That is immediately’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what’s happening on the earth of expertise.
How refrigeration ruined contemporary meals
Three-quarters of the whole lot within the common American weight-reduction plan passes by means of the chilly chain—the community of warehouses, delivery containers, vans, show instances, and home fridges that preserve meat, milk, and extra chilled on the journey from farm to fork.
As shoppers, we put lots of religion in phrases like “contemporary” and “pure,” however synthetic refrigeration has created a blind spot. We’ve gotten so good at preserving (and storing) meals, that we all know extra about the best way to lengthen an apple’s life span than a human’s, and most of us don’t give that extraordinary course of a lot thought in any respect.
Now we have used refrigeration to resolve issues however haven’t accomplished a real accounting of the environmental, dietary, and even sociocultural prices, writer Nicola Twilley argues in her new ebook Frostbite: How Refrigeration Modified Our Meals, Our Planet, and Ourselves. And all that comfort has come on the expense of variety and deliciousness. Learn the total story.
—Allison Arieff
This story is from the subsequent print challenge of MIT Know-how Assessment, which comes out tomorrow and delves into the extraordinary world of meals. When you don’t already, subscribe to obtain a replica as soon as it lands.
Would you belief AI to mediate an argument?
—Melissa Heikkilä
I’ve lately been feeling heartbroken. A detailed pal lately reduce off contact with me. I don’t actually perceive why, and my makes an attempt at fixing the scenario have backfired. Conditions like this are hurtful and complicated. So it’s no surprise that individuals are more and more turning to AI chatbots to assist clear up them. And there’s excellent news: AI may truly be capable of assist.
Researchers from Google DeepMind lately skilled a system of enormous language fashions to assist individuals come to settlement over social or political points. The AI mannequin was skilled to establish and current areas the place individuals’s concepts overlapped. With the assistance of this AI mediator, small teams of research members grew to become much less divided of their positions on numerous points.
The most effective makes use of for AI chatbots is for brainstorming, however this newest analysis suggests they may assist us to see issues from different individuals’s views too. So why not use AI to patch issues up with my pal? Learn the total story.
This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly e-newsletter providing you with the within observe on all issues AI. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Monday.
What questions do you need to find out about local weather expertise?
Do you could have any burning questions on local weather tech that you simply’ve at all times needed to know? Nicely, we’ve acquired solutions. MIT Know-how Assessment’s local weather group is internet hosting an AMA (Ask Me Something) on Reddit immediately at 1pm ET. Get your questions in now!
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you immediately’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Rupert Murdoch’s information retailers are suing AI search engine Perplexity
They accuse it of “freeriding” on their content material. (The Register)
+ They’re arguing that hallucinating information and attributing it to actual papers is illegitimate. (Wired $)
+ Conveniently, Murdoch’s Information Corp agreed a significant cope with OpenAI earlier this 12 months. (CNN)
2 Kamala Harris is dealing with an onslaught of on-line assaults
Because the US Presidential election approaches, she’s the goal of a contemporary wave of abuse and false claims. (WP $)
+ Ladies’s well being startups are nervous concerning the potential of Trump’s reelection. (Insider $)
3 ByteDance accused an intern of sabotaging its AI fashions
By planting malicious code to intervene with coaching duties. (Ars Technica)
+ Rumors concerning the sacking had been circulating throughout Chinese language social media. (The Guardian)
4 The Pentagon is seeking to recruit prime tech minds
However can it persuade them to swap Silicon Valley for the Protection Division? (WSJ $)
+ Protection contractors are fixated on drone-destroying laser weapons. (FT $)
5 The rise and fall of a Kentucky bitcoin mine
The undertaking was alleged to usher in prosperity, but it surely by no means even acquired off the bottom. (Wired $)
+ How Bitcoin mining devastated this New York city. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
6 Arkansas could be sitting on tons of lithium
It’s absolutely solely a countdown till the exploratory mining begins now. (NYT $)
+ Residents in Hungary are combating authorities plans for battery crops. (Remainder of World)
7 India is eager to be a part of the EV revolution
The issue is, it hasn’t acquired sufficient of the automobiles. (Remainder of World)
+ Chinese language-made EVs are flooding into the EU. (Bloomberg $)
+ Some international locations are ending assist for EVs. Is it too quickly? (MIT Know-how Assessment)
8 Estonia’s authorities is revisiting its defunct reactors
To research their potential as nuclear waste storage websites. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ Why Microsoft made a deal to assist restart Three Mile Island. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
9 Don’t filter your cellphone’s photograph library
Photographing scenes of on a regular basis life are literally fairly particular in any case. (New Yorker $)
+ The race to avoid wasting our on-line lives from a digital darkish age. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
10 All hail comedian sans
The much-derived font is having the final snicker. (The Atlantic $)
Quote of the day
“Perplexity proudly states that customers can ‘skip the hyperlinks’— apparently, Perplexity desires to skip the examine.”
—Robert Thomson, CEO of writer Information Corp, accuses AI search engine Perplexity of dodging paying for its journalism in a brand new lawsuit, Selection stories.
The large story
How tradition drives foul play on the web, and the way new “upcode” can defend us
August 2023
From Bored Apes and Fancy Bears, to Shiba Inu cash, self-replicating viruses, and whales, the web is crawling with fraud, hacks, and scams.
And whereas new applied sciences come and go, they modify little about the truth that on-line unlawful operations exist as a result of some individuals are keen to behave illegally, and others fall for the tales they inform.
Finally, on-line crime is a human story. Three new books supply explanations into why it occurs, why it really works, and the way we are able to defend ourselves from falling for such schemes—irrespective of how convincing they’re. Learn the total story.
—Rebecca Ackermann
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Obtained any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Cease—you’re cleansing your glasses all flawed! Right here’s the best way to do it correctly, free from smudges.
+ Twenties Vampires! Tom Holland! Christopher Nolan! We’re in.
+ All of us get distracted generally, however overcoming it’s all about sustaining momentum.
+ Andrew Garfield has acquired nice style in films.