That is in the present day’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a every day dose of what’s occurring on this planet of expertise.
Possibly it is possible for you to to dwell previous 122
How lengthy can people dwell? This can be a good time to ask the query. The longevity scene is having a second, because of a mix of scientific advances, public curiosity, and an unprecedented degree of funding. Just a few key areas of analysis counsel that we would be capable of push human life spans additional, and probably reverse not less than some indicators of getting old.
Researchers can’t even agree on what the precise mechanisms of getting old are and which they need to be concentrating on. Debates proceed to rage over how lengthy it’s attainable for people to dwell—and whether or not there’s a restrict in any respect.
Nevertheless it appears seemingly that one thing shall be developed within the coming a long time that can assist us dwell longer, in higher well being. Learn the total story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
This piece is from the forthcoming print difficulty of MIT Expertise Evaluation, which is celebrating 125 years of the journal! It’s set to go dwell tomorrow, so when you don’t already, subscribe now to pay money for future copies as soon as they land.
AI and the way forward for intercourse
Pornography raises so many questions. What’s obscene? What is moral or secure to observe? We don’t need to eat and even assist it, however porn nonetheless calls for solutions. The query now’s: What’s “actual” porn?
What if porn is wholly created by an algorithm? In that case, whether or not it’s obscene, moral, or secure turns into secondary to What does it imply for porn to be “actual”—and what’s going to the reply demand from all of us? Learn the total story.
—Leo Herrera
A skeptic’s information to humanoid-robot movies
We live in “humanoid robotic summer season” proper now, when you didn’t know. Seemingly each week brings a brand new moody, futuristic video that includes a humanoid robotic staring intensely (and generally unnervingly) into the digicam, leaping round, or sorting issues into piles. Generally they even communicate.
However what do they present, precisely? James O’Donnell, our AI and {hardware} reporter, has watched dozens of them this yr, and steadily oscillates between being impressed, scared, and bored. Learn his information to what it’s best to, and crucially shouldn’t, be excited by.
This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly publication supplying you with the within monitor on all issues AI. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Monday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you in the present day’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Telegram’s founder was arrested as a part of a much bigger investigation
Authorities are trying into the huge portions of prison exercise on the platform. (The Guardian)
+ Pavel Durov has a famously hands-off method to moderation. (NYT $)
+ Telegram is the one main platform that fails to ban unlawful materials in personal chats. (WP $)
2 Amazon is poised to launch a brand new and improved Alexa
However you’ll need to pay to make use of it. (WP $)
3 China’s chip materials export restrictions are biting within the West
Costs of scarce important minerals are rocketing in Europe. (FT $)
+ What’s subsequent in chips. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
4 Fb will resist future moderation strain from the US authorities
Mark Zuckerberg says he regrets not talking out extra concerning the Biden administration’s efforts to power the platform to censor covid content material. (WSJ $)
+ He received’t contribute to supporting electoral infrastructure, both. (FT $)
5 Upstate New York is posed to develop into a quantum computing hub
If Nvidia co-founder Curtis Priem will get his manner, that’s. (The Guardian)
+ PsiQuantum plans to construct the largest quantum computing facility within the US. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
6 Scientific fraud has a staggering loss of life toll
Falsified information prices lives. Ought to its authors face prison penalties? (Vox)
7 Tesla’s rivals are nonetheless unable to make use of its supercharger community
Regardless of Elon Musk’s guarantees that they’d 12 months in the past. (NYT $)
+ Why EV charging wants greater than Tesla. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
8 The US is doubling down on sewer surveillance
In a bid to trace the unfold of illicit pharmaceuticals. (The Atlantic $)
+ How scientists traced a mysterious covid case again to 6 bathrooms. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
9 This audio safety startup claims it will probably establish an AI spam name
Pindrop Safety traced the origin of the Joe Biden audio deepfake earlier this yr. (Bloomberg $)
+ Meta has created a approach to watermark AI-generated speech. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
10 Spotify is rife with faux bands
Their proliferation will make it even more durable for human artists to make a dwelling. (Slate $)
Quote of the day
“I may all the time be flawed. I’ve been flawed earlier than. And I believe each astrologer has been flawed earlier than.”
—Social media astrologer Amy Tripp tells Wired about her prediction that Donald Trump will win the forthcoming US Presidential election.
The large story
The open-source AI increase is constructed on Massive Tech’s handouts. How lengthy will it final?
In Could 2023 a leaked memo reported to have been written by Luke Sernau, a senior engineer at Google, mentioned out loud what many in Silicon Valley should have been whispering for weeks: an open-source free-for-all is threatening Massive Tech’s grip on AI.
New open-source massive language fashions—options to Google’s Bard or OpenAI’s ChatGPT that researchers and app builders can research, construct on, and modify—are dropping like sweet from a piñata. These are smaller, cheaper variations of the best-in-class AI fashions created by the massive corporations that (virtually) match them in efficiency—and so they’re shared without spending a dime.
In some ways, that’s a very good factor. AI received’t thrive if only a few mega-rich firms get to gatekeep this expertise or resolve how it’s used. However this open-source increase is precarious, and if Massive Tech decides to close up store, a boomtown may develop into a backwater. Learn the total story.
—Will Douglas Heaven
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Bought any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Completely satisfied Oasis reunion day to all those that have fun!
+ In the event you’re heading into the good outside for the final time this summer season, right here’s how one can take advantage of tenting. 
+ The Web Archive is a fairly wonderful useful resource: do you know you need to use it to play arcade video games?
+ There’s drama unfolding in your again backyard, you simply have to know the place to look.