This is in the present day’s version of The Download, our weekday publication that gives a day by day dose of what is going on on on the planet of know-how.
America’s first IVF child is pitching a approach to choose the DNA of your youngsters
Elizabeth Carr is head of economic growth at Genomic Prediction, a genetic testing startup that claims it is going to assess embryos created in IVF clinics for his or her future likelihood of frequent ailments and then rank them, so mother and father can choose the one with the most effective future.
It’s a controversial space that has some critics anguishing over the prospect of client eugenics. Still, phrase of the corporate’s “health scores” for embryos is spreading through media studies and as the corporate begins to advertise the exams to IVF clinics and at conferences.
Carr, who’s in control of gross sales and advertising and marketing, could be the right spokesperson. That’s as a result of she was the primary individual born by means of in vitro fertilization within the US again in 1981.Read the total story.
—Antonio Regalado
Inside Germany’s energy wrestle over nuclear vitality
Just a decade in the past, Germany was utilizing nuclear energy to satisfy a couple of quarter of its electrical energy demand. But earlier this month, the nation shut down the final of its nuclear energy vegetation, 60 years after the primary one started operation.
The reactions are blended. Some contemplate this a victory, cheering as Germany strikes away from an electrical energy supply they see as harmful and flawed. But others see it as a serious potential roadblock for local weather motion—whereas nuclear vegetation have been shuttered left and proper, coal energy has chugged alongside, offering an enormous chunk of the nation’s electrical energy and spewing emissions all of the whereas.
Germany’s true problem lies forward, because the nation tries to satisfy bold local weather objectives with out the regular electrical energy provide that nuclear gives. It additionally raises a serious query: what position ought to nuclear play within the local weather motion in the present day? Read the total story.
—Casey Crownhart
Casey’s story is from The Spark, her weekly publication providing you with the within monitor on all issues local weather and vitality. Sign up to obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you in the present day’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Twitter’s choice to axe blue checks has actual world penalties
False accounts impersonating police departments are rife. (NYT $)
+ It appears that it could’t falsely declare sure customers are paying for Twitter Blue in spite of everything. (Wired $)
+ The blue checks are quickly changing into a mark of the uncool. (NYT $)
2 What we will be taught from Japan’s moon touchdown failure
The majority of first-time moon missions finish in failure. (Economist $)
3 India needs to construct the world’s largest photo voltaic farms
The nation’s vitality calls for are big—and principally met by coal. (New Yorker $)
+ Yes, we now have sufficient supplies to energy the world with renewable vitality. (MIT Technology Review)
4 The US patent system is underneath risk
Largely as a result of AI can create issues all by itself. (FT $)
+ The US Supreme Court doesn’t need to problem patents to AI. (Reuters)
+ AI won’t steal your job, nevertheless it may change it. (MIT Technology Review)
5 How lengthy can people dwell, actually?
It’s more and more wanting like our analysis into longevity is misplaced. (Wired $)
+ Inside the billion-dollar assembly for the mega-rich who need to dwell eternally. (MIT Technology Review)
6 Apple’s push into banking comes with main dangers
Such programs can show irresistible to the financially weak. (Vox)
7 How knowledge brokers piece collectively who you’re
And promote that extremely private data to the best bidder. (Slate $)
8 China’s on-line sellers are out for revenge
+ Chinese platform Temu is increasing into Europe. (Reuters)
+ This obscure buying app is now America’s most downloaded. (MIT Technology Review)
9 Sludge movies are taking on TikTok
They’re chaotic and overwhelming: and followers simply can’t get sufficient. (NBC News)
10 Big Tech’s workplace perks are drying up
Even the famously lavish Google is tightening its purse strings. (The Atlantic $)
Quote of the day
“We take loads of money, make lovely cables and stick them in the bottom of the ocean. And by and large, they’ve worked for 150 years.”
—A deep sea cable skilled summarizes the mysterious nature of their business to the Financial Times.
The massive story
These unique satellite tv for pc photos present that Saudi Arabia’s sci-fi megacity is properly underway
December 2022
In early 2021, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia introduced The Line: a “civilizational revolution” that may home as much as 9 million individuals in a zero-carbon megacity, 170 kilometers lengthy and half a kilometer excessive however simply 200 meters vast. Within its mirrored, car-free partitions, residents could be whisked round in underground trains and electrical air taxis.
Satellite photos of the $500 billion undertaking obtained solely by MIT Technology Review present that the Line’s huge linear constructing website is already taking form. Visit The Line’s location on Google Maps and Google Earth, nevertheless, and you will note little greater than naked rock and sand.
The unusual hole in imagery raises questions on who will get to entry high-res satellite tv for pc know-how. And if the biggest city building website on the planet doesn’t seem on Google Maps, what else can’t we see? Read the total story.
—Mark Harris
We can nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre instances. (Got any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Here’s some enjoyable methods to inspire your self into exercising, for these instances once you simply can’t be bothered.
+ If you’re ever caught for someplace to go after hours in London, save this pub map.
+ Philly cheesesteaks are an enormous deal in Pakistan.
+ Good issues come to those that wait: particularly relating to evolutionary biology.
+ Why knights are referred to as knights—and different ruminations on chess items. ♟️
…. to be continued
Read the Original Article
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