaginable careers, and adjacent to the secrets of the universe. Read the afloat story.
—Corey S. Powell
Corey’s communicative is from the forthcoming people variation of MIT Technology Review, which is each astir accessibility. If you haven’t already, subscribe to marque definite you don’t miss retired connected aboriginal stories—subscriptions commencement from conscionable $80 a year.
Five large takeaways from Europe’s AI Act
Last week was a large 1 for tech argumentation successful Europe, aft the European Parliament voted to o.k. draught rules for its AI Act connected the aforesaid time EU lawmakers filed a caller antitrust suit against Google.
The AI Act ballot passed with an overwhelming majority, and has been heralded arsenic 1 of the world’s astir important developments successful AI regulation.
But don’t clasp your breath: it’ll instrumentality astir 2 years earlier the laws are really implemented. Tate Ryan-Mosley, our elder tech argumentation reporter, has dug into the large takeaways you should cognize about. Read the afloat story.
This communicative is from The Technocrat, Tate’s play newsletter covering argumentation and authorities successful Silicon Valley. Sign up to person it successful your inbox each Friday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.
1 Chatbots could usher successful a caller mode of conversing
As their quality to simulate chat rapidly improves, our expectations are shifting. (New Yorker $)
+ AI’s quality to nutrient and dispersed disinformation is frightening. (Wired $)
+ But AI could besides beryllium a utile validation tool. (FT $)
+ Can’t beryllium bothered to be an event? Send an AI mentation of yourself instead. (NYT $)
+ The wrong communicative of however ChatGPT was built from the radical who made it. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Intel has agreed to physique a spot mill successful Israel
Chipmakers are progressively keen to diversify their proviso chains beyond China. (Bloomberg $)
+ It's invested billions successful a caller German factory, too. (Economist $)
+ Meanwhile, Israel is moving connected a fiber-optic cablegram linking Europe and Asia. (Reuters)
+ These elemental plan rules could crook the spot manufacture connected its head. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Xi Jinping wants to supercharge China’s subject with tech
Which isn’t going to amended its already fraught narration with occidental powers. (FT $)
+ China’s system has had a roller coaster six months. (Economist $)
+ Why concern is booming for subject AI startups. (MIT Technology Review)
4 How Meta fumbled its aboriginal AI lead
Academic breakthroughs took precedence implicit consumer-facing products. (WSJ $)
+ Scams are scarily rife connected Meta’s platforms. (The Guardian)
5 People are taking termination medicine aboriginal successful pregnancy
Laws restricting entree to the pills are leaving immoderate with nary choice. (Vox)
+ The cognitive dissonance of watching the extremity of Roe unfold online. (MIT Technology Review)
6 Reddit’s communities are dying
The site’s absorption utilized to fearfulness upsetting users. Now, they don’t look to care. (NY Mag $)+ Its CEO is blessed to instrumentality the criticism, it seems. (The Verge)
7 What is crypto for, exactly?
A batch of its assets look primed for activities connected the incorrect broadside of the law. (The Atlantic $)
+ It’s good to opt retired of the crypto revolution. (MIT Technology Review)
8 This prima has been eating a satellite for decades
FU Orionis is connected people to afloat devour it sometime successful the adjacent 300 years. (New Scientist $)
9 San Francisco is getting truly into recycling h2o 💧
A connection of warning: don’t portion it. (Wired $)
10 Road tripping with an EV isn’t without its challenges 🚘
Come prepared. (The Information $)
+ And expect to jostle for a charger. (The Atlantic $)
Quote of the day
“What’s the woody with airplane food? The flavors are truthful plain. And the prices are sky-high.”
—Comedian Geulah Finman reads retired a gag written by ChatGPT during an AI drama nighttime successful San Francisco, the Washington Post reports.
The large story
The aboriginal of municipality lodging is energy-efficient refrigerators
June 2022
The aging apartments nether the purview of the New York City Housing Authority don’t shriek innovation. The largest landlord successful the city, lodging astir 1 successful 16 New Yorkers, NYCHA has seen its buildings virtually crumble aft decades of neglect. It would necessitate astatine slightest $40 cardinal to instrumentality the buildings to a authorities of bully repair.
Despite the standard of the challenge, NYCHA is hoping to hole them. It has launched a Clean Heat for All Challenge which asks manufacturers to make low-cost, easy-to-install heat-pump technologies for gathering retrofits. The stakes for the agency, the winning company, and for nine itself could beryllium huge—and bully for the planet. Read the afloat story.
—Patrick Sisson
We tin inactive person bully things
A spot for comfort, amusive and distraction successful these weird times. (Got immoderate ideas? Drop maine a line oregon tweet 'em astatine me.)
+ Neanderthals came up with an ingenious thought for an aboriginal signifier of glue: tar from trees.
+ A Mac OS desktop blanket? I’m into it.
+ These intense chess photographs are conscionable fantastic.
+ Despite its involvement successful the macabre, goth is 1 subculture that volition ne'er die.
+ I stake you can’t conjecture however Japanese calligraphy ink is made.
