That is as we speak’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a every day dose of what’s happening on this planet of expertise.
How refrigeration ruined contemporary meals
Three-quarters of all the pieces within the common American eating regimen passes by means of the chilly chain—the community of warehouses, delivery containers, vans, show instances, and home fridges that hold meat, milk, and extra chilled on the journey from farm to fork.
As shoppers, we put lots of religion in phrases like “contemporary” and “pure,” however synthetic refrigeration has created a blind spot. We’ve gotten so good at preserving (and storing) meals, that we all know extra about the right way to lengthen an apple’s life span than a human’s, and most of us don’t give that extraordinary course of a lot thought in any respect.
Now we have used refrigeration to unravel issues however haven’t performed a real accounting of the environmental, dietary, and even sociocultural prices, creator Nicola Twilley argues in her new e-book Frostbite: How Refrigeration Modified Our Meals, Our Planet, and Ourselves. And all that comfort has come on the expense of variety and deliciousness. Learn the total story.
—Allison Arieff
This story is from the subsequent print concern of MIT Know-how Evaluation, which comes out tomorrow and delves into the strange world of meals. Should you don’t already, subscribe to obtain a replica as soon as it lands.
Would you belief AI to mediate an argument?
—Melissa Heikkilä
I’ve lately been feeling heartbroken. A detailed pal lately minimize off contact with me. I don’t actually perceive why, and my makes an attempt at fixing the state of affairs have backfired. Conditions like this are hurtful and complicated. So it’s no marvel that individuals are more and more turning to AI chatbots to assist resolve them. And there’s excellent news: AI would possibly really be capable of assist.
Researchers from Google DeepMind lately skilled a system of enormous language fashions to assist folks come to settlement over social or political points. The AI mannequin was skilled to determine and current areas the place folks’s concepts overlapped. With the assistance of this AI mediator, small teams of research contributors grew to become much less divided of their positions on numerous points.
The most effective makes use of for AI chatbots is for brainstorming, however this newest analysis suggests they may assist us to see issues from different folks’s views too. So why not use AI to patch issues up with my pal? Learn the total story.
This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly publication providing you with the within observe on all issues AI. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Monday.
What questions do you wish to learn about local weather expertise?
Do you could have any burning questions on local weather tech that you just’ve all the time wished to know? Effectively, we’ve acquired solutions. MIT Know-how Evaluation’s local weather staff is internet hosting an AMA (Ask Me Something) on Reddit as we speak at 1pm ET. Get your questions in now!
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you as we speak’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Rupert Murdoch’s information retailers are suing AI search engine Perplexity
They accuse it of “freeriding” on their content material. (The Register)
+ They’re arguing that hallucinating information and attributing it to actual papers is illegitimate. (Wired $)
+ Conveniently, Murdoch’s Information Corp agreed a serious take care of OpenAI earlier this 12 months. (CNN)
2 Kamala Harris is dealing with an onslaught of on-line assaults
Because the US Presidential election approaches, she’s the goal of a contemporary wave of abuse and false claims. (WP $)
+ Ladies’s well being startups are nervous concerning the potential of Trump’s reelection. (Insider $)
3 ByteDance accused an intern of sabotaging its AI fashions
By planting malicious code to intervene with coaching duties. (Ars Technica)
+ Rumors concerning the sacking had been circulating throughout Chinese language social media. (The Guardian)
4 The Pentagon is seeking to recruit high tech minds
However can it persuade them to swap Silicon Valley for the Protection Division? (WSJ $)
+ Protection contractors are fixated on drone-destroying laser weapons. (FT $)
5 The rise and fall of a Kentucky bitcoin mine
The venture was presupposed to usher in prosperity, however it by no means even acquired off the bottom. (Wired $)
+ How Bitcoin mining devastated this New York city. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
6 Arkansas is perhaps sitting on tons of lithium
It’s absolutely solely a countdown till the exploratory mining begins now. (NYT $)
+ Residents in Hungary are combating authorities plans for battery crops. (Remainder of World)
7 India is eager to be a part of the EV revolution
The issue is, it hasn’t acquired sufficient of the automobiles. (Remainder of World)
+ Chinese language-made EVs are flooding into the EU. (Bloomberg $)
+ Some nations are ending help for EVs. Is it too quickly? (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
8 Estonia’s authorities is revisiting its defunct reactors
To research their potential as nuclear waste storage websites. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ Why Microsoft made a deal to assist restart Three Mile Island. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
9 Don’t filter out your cellphone’s picture library
Photographing scenes of on a regular basis life are literally fairly particular in any case. (New Yorker $)
+ The race to avoid wasting our on-line lives from a digital darkish age. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
10 All hail comedian sans
The much-derived font is having the final snigger. (The Atlantic $)
Quote of the day
“Perplexity proudly states that customers can ‘skip the hyperlinks’— apparently, Perplexity needs to skip the test.”
—Robert Thomson, CEO of writer Information Corp, accuses AI search engine Perplexity of dodging paying for its journalism in a brand new lawsuit, Selection reviews.
The large story
How tradition drives foul play on the web, and the way new “upcode” can shield us
August 2023
From Bored Apes and Fancy Bears, to Shiba Inu cash, self-replicating viruses, and whales, the web is crawling with fraud, hacks, and scams.
And whereas new applied sciences come and go, they alter little about the truth that on-line unlawful operations exist as a result of some individuals are prepared to behave illegally, and others fall for the tales they inform.
In the end, on-line crime is a human story. Three new books provide explanations into why it occurs, why it really works, and the way we will shield ourselves from falling for such schemes—regardless of how convincing they’re. Learn the total story.
—Rebecca Ackermann
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.)
+ Cease—you’re cleansing your glasses all mistaken! Right here’s the right way to do it correctly, free from smudges.
+ Twenties Vampires! Tom Holland! Christopher Nolan! We’re in.
+ All of us get distracted typically, however overcoming it’s all about sustaining momentum.
+ Andrew Garfield has acquired nice style in motion pictures.
