1 year ago
151 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.
Brazilians are turning to Instagram to place far-right rioters
In the hours aft far-right insurrectionists trashed authorities buildings successful Brazil’s superior connected Sunday January 8, a caller relationship popped up connected Instagram.
Called Contragolpe Brasil, it rapidly started posting photos of alleged riot participants, reaching much than 1 cardinal followers successful conscionable 24 hours. The thought was to crowdsource accusation that could place “people who onslaught ideology successful Brazil,” making it easier for authorities to find and punish those who escaped apprehension connected the day.
Not agelong aft the relationship started posting, comments started to rotation in, including people’s afloat names, the cities and states wherever they live, and their Instagram handles. But trying to place criminals online tin beryllium risky, particularly if radical get it wrong. Read the afloat story.
—Jill Langlois
NASA’s instrumentality to the satellite is disconnected to a rocky start
Five decades aft antheral archetypal acceptable ft connected the moon, NASA has a program to nonstop astronauts back. The Artemis task aims to sojourn a caller country of the satellite and retrieve samples, this clip with caller faces down the prima visors—including the archetypal pistillate and archetypal idiosyncratic of color.
Whether this program volition succeed—and whether a caller satellite landing volition animate a caller “Artemis generation” successful abstraction exploration—is a substance of debate.
Although its archetypal ngo thundered into abstraction successful November, if thing goes wrong, oregon if the almighty Space Launch System rocket that carried it is deemed excessively costly oregon unsustainable, there’s a accidental the full satellite programme volition fail—or astatine slightest beryllium likewise judged. Read the afloat story.
—Rebecca Boyle
Rebecca’s portion is from the latest variation of our print magazine, dedicated to the latest cutting-edge technological innovations. Don’t miss aboriginal issues—sign up for a subscription.
TR10: Ancient DNA analysis
Scientists person agelong sought amended tools to survey teeth and bones from past humans. In the past, they’ve had to sift done countless past remains to find a illustration preserved good capable to analyze.
Now cheaper techniques and caller methods that marque damaged DNA legible to commercialized sequencers are powering a roar successful ancient DNA analysis—and uncovering extinct taxon on the way.
Ancient DNA investigation is conscionable 1 of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies, which we’re showcasing one-by-one successful The Download each day. You tin cheque retired the rest of the list for yourself, and vote successful our poll to assistance america determine what should marque our last 11th technology.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.1 China is bracing itself for a crisp spike successful covid cases
People volition mingle successful ample groups arsenic they observe the lunar caller year. (The Guardian)
+ The state has reported adjacent to 60,000 deaths linked to the virus. (NYT $)
+ China’s Paxlovid cyber scams are everywhere. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Open-source quality successful Ukraine is simply a double-edged sword
It tin some assistance and hinder warfare efforts. (Economist $)
+ How Ukrainian tech workers are moving against the backdrop of war. (The Verge)
3 Twitter appears to beryllium ditching third-party clients
External developers are furious they weren’t notified. (The Information $)
+ Laid-off workers can’t unite successful a people action, a justice has ruled. (Reuters)
+ Who’d marque a amended CEO than Elon Musk? (The Verge)
+ Twitter’s New York bureau is overrun with cockroaches. (Insider $)
4 Disgruntled investors are suing Virgin Galactic
They’re claiming that faults successful its craft weren’t decently disclosed. (The Guardian)
5 The precocious stakes of tracking hatred crimes successful India
Religious unit is connected the rise—and a information task that monitors it is nether threat. (WP $)
+ Saudi prosecutors privation to execute an world implicit his societal media use. (The Guardian)
6 The US government’s large stake connected chips is risky
It’s an enormously expensive—and ambitious—undertaking. (WSJ $)
+ Chinese chips volition support powering your mundane life. (MIT Technology Review)
7 England is cracking down connected single-use plastics
Say goodbye to disposable integrative plates and cutlery. (Engadget)
+ How chemists are tackling the plastics problem. (MIT Technology Review)
8 Students are bemused by Auburn University’s TikTok ban
Mainly due to the fact that it has an incredibly elemental workaround. (NYT $)
9 How El Salvador’s biggest gig system app crashed and burnt
Hugo was truthful palmy it kept adjacent Uber astatine bay—until it wasn’t. (Rest of World)
10 Not each AI-generated creation is impressive
In fact, rather a batch of it is beauteous rubbish. (The Atlantic $)
+ Artists are spearheading a people enactment against AI creation companies. (Kotaku)
+ Generative AI is changing everything. But what’s near erstwhile the hype is gone? (MIT Technology Review)
Quote of the day
“I would advocator not moving accelerated and breaking things.”
—Demis Hassabis, DeepMind’s co-founder and main executive, warns against experimenting excessively freely with AI successful an interrogation with Time.
The large story
China’s way to modernization has, for centuries, gone done my hometown
June 2021
For generations, politicians and intellectuals person sought ways to physique a beardown China. Some imported tools and ideas from the West. Others near for a amended education, but the homeland inactive beckoned.
Yangyang Cheng, a particle physicist astatine Yale Law School, is simply a merchandise of their analyzable legacy. She grew up successful Hefei, past a humble, medium-sized metropolis successful central-eastern China, which is present a budding metropolis with caller probe centers, manufacturing plants, and exertion startups. For 2 of the city’s proudest sons, calved a period apart, a beardown homeland equipped with subject and exertion was the aspiration of a lifetime. Cheng grew up with their stories. They thatch her astir the forces that propelled China’s rise, and the mode lives tin beryllium squeezed by the pressures of geopolitics. Read the afloat story.
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.)
+ What tin we larn astir TV characters done the books they’re reading?
+ Someone spent 3 months recreating Toto’s Africa successful Minecraft and I americium successful emotion (thanks Charlotte!)
+ Oh, to beryllium a starfish whisperer.
+ Why are we connected an eternal quest to coin adjacent much work jargon?
+ Don’t telephone it a comeback—redheads ne'er went retired of style.
