Plus: US federal authorities staff are below renewed strain
That is right this moment’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 know-how.
Your boss is watching
Working right this moment—whether or not in an workplace, a warehouse, or your automotive—can imply fixed digital surveillance with little transparency, and doubtlessly with livelihood-ending penalties in case your productiveness flags.
However what issues much more than the results of this ubiquitous monitoring on privateness could also be how all that knowledge is shifting the relationships between staff and managers, corporations and their workforce.
We’re within the midst of a shift in work and office relationships as vital because the Second Industrial Revolution of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. And new insurance policies and protections could also be essential to appropriate the steadiness of energy. Learn the complete story.
—Rebecca Ackermann
One possibility for electrical car fires? Allow them to burn.
Though there isn’t strong knowledge on the frequency of EV battery fires, it’s no secret that these fires are occurring.
Regardless of that, producers supply no standardized steps on how one can battle them or keep away from them within the first place. What’s extra, with EVs, it’s by no means solely clear whether or not the hearth is actually out. Vehicles might ignite, or reignite, weeks and even months after the battery is broken or a battery fireplace is initially suppressed.
Patrick Durham, the proprietor of considered one of a rising variety of personal corporations serving to first responders learn to take care of lithium-ion battery security, has an answer. He believes that one of the best ways to handle EV fires proper now’s to allow them to burn. However such an strategy not solely goes in opposition to firefighters’ instincts—it’d require a big cultural shift. Learn the complete story.
—Maya L. Kapoor
These tales are from the subsequent version of our print journal, which is all about relationships. Subscribe now to learn it and get a duplicate of the journal when it lands on February 26!
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you right this moment’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Elon Musk is forcing US authorities staff to justify their jobs
Workers have to reply to an electronic mail by 11:59pm ET tonight or resign. (Wired $)
+ The brand new administration is concentrating on authorities overseas interference specialists. (NYT $)
+ It’s additionally waging warfare on what it deems “woke DEI analysis.” (Undark)
+ A US authorities shutdown could possibly be on the playing cards as quickly as this month. (NY Magazine $)
2 Grok was briefly blocked from telling the reality about Trump and Musk
An xAI worker acquired it to disregard sources that say the pair unfold misinformation. (The Verge)
+ An xAI engineering lead stated the transfer wasn’t in step with the corporate’s values. (TechCrunch)
3 The race to dominate satellite tv for pc web is heating up
Starlink has some main competitors. (Reuters)
+ Chinese language rocket agency Deep Blue Aerospace is eyeing an IPO. (WSJ $)
+ The world’s subsequent massive environmental downside may come from house. (MIT Expertise Overview)
4 Apple has pulled its knowledge safety instrument from the UK
After the UK authorities demanded backdoor entry. (BBC)
+ Different encrypted Apple companies are nonetheless accessible, although. (WP $)
5 How AI is altering coding
The outlook for software program builders is extra more likely to be evolution than extinction. (NYT $)
+ AI coding assistants aren’t at all times all they’re cracked as much as be. (TechCrunch)
+ The second wave of AI coding is right here. (MIT Expertise Overview)
6 Inside Fb’s plans to develop into cool once more
Sadly for the social community, you possibly can’t purchase cultural cachet. (The Data $)
+ How Fb acquired hooked on spreading misinformation. (MIT Expertise Overview)
7 The web is disappearing
Digital decay is setting in. What is going to survive of us?(Vox)
+ The race to avoid wasting our on-line lives from a digital darkish age. (MIT Expertise Overview)
8 The place are all of the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional apps?
The variety of apps made for the headset has declined each month because it went on sale. (CNBC)
9 How the web warped the that means of ‘lore’
From historical myths to oversharing on TikTok. (Quick Firm $)
10 Not the whole lot must be tracked
Information isn’t at all times energy in terms of your own home home equipment. (The Guardian)
Quote of the day
“We’re making an attempt to do artistic work, and AI is simply pushing perfection.”
—Lo Kalani, a Brooklyn-based hair stylist, explains to the Washington Submit why she has banned purchasers from presenting her with AI-generated inspirational photos.
The massive story
How one mine may unlock billions in EV subsidies
January 2024
On a pine farm north of the tiny city of Tamarack, Minnesota, Talon Metals has uncovered considered one of America’s densest nickel deposits—and now it desires to start extracting it.
If regulators approve the mine, it may mark the start line in what the corporate claims would develop into the nation’s first full home nickel provide chain, operating from the bedrock beneath the Minnesota earth to the batteries in electrical autos throughout the nation.
MIT Expertise Overview wished to supply a clearer sense of the legislation’s on-the-ground impression by zeroing in on a single mission and analyzing how these wealthy subsidies could possibly be unlocked at every level alongside the provision chain. Check out what we came upon.
—James Temple
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Received any concepts? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)
+ One of the simplest ways to be taught completely something extra shortly? That’ll be the Feynman method.
+ Right here’s how one can use lemongrass like a professional.
+ I didn’t realize it was attainable to make a recorder sing like this, however there you go.
+ Vampire {couples} endlessly! 🧛🏻❤️🧛🏻♂️
