Afrigather Plus: X is suing a bunch of advertisers
That is at present’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a each day dose of what is going on on on this planet of expertise.
How covid conspiracies led to an alarming resurgence in AIDS denialism
A number of million individuals had been listening in February when Joe Rogan falsely declared that “social gathering medicine” had been an “necessary consider AIDS.” His visitor on The Joe Rogan Expertise, the previous evolutionary biology professor turned contrarian podcaster Bret Weinstein, agreed with him.
Chatting with the largest podcast viewers on this planet, the 2 males had been selling harmful and false concepts—concepts that had been in truth debunked and completely disproved many years in the past.
These feedback and others like them add as much as a small however unmistakable resurgence in AIDS denialism—a false assortment of theories arguing both that HIV doesn’t trigger AIDS or that there’s no such factor as HIV in any respect.
These claims had largely fallen out of favor till the coronavirus arrived. However, following the pandemic, a renewed suspicion of public well being figures and companies is giving new life to concepts that had way back been pushed to the margins. Learn the total story.
—Anna Merlan
AI “godfather” Yoshua Bengio has joined a UK venture to forestall AI catastrophes
What’s new: Yoshua Bengio, a Turing Award winner who is taken into account one of many “godfathers” of recent AI, is throwing his weight behind a venture funded by the UK authorities to embed security mechanisms into AI methods.
What’s it? The venture, known as Safeguarded AI, goals to construct an AI system that may examine whether or not different AI methods deployed in important areas are protected, and supply danger scores. Bengio is becoming a member of this system as scientific director and can present important enter and scientific recommendation.
Why it issues: Safeguarded AI hopes its efforts will assist to vary the established order of the AI business, nudging individuals constructing methods to suppose extra about their security, and their affect on the world. Learn the total story.
—Melissa Heikkilä
What to find out about China’s push for hydrogen-powered transportation
—Zeyi Yang
There’s a good likelihood you’ve heard of hydrogen-powered autos however by no means seen one. Over 18,000 are within the US, nearly completely in California. On the skin they appear similar to conventional autos, however they’re powered by electrical energy generated from a hydrogen gas cell, making them far cleaner and greener.
So after I realized that in components of China, corporations are placing hydrogen-powered bikes on the highway for anybody to experience, it was an actual “the longer term is right here” second for me.
Nevertheless, after I dug into it, I found that they haven’t precisely been getting rave evaluations. And, for clear power specialists, it’s a head-scratcher as to why these hydrogen bikes are being promoted within the first place. Learn the total story.
This story is from China Report, our weekly e-newsletter providing you with the within observe on all issues occurring in China. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Tuesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you at present’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 X is suing advertisers for boycotting it
An… attention-grabbing tactic, that’s for positive. (CNN)
+ Elon Musk is in opposition to authorities efforts to limit poisonous social media content material. (Bloomberg $)
+ X is refusing to take down posts that British officers deem a nationwide safety risk. (FT $)
2 The US is releasing safety algorithms to stave off quantum hacks
Governments and firms alike are unprepared for assaults on their encrypted information. (FT $)
+ A quantum error-reducing chip agency is elevating some severe money. (Bloomberg $)
+ Inside the search for unbreakable encryption. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
3 AI is shaking up India’s gigantic tech outsourcing business
Individuals whose jobs had been outsourced from the US at the moment are dealing with the identical risk from AI methods. (WSJ $)
4 Conspiracy theorists hate admitting they’re fallacious
In actual fact, they have an inclination to both gloss over their untruths, or double down. (NYT $)
+ Local weather change denial is a significant issue amongst US Congress. (The Guardian)
5 The Starliner astronauts are nonetheless caught in area
NASA is predicted to make an announcement at present with extra particulars. (Ars Technica)
+ SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission to the ISS has been delayed. (CNN)
6 Local weather change is affecting Earth’s elementary properties
To the extent it’s altered the planet’s place within the cosmos. (The Atlantic $)
7 Waymo’s robotaxi enterprise is increasing
It’s spreading out to cowl extra floor in San Francisco and Los Angeles. (The Verge)
+ What’s subsequent for robotaxis. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
8 Chinese language corporations are doing large enterprise within the world south
As China’s home financial system drops, companies are searching for clients elsewhere. (Economist $)
9 How AI is infiltrating reggae’s inventive sound clashes
AI vocalists are on the rise within the decades-old musical custom. (The Guardian)
+ Coaching AI music fashions is about to get very costly. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
10 What makes us distinctive?
Within the age of AI, it’s not such a simple query. (New Yorker $)
+ What’s AI? (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
Quote of the day
“We could have gotten probably the most out of it that we had been ever going to get.”
—Ted Egan, San Francisco’s chief economist, reacts to X’s resolution to depart the town to the Washington Put up.
The large story
How did life start?
November 2023
How life begins is without doubt one of the greatest and hardest questions in science. All we all know is that one thing occurred on Earth greater than 3.5 billion years in the past, and it might nicely have occurred on many different worlds within the universe as nicely.
We all know how advanced the setting was on primordial Earth, with chemical substances, metals, minerals, gases and waters all blasted round by winds and volcanic eruptions. However we don’t know precisely what did the trick.
Now, a number of researchers are harnessing synthetic intelligence to zero in on the profitable circumstances. The hope is that machine studying instruments will assist devise a common idea of the origins of life—one which applies not simply on Earth however on every other world. Learn the total story.
—Michael Marshall
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Obtained any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ This lion cub’s makes an attempt at roars are simply too cute.
+ On this present day in 1944, IBM IBM offered the primary program-controlled calculator, often called the Mark I, to Harvard College.
+ Cat Video Fest appears like the easiest of the web to me. ($)
+ Speaking of cats, reward be to the cat women who’re truly males.
