That is right this moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a each day dose of what’s occurring on the earth of expertise.
How refrigeration ruined recent meals
Three-quarters of every little thing within the common American weight loss plan passes by way of the chilly chain—the community of warehouses, transport containers, vans, show circumstances, and home fridges that hold meat, milk, and extra chilled on the journey from farm to fork.
As shoppers, we put a number 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 how one can 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 have now used refrigeration to unravel issues however haven’t completed a real accounting of the environmental, dietary, and even sociocultural prices, writer Nicola Twilley argues in her new e-book 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 subsequent print difficulty of MIT Expertise Assessment, which comes out tomorrow and delves into the extraordinary world of meals. When 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 not too long ago been feeling heartbroken. An in depth good friend not too long ago lower 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 really be capable to assist.
Researchers from Google DeepMind not too long ago educated a system of enormous language fashions to assist folks come to settlement over social or political points. The AI mannequin was educated to establish and current areas the place folks’s concepts overlapped. With the assistance of this AI mediator, small teams of examine members grew to become much less divided of their positions on numerous points.
Top-of-the-line 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 good friend? Learn the total story.
This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly e-newsletter supplying you with the within monitor on all issues AI. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Monday.
What questions do you wish to learn about local weather expertise?
Do you have got any burning questions on local weather tech that you simply’ve all the time wished to know? Effectively, we’ve acquired solutions. MIT Expertise Assessment’s local weather group is internet hosting an AMA (Ask Me Something) on Reddit right this moment at 1pm ET. Get your questions in now!
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you right this moment’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 against the law. (Wired $)
+ Conveniently, Murdoch’s Information Corp agreed a significant take care of 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 recent wave of abuse and false claims. (WP $)
+ Ladies’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 purported to usher in prosperity, however it by no means even acquired off the bottom. (Wired $)
+ How Bitcoin mining devastated this New York city. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
6 Arkansas may 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 vegetation. (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 autos. (Remainder of World)
+ Chinese language-made EVs are flooding into the EU. (Bloomberg $)
+ Some nations are ending help for EVs. Is it too quickly? (MIT Expertise Assessment)
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 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 save lots of our on-line lives from a digital darkish age. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
10 All hail comedian sans
The much-derived font is having the final snigger. (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 studies.
The massive 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 modify 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.
In the end, on-line crime is a human story. Three new books supply explanations into why it occurs, why it really works, and the way we will 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. (Bought any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Cease—you’re cleansing your glasses all mistaken! Right here’s how one can 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.