This is right now’s version of The Download, our weekday publication that gives a every day dose of what’s occurring on this planet of know-how.
Why recycling alone can’t energy local weather tech
The potential to make use of previous, discarded merchandise to make one thing new sounds just a little bit like magic. This is why, in some circumstances not less than, recycling goes to be an important device for local weather know-how.
But there are large challenges forward in materials demand for local weather applied sciences, and sadly, recycling alone gained’t be sufficient to deal with them. Our local weather reporter Casey Crownhart has taken a take a look at why recycling isn’t at all times the reply—and what else would possibly assist as a substitute. Read the total story.
This story is from The Spark, our weekly publication overlaying local weather know-how. Sign up to obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday.
This robotic can tidy a room with none assist
The information: A brand new robotic system known as OK-Robot might practice robots to select up and transfer objects in settings they haven’t encountered earlier than. A robotic operating the system, which makes use of publicly-available AI fashions, was capable of decide up and transfer objects round a room with an 58.5% success fee—rising to 82% in rooms that had been much less cluttered.
Why it issues: While robots might simply full duties like these in a laboratory, getting them to work in an unfamiliar surroundings is an actual problem. OK-Robot might assist to plug the hole between quickly enhancing AI fashions and precise robotic capabilities, because it doesn’t require any extra coaching. Read the total story.
—Rhiannon Williams
If you’re fascinating in studying extra about residence robots, why not try:
+ Here’s why everybody’s getting enthusiastic about family robots once more.
+ This new system can educate a robotic a easy family process inside 20 minutes. The Dobb-E home robotics system was skilled in actual individuals’s houses and will assist resolve the sector’s knowledge drawback. Read the total story.
+ Watch this robotic cook dinner shrimp and clear autonomously. Even low-cost {hardware} can carry out complicated duties, and AI helps robots get smarter nonetheless. Read the total story.
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The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you right now’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Mark Zuckerberg apologized to households harmed by social media
Under some duress, throughout a Senate grilling. (WP $)
+ X boss Linda Yaccarino acknowledges that the platform wants extra moderators. (Wired $)
+ TikTook’s Singaporean CEO was grilled at size, however not about little one security. (Motherboard)
+ Dramatic moments had been in plentiful provide through the listening to. (NY Mag $)
+ Child on-line security legal guidelines will really harm youngsters, critics say. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Autonomous automobile agency Cruise is hemorrhaging cash
To the tune of just about $3.5 billion final 12 months alone. (WP $)
+ What’s subsequent for robotaxis in 2024. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Hackers spied on critics of Jordan utilizing NSO Group’s adware
In a concerted marketing campaign concentrating on journalists, activists, and legal professionals. (Bloomberg $)
4 AI startups are placing themselves up on the market
They’re extremely costly to run, and elevated competitors has small companies clamoring to be acquired. (The Information $)
+ One rising startup has ambitions of difficult Google’s search dominance. (NYT $)
+ Make no mistake—AI is owned by Big Tech. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Amazon might quickly be answerable for the protection of third-party merchandise
A proposed US authorities order might reclassify it from a retailer to a distributor. (WSJ $)
6 Ovaries might supply clues on easy methods to lengthen our lifespans
Listen up, longevity bros. (FT $)
+ Inside the billion-dollar assembly for the mega-rich who wish to reside ceaselessly. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Product placement is getting an AI-powered makeover
It’s a sneaky new manner of getting merchandise in entrance of eyeballs outdoors of conventional advertisements. (NYT $)
+ TikTook could possibly be about to lose a serious chunk of its music catalog. (Wired $)
8 Life is imitating artwork for Ukraine’s online game makers
Apocalyptic survival recreation Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl has a brand new resonance for its creators. (The Guardian)
9 The Sun’s magnetic poles are about to reverse 
And communication satellites and our vitality grid again on Earth is susceptible to disruption. (Vox)
+ LED lights are contributing to an entire lot of sunshine air pollution. (The Atlantic $)
10 How to inform if we’re residing in a simulation or not
Simulated and faux should not the identical factor. (Ars Technica)
Quote of the day
“Your product is killing people.”
—US Senator Josh Hawley rounds on Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg throughout a Senate listening to on little one security, the New York Times reviews.
The massive story
Government know-how is famously unhealthy. It doesn’t must be.
It’s a actuality of politics that’s typically ignored: as soon as a legislation is handed, it must evolve from an thought right into a plan with a funds and workers, and from there it wants to really attain the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals. Moving from coverage to implementation has at all times been a tough a part of governing. Today it’s straightforward to imagine know-how could make it simpler. But is that truly true?
New York City is one thing of a check lab for methods to confront some massive issues that plague the trendy state. And it’s discovering that typically the options are surprisingly low-tech. Read the total story.
—Tate Ryan-Mosley
We can nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre occasions. (Got any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t is a implausible identify for a YouTube channel.
+ It’s known as the world’s biggest stretch for a motive.
+ Road tripping in Saudi Arabia seems suitably surreal.
+ Stop placing it off: right here’s easy methods to declutter your house, room by room.
+ What can’t The Bear actor Jeremy Allen White reside with out? Temporary tattoos, apparently.