That is at this time’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 recent meals
Three-quarters of every part within the common American weight-reduction plan passes via the chilly chain—the community of warehouses, delivery containers, vans, show circumstances, and home fridges that maintain meat, milk, and extra chilled on the journey from farm to fork.
As shoppers, we put a whole lot of religion in phrases like “recent” 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 easy methods 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.
We now have used refrigeration to resolve issues however haven’t carried out a real accounting of the environmental, dietary, and even sociocultural prices, creator 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 range and deliciousness. Learn the total story.
—Allison Arieff
This story is from the following print subject of MIT Expertise Evaluation, which comes out tomorrow and delves into the strange world of meals. In case you don’t already, subscribe to obtain a duplicate as soon as it lands.
Would you belief AI to mediate an argument?
—Melissa Heikkilä
I’ve lately been feeling heartbroken. A detailed buddy 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 resolve them. And there’s excellent news: AI may really be capable to assist.
Researchers from Google DeepMind lately skilled a system of huge language fashions to assist folks come to settlement over social or political points. The AI mannequin was skilled to establish and current areas the place folks’s concepts overlapped. With the assistance of this AI mediator, small teams of research members turned much less divided of their positions on varied points.
Probably the greatest makes use of for AI chatbots is for brainstorming, however this newest analysis suggests they might assist us to see issues from different folks’s views too. So why not use AI to patch issues up with my buddy? 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 learn about local weather expertise?
Do you might have any burning questions on local weather tech that you just’ve at all times wished to know? Effectively, we’ve bought solutions. MIT Expertise Evaluation’s local weather workforce is internet hosting an AMA (Ask Me Something) on Reddit at this time at 1pm ET. Get your questions in now!
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you at this time’s most enjoyable/vital/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 prohibited. (Wired $)
+ Conveniently, Murdoch’s Information Corp agreed a serious cope with OpenAI earlier this 12 months. (CNN)
2 Kamala Harris is going through an onslaught of on-line assaults
Because the US Presidential election approaches, she’s the goal of a recent wave of abuse and false claims. (WP $)
+ Girls’s well being startups are nervous in regards to 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 in regards to the sacking had been circulating throughout Chinese language social media. (The Guardian)
4 The Pentagon is seeking to recruit high 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 mission was alleged to usher in prosperity, but it surely by no means even bought off the bottom. (Wired $)
+ How Bitcoin mining devastated this New York city. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
6 Arkansas could be sitting on tons of lithium
It’s certainly solely a countdown till the exploratory mining begins now. (NYT $)
+ Residents in Hungary are preventing 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 bought sufficient of the automobiles. (Remainder of World)
+ Chinese language-made EVs are flooding into the EU. (Bloomberg $)
+ Some nations are ending assist for EVs. Is it too quickly? (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
8 Estonia’s authorities is revisiting its defunct reactors
To analyze their potential as nuclear waste storage websites. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ Why Microsoft made a deal to assist restart Three Mile Island. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
9 Don’t filter out your cellphone’s photograph library
Photographing scenes of on a regular basis life are literally fairly particular in spite of everything. (New Yorker $)
+ The race to save lots of our on-line lives from a digital darkish age. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
10 All hail comedian sans
The much-derived font is having the final snort. (The Atlantic $)
Quote of the day
“Perplexity proudly states that customers can ‘skip the hyperlinks’— apparently, Perplexity desires to skip the test.”
—Robert Thomson, CEO of writer Information Corp, accuses AI search engine Perplexity of dodging paying for its journalism in a brand new lawsuit, Selection reviews.
The large story
How tradition drives foul play on the web, and the way new “upcode” can shield 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 alter little about the truth that on-line unlawful operations exist as a result of some individuals are prepared to behave illegally, and others fall for the tales they inform.
Finally, on-line crime is a human story. Three new books provide explanations into why it occurs, why it really works, and the way we are able to shield ourselves from falling for such schemes—regardless of how convincing they’re. Learn the total story.
—Rebecca Ackermann
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Received any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Cease—you’re cleansing your glasses all incorrect! Right here’s easy methods to do it correctly, free from smudges.
+ Nineteen 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 bought nice style in films.
