That is right this moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a every day dose of what is going on on on this planet of expertise.
A protracted-abandoned US nuclear expertise is making a comeback in China
China has as soon as once more beat everybody else to a clear power milestone—its new nuclear reactor is reportedly one of many first to make use of thorium as a substitute of uranium as a gas and the primary of its variety that may be refueled whereas it’s working.
It’s an fascinating (if decidedly experimental) growth out of a rustic that’s edging towards changing into the world chief in nuclear power. China has now surpassed France by way of era, although not capability; it nonetheless lags behind the US in each classes. However one recurring theme in media protection in regards to the reactor struck me, as a result of it’s so acquainted: This expertise was invented many years in the past, after which deserted.
And this one analysis reactor in China working with an alternate gas says loads about this second for nuclear power expertise: Many teams are wanting into the previous for applied sciences, with a brand new urge for food for constructing them. Learn the complete story.
—Casey Crownhart
This text is from The Spark, MIT Know-how Evaluation’s weekly local weather publication. To obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday, join right here.
Love or immortality: A brief story
On this quick fiction story from the most recent version of our print journal, author Alexandra Chang imagines what would possibly occur to some’s relationship when one particular person needs to stay life to the fullest, whereas one other needs to stay endlessly. Learn the complete story and in the event you aren’t already a subscriber, join now to get the subsequent version of the print journal.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you right this moment’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 RFK Jr needs to vary how new vaccines are examined
Medical specialists are involved the shift will curtail entry to the jabs. (WP $)
+ He has additionally overseen the closure of a long-running diabetes research. (New Yorker $)
+ America’s public well being disaster is worsening. (The Atlantic $)
2 Sam Altman’s biometric World mission has launched within the US
It has been dogged by privateness and safety issues in different nations. (FT $)
+ It payments its Orb gadgets as highly effective identity-verification instruments. (Bloomberg $)
+ In reality, it’s partnering with Match Group to confirm customers are who they are saying they’re. (Wired $)
+ How the corporate recruited its first half one million check customers. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
3 Tesla was reportedly on the lookout for a brand new CEO
A tough few months allegedly pushed the agency to seek for Elon Musk’s successor. (WSJ $)
+ However the firm was fast to disclaim the report. (The Guardian)
+ In the meantime, Musk has insisted he’ll proceed engaged on DOGE. (Semafor)
4 A decide has ordered Apple to loosen its grip on the App Retailer
The ruling spells the tip of a five-year antitrust case. (NYT $)
+ Because of this, Fortnite will return to the US iOS App Retailer. (Selection $)
5 Local weather change is worsening our eye well being
Widespread eye issues are linked with warmth and better UV publicity. (Knowable Journal)
6 Instagram’s AI chatbots are claiming to be licensed therapists
And can fortunately make up {qualifications}. (404 Media)
+ However the primary trial of generative AI remedy reveals it’d assist with despair. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
7 US drug overdoses are lastly declining
However the Trump administration threatens to undo that progress. (Vox)
+ How the federal authorities is monitoring modifications within the provide of road medication. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
8 Younger Brazilians dream of changing into social media stars
However TikTok is being investigated for monetizing them after they don’t have the correct to work. (Remainder of World)
+ Meet the wannabe kidfluencers struggling for stardom. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
9 Duolingo has launched 148 AI-powered language programs
Simply days after asserting its plans to switch human staff. (TechCrunch)
10 The BBC created a deepfake of Agatha Christie
49 years after her demise, the crime creator is instructing on-line writing lessons. (The Verge)
+ An AI startup made a hyperrealistic deepfake of me that’s so good it’s scary. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
Quote of the day
“The sacrifice to analysis is immense.”
—Gigi Kwik Gronvall, a senior scholar on the Johns Hopkins Heart for Well being Safety, explains the implications of the Trump administration’s resolution to pressure a well being division centered on learning lethal infectious ailments to stop working to Wired.
Yet one more factor
The flawed logic of dashing out excessive local weather optionsEarly in 2022, entrepreneur Luke Iseman says, he launched a pair of sulfur dioxide–stuffed climate balloons from Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, within the hope that they’d burst miles above Earth.
It was a trivial act in itself, successfully a tiny, DIY act of photo voltaic geoengineering, the controversial proposal that the world might counteract local weather change by releasing particles that replicate extra daylight again into area.
Entrepreneurs like Iseman invoke the stark risks of local weather change to elucidate why they do what they do—even when they don’t know the way efficient their interventions are. However specialists say that urgency doesn’t create a social license to disregard the underlying risks or leapfrog the scientific course of. Learn the complete story.
—James Temple
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)
+ The oldest girl on this planet, 115-year outdated Ethel Might Caterham, is the final recognized surviving topic of Edward VII.
+ Nice information for axolotl lovers: a captive-bred group of the little amphibians can thrive within the wild.
+ Thor Pedersen spent virtually a decade travelling the world with out flying.
+ The fifth annual European Gull Screeching Championship didn’t disappoint.
