Plus: Meta has rolled again its pointers stopping anti-LGBTQIA+ hate speech
That is at this time’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a day by day dose of what is going on on on the earth of know-how.
How the US is making ready for a possible fowl flu pandemic
This week marks an odd anniversary—it’s 5 years since most of us first heard a few virus inflicting a mysterious “pneumonia.” A virus that we later discovered may trigger a illness referred to as covid-19. A virus that swept the globe and has since been reported to have been liable for over 7 million deaths—and counting.
We face the identical uncertainty now with fowl flu. We all know it might probably trigger extreme illness in animals, and we all know it might probably move from animals to people who find themselves in shut contact with them. As of this week, we additionally know that it might probably trigger extreme illness in individuals—a 65-year-old man in Louisiana grew to become the primary particular person within the US to die from an H5N1 an infection.
Scientists are more and more involved a few potential fowl flu pandemic. The query is, given all of the enduring uncertainty across the virus, what ought to we be doing now to arrange? Learn the total story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
This story is from The Checkup, our weekly well being and biotech publication. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Thursday.
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The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you at this time’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Meta’s new speech insurance policies enable the denigration of trans individuals
The revamped pointers now allow previously-forbidden insults and allegations. (Platformer $)
+ The modifications have left Meta’s staff feeling embarrassed and ashamed. (404 Media)
+ Axed fact-checkers held an emergency assembly after Meta mentioned it not required their providers. (Insider $)
2 The US Supreme Court docket will hear TikTok’s remaining plea
Justices are prone to make their resolution earlier than the top of subsequent week. (The Guardian)
+ If the ban is enacted, you possibly can in all probability nonetheless entry TikTok through a VPN. (NYT $)
+ ByteDance’s founder may very well be TikTok’s secret weapon. (The Data $)
3 These photos of the Hollywood signal burning are AI-generated
AI slop is making the Los Angeles fires seem even worse than they’re. (404 Media)
+ Elon Musk and Donald Trump aren’t serving to issues by spreading disinformation. (The Verge)
+ AI cameras are preserving tabs on the spreading destruction in California’s hills. (Insider $)
+ The dimensions of the destruction is actually horrifying. (NY Magazine $)
4 Final 12 months was formally the most well liked ever recorded
The typical world temperature exceeded 1.5°C above the pre-industrial baseline for the primary time. (New Scientist $)
+ Consequently, we’re edging nearer to breaching the Paris Settlement. (Politico)
5 The best way to forestall one other zoonotic pandemic
All of it hinges on early detection. (FT $)
6 Foxconn has stopped sending Chinese language staff to Indian iPhone factories
It’s unhealthy information for Apple, because it’s prone to disrupt manufacturing. (Remainder of World)
7 This new cell may change cosmetic surgery as we all know it
Lipochondrocytes have the rigidity of cartilage and the squishiness of fats. (Wired $)
+ Beauty surgical procedure is booming in middle-income nations. (Economist $)
8 Yandex’s co-founder is shaking off Putin
Arkady Volozh has condemned Russia’s actions within the conflict with Ukraine, and began a brand new firm. (Bloomberg $)
+ How Russia killed its tech business. (MIT Know-how Overview)
9 Grok is a standalone app now
It’s looking for an viewers past the X devoted. (WSJ $)
+ The corporate seems to be testing a separate web site, too. (TechCrunch)
10 PlayStation is experimenting with including smells to its video games 👃
Smells fishy to me. (Quick Firm $)
Quote of the day
“Social media is like constructing actual property on sand. You by no means know.”
—Joanne Molinaro, a former lawyer-turned TikTok chef, worries concerning the precarity of constructing a profession tied to a selected web platform, she tells CNN.
The large story
AI hype is constructed on excessive check scores. These checks are flawed.
August 2023
Up to now few years, a number of researchers declare to have proven that enormous language fashions can move cognitive checks designed for people, from working by way of issues step-by-step, to guessing what different individuals are considering.
These sorts of outcomes are feeding a hype machine predicting that these machines will quickly come for white-collar jobs. However there’s an issue: There’s little settlement on what these outcomes actually imply. Learn the total story.
—William Douglas Heaven
We are able to 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 Solar turned blue 200 years in the past and nobody knew why—till now.
+ There’s nothing higher than a surreal TV crossover (Arrested Improvement + Legislation & Order: SVU, anybody?)
+ Rye the truffle-hunting golden retriever is an excellent boy certainly (thanks Vincent!) 🍄🐕
+ I need to go to each single one among these unbelievable locations and eat all their meals.