Plus: US temperatures are on the rise
That is at this time’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a each day dose of what is going on on on the earth of expertise.
Individuals are utilizing Google research software program to make AI podcasts—they usually’re bizarre and wonderful
Google’s new AI podcasting instrument, known as Audio Overview, has develop into a shock viral hit.
The podcasting characteristic was launched in mid-September as a part of NotebookLM, a year-old AI-powered analysis assistant. NotebookLM, which is powered by Google’s Gemini 1.5 mannequin, permits folks to add content material reminiscent of hyperlinks, movies, PDFs, and textual content. They will then ask the system questions in regards to the content material, and it gives quick summaries.
The instrument generates a podcast known as Deep Dive, which encompasses a male and a feminine voice discussing no matter you uploaded. The voices are breathtakingly sensible.
Sure, it’s cool—bordering on pleasant, even—however it’s also not immune from the issues that plague generative AI, reminiscent of hallucinations and bias. Listed below are a few of the foremost methods individuals are utilizing NotebookLM to this point.
—Melissa Heikkilä
A brand new regulation in California protects shoppers’ mind knowledge. Some assume it doesn’t go far sufficient.
On September 28, California grew to become the second US state to formally acknowledge the significance of psychological privateness in state regulation. Measuring mind exercise can reveal quite a bit about an individual—and that’s why neural knowledge must be protected.Mind knowledge is valuable. It’s not the identical as thought, however it may be used to work out how we’re pondering and feeling, and reveal our innermost preferences and needs. Jessica Hamzelou, our senior biotech reporter, has taken a have a look at how California’s regulation would possibly defend psychological privateness—and the way far we nonetheless should go. Learn the total story.
This story is from The Checkup, our weekly e-newsletter supplying you with the within monitor on all issues biotech. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Thursday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you at this time’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 The US is experiencing a few of its hottest October temperatures ever
And we’d higher get used to it. (Vox)
+ California is gripped by a brutal heatwave proper now. (USA In the present day)
+ The warmth is corresponding to the heights of July or August. (WP $)
2 An mRNA vaccine for hen flu is within the works
The virus is consistently altering and seems to be getting higher at transferring from human to human. (Wired $)
+ The virus has killed dozens of tigers in Vietnam zoos. (The Guardian)
+ Flu season is coming—and so is the danger of an all-new hen flu. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
3 Google is testing a brand new search verification characteristic
It’s designed to focus on reliable information sources among the many spam.(The Verge)
+ Why Google’s AI Overviews will get issues incorrect. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
4 AI will not be an all-knowing oracle
Some companies are discovering that out the laborious method. (WSJ $)
+ What’s AI? (MIT Expertise Assessment)
5 The Three Mile Island nuclear plant proprietor is in search of a $1.6 billion mortgage
It’s asking the Power Division for assist to reopen the ability. (WP $)
+ Why Microsoft made a deal to assist restart Three Mile Island. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
6 PayPal’s first enterprise transaction utilizing a stablecoin is full
The fee methodology is especially widespread in international locations with risky currencies. (Bloomberg $)
7 How NASA plans to interchange the ISS
Its commercial-built house stations have run into hassle. (Ars Technica)
+ NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is ready to search for life-friendly situations round Jupiter. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
8 What AI reveals about flies’ brains 🪰
And what it could possibly inform us about our personal thought processes. (Vice)
9 A stem cell transplant may assist to restore sight loss
A profitable research on a monkey suggests it may work in people. (New Scientist $)
10 Please, no extra apps!
The tedium of getting to obtain one more one is an excessive amount of to bear. (The Atlantic $)
Quote of the day
“Simply attempt discovering one thing else that has improved with age in house. I dare you.”
—Kathryn Sullivan, an astronaut who flew on the Hubble Area Telescope’s 1990 launch mission, tells IEEE Spectrum why the telescope is so exceptional.
The massive story
The standard oyster may maintain the important thing to restoring coastal waters. Builders hate it.
October 2023
Carol Buddy has taken on a tough job. She is without doubt one of the 10 folks in Delaware at the moment attempting to make it as a cultivated oyster farmer.
Her Salty Witch Oyster Firm holds a lease to develop the mollusks as a part of the state’s new program for aquaculture, launched in 2017. It has sputtered regardless of its apparent promise.
5 years after the primary farmed oysters went into the Inland Bays, the aquaculture business stays in a larval stage. Oysters themselves are nearly legendary of their means to wash and filter water. However human willpower, funding, and suppleness are all required to permit the oysters to easily do their factor—significantly when builders begin to object. Learn the total story.
—Anna Kramer
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 tweet ’em at me.)
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