Afrigather That is right now’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what is going on on on this planet of expertise.
Controversial CRISPR scientist guarantees “no extra gene-edited infants” till society comes round
He Jiankui, the Chinese language biophysicist whose controversial 2018 experiment led to the delivery of three gene-edited kids, says he’s returned to work on the idea of altering the DNA of individuals at conception, however with a distinction.
This time round, he says, he’ll limit his analysis to animals and nonviable human embryos. He is not going to attempt to create a being pregnant, no less than till society comes to just accept his imaginative and prescient for “genetic vaccines” towards frequent ailments.
Throughout an unique subscribers-only stay interview with MIT Expertise Assessment final week, He defended his previous analysis and revealed he solely has one remorse. Learn extra about what he needed to say.
—Antonio Regalado
From Meta CTO to local weather tech investor: Mike Schroepfer on his large pivot
The extra Mike Schroepfer realized extra about international warming in 2020, the extra he got here to imagine he had a task to play. By leveraging his technical experience and monetary sources, the then chief expertise officer of Meta may speed up important analysis and assist us put together for the escalating risks.
As the specter of local weather change consumed increasingly of his time, he determined to step down from his CTO position in 2021. He has since launched a number of new local weather tech initiatives, together with one exploring the contentious thought of photo voltaic geoengineering.
Final week, Schroepfer sat down with MIT Expertise Assessment to debate his strategy to the issue, why he’s keen to spend cash on controversial local weather interventions, and what AI and the presidential election may imply for progress on clear power. Learn the total story.
—James Temple
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you right now’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Elon Musk shared an edited video of Kamala Harris on X
In an obvious violation of the corporate’s personal guidelines on sharing artificial media. (WSJ $)
+ Musk did not disclose that the video had been altered. (NYT $)
+ Harris’ marketing campaign accused Musk of spreading ‘manipulated lies.’ (The Guardian)
+ An AI startup made a hyperrealistic deepfake of me that’s so good it’s scary. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
2 Apple has pushed again the launch of its AI options
Apple Intelligence will not roll out in September as initially deliberate. (Bloomberg $)
+ Hopefully this’ll give Apple extra time to catch bugs. (The Info $)
+ Apple is promising customized AI in a non-public cloud. Right here’s how that can work. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
3 The Democrats are looking for to construct bridges with the crypto business
Relations have been rocky up to now few years, to say the least. (FT $)
+ Donald Trump has already made a significant play for the bitcoin trustworthy. (Wired $)
+ A lot so, Trump-themed memecoins are again. (NYT $)
4 France’s web cables have been severed
It’s the most recent assault on the nation’s infrastructure throughout the Olympics. (Bloomberg $)
+ The French practice system was focused final week. (Vox)
5 We could have simply made an vital alien discovery
Sadly, we’ll have to attend till 2040 to make sure. (The Atlantic $)
6 Plug-and-play photo voltaic panels are all the craze in Germany
The light-weight panels are making it straightforward for civilians to generate their very own electrical energy. (NYT $)
+ Offshore wind farms are on the rise, too. (Hakai Journal)
+ The race to get next-generation photo voltaic expertise in the marketplace. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
7 China is eager to mine the ocean ground
The nation is determined to seek out new sources of crucial minerals. (Economist $)
+ This startup makes use of AI to hunt out metals deep within the floor. (WSJ $)
+ These deep-sea “potatoes” might be the way forward for mining for renewable power. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
8 Specialised relationship apps are thriving
Tinder and Bumble are out, Grindr and Feeld are in. (FT $)
9 It’s time to embrace ‘underconsumption core’
Gen Z consumers are turning their backs on pointless consumerism. (Insider $)
10 Silicon Valley startups are inviting founders to roast them
Blunt suggestions might be one of the best ways to keep away from costly future pitfalls—for those who can hack it. (WP $)
Quote of the day
“It’s not nearly posting a coconut meme — it’s about making the dialog about abortion.”
—Danielle Butterfield, the chief director of political motion committee Priorities USA, explains to the New York Instances how Kamala Harris ought to deal with her burgeoning on-line fandom.
The large story
This gas plant will use agricultural waste to fight local weather change
February 2022A startup known as Mote plans to construct a brand new sort of fuel-producing plant in California’s fertile Central Valley that may, if it really works as hoped, regularly seize and bury carbon dioxide, ranging from 2024.
It’s amongst a rising variety of efforts to commercialize an idea first proposed 20 years in the past as a method of combating local weather change, referred to as bioenergy with carbon seize and sequestration, or BECCS.
It’s an formidable plan. Nonetheless, there are severe challenges to doing BECCS affordably and in ways in which reliably suck down important ranges of carbon dioxide. Learn the total story.
—James Temple
