10 months ago
121 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.
The astonishing information astir which homes person vigor pumps
The news: Heat pumps, which usage energy to some vigor and chill homes, are present conscionable arsenic communal successful low-income households successful the US arsenic they are successful wealthier ones. This bucks the inclination among user clime technologies, galore of which are overmuch much apt to beryllium adopted by the wealthy.
Why it matters: Heating buildings is simply a immense clime problem—roughly 10% of planetary emissions travel from our efforts to support our indoor spaces comfortable. But portion governments are anxious for radical to follow caller appliances that could regenerate systems that pain fossil fuels, historically, specified changes haven’t been distributed equally. Heat pumps, astatine slightest successful the US, look to beryllium different. That’s bully news.
The large picture: The fig of households that trust connected vigor pumps is inactive small, and there’s nary warrant that they volition proceed to beryllium adopted astatine adjacent rates by households with antithetic incomes. But fiscal incentives could assistance to bring the outgo savings and clime advancement associated with vigor pumps to everyone, not conscionable the rich. Read the afloat story.
—Casey Crownhart
The Twitter accounts that impersonate Chinese celebrities for clout and cash
A increasing fig of Twitter accounts person been impersonating outspoken Chinese intellectuals oregon celebrities. Their posts, which often knock the Chinese government, often gully hundreds of thousands of followers earlier the deception is publically exposed.
Although Twitter has been banned successful China since 2009, much Chinese users person been accessing the level with VPN tools successful caller years. It’s besides go a spot rife with spam, scams, and contented farms, which has lone gotten worse nether Elon Musk’s reign. But the emergence of accounts that impersonate Chinese celebrities who don’t person a Twitter presence—likely to workplace followers—is a new, and worrying, trend. Read the afloat story.
—Zeyi Yang
Zeyi’s communicative is from China Report, his play newsletter giving you the wrong way connected each things China. 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 Reddit is doubling-down connected its arguable API plans
Its CEO is committed to pushing done the changes, successful spite of idiosyncratic pushback. (The Verge)
2 Microsoft has been temporarily blocked from buying Activision Blizzard
Which is bully quality for US regulators, and a stroke to Microsoft’s ambitions. (BBC)
3 Nvidia is officially a trillion dollar company
And request for its chips is showing nary signs of waning. (WSJ $)
+ Oracle’s prima is connected the rise, too. (Economist $)
+ These elemental plan rules could crook the spot manufacture connected its head. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Binance has pushed backmost against US regulators
The embattled crypto speech argued that its concern was successful information of folding. (NYT $)
5 NASA has designed a clime change-fighting plane
It’s lighter, faster, and a full batch much greenish than accepted airplanes. (Vox)
+ This is what’s keeping electrical planes from taking off. (MIT Technology Review)
6 How the 2024 US predetermination could play retired connected Twitter
Republican candidates are apt to get peculiar treatment, for starters. (New Yorker $)
7 Inside the contention to bring flying taxis to market
A fistful of companies are vying to beryllium the first—but information concerns abound. (FT $)
+ Saudi Arabia is launching a caller hose bearer successful 2025. (Bloomberg $)
+ These craft could alteration however we fly. (MIT Technology Review)
8 Silicon Valley’s jobseekers are pivoting to AI
While it’s inactive pugnacious to find a job, specializing successful AI is astute vocation future-proofing. (Bloomberg $)
+ Less brutal commutes would assistance to lure employees backmost to offices. (NY Mag $)
+ How ChatGPT volition revolutionize the economy. (MIT Technology Review)
9 We should effort to clasp the world’s noises 👂
Over-reliance connected noise-canceling tech tin permission america hypersensitive to the slightest sound. (Wired $)
10 Creator system start-ups are successful freefall 📉
Their hopes of capitalizing connected creators’ popularity person been dashed. (The Information $)
Quote of the day
“It’s a damn shade town.”
—Rachel Leamy, who runs a shoeshine concern successful San Francisco, tells the Washington Post however the once-vibrant metropolis is importantly emptier than it was pre-pandemic.
The large story
Why are products for older radical truthful ugly?
On a drizzly Tuesday day successful San Francisco, radical are filtering into a tiny league country appointed with a whiteboard and subdued black-and-white photography. They’re present to speech astir technology—a country that should beryllium wholly unremarkable successful a metropolis filled with tiny achromatic league rooms wherever radical are doing precisely the same.
The cardinal quality is that the mean property of the 11 women and 5 men gathered present is determination successful the mid-70s. They are the Longevity Explorers, portion of an experimentation to amended the mode exertion is developed for older adults.
Experts accidental older adults who inactive work, oregon who walk clip with younger household members who usage technology, are much apt to prime it up. Yet the database of lousy products for older radical is long—and advancement is incremental. Read the afloat story.
—Andy Wright
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.)
+ It turns retired that humans whitethorn person been knocking astir successful South-East Asia considerably longer agone than we antecedently thought.
+ This graphic home is similar surviving successful an edgy Patrick Caulfield screenprint.
+ What do manus models bash each day? Finally, immoderate answers!
+ Enjoy this cool footage of a bubble of plasma exploding successful beforehand of the sun.
+ While the Prohibition epoch whitethorn beryllium associated with alcohol, it turns retired it was a golden property for crystal cream. 🍦
