This is at the moment’s version of The Download, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a every day dose of what’s occurring on this planet of expertise.
What to learn about this autumn’s covid vaccines
Many individuals have began testing optimistic for covid just lately. Hospitalizations for the illness within the US rose almost 16% in the course of the third week of August, and even Jill Biden examined optimistic this week.
Data counsel we’re at first of a fall wave. It’s been a 12 months since a covid booster was launched, and whereas the most recent wave isn’t prone to be as dangerous because the tsunami we skilled in 2021-2022, there’s a variety of uncertainty about what the following few months appear to be.
So, the place are the up to date pictures to assist shield us? And how do they stack up in opposition to the difficult new variants? Read the complete story.
—Cassandra Willyard
This story first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech e-newsletter. Sign up to obtain it in your inbox each Thursday.
My colleague Jessica Hamzelou just lately wrote about how covid hasn’t gone away. Check it out right here.
How ought to we regulate AI?
Deciding tips on how to regulate AI is among the greatest challenges dealing with politicians and consultants alike. On September 12 we’re holding the second MIT Technology Review Roundtable: a 30-minute dialog with our writers and editors—and this one’s all about governing AI.
Melissa Heikkilä, our senior reporter for AI, might be chatting with information editor Charlotte Jee about what needs to be carried out to maintain AI firms in line. Roundtables are free for MIT Technology Review subscribers, so for those who’re not already, you’ll be able to change into one at the moment from simply $80 a 12 months.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you at the moment’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Elon Musk reduce off Starlink web to disrupt Ukrainian troops
He scuppered a sneak assault Ukraine had deliberate on Russia’s naval fleet. (CNN)
+ The information underscores the disproportionate energy that SpaceX wields. (WP $)
+ Musk’s famously impulsive selections typically come again to chunk him. (WSJ $)
+ Starlink alerts could be reverse-engineered to work like GPS. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Huawei has unveiled one other controversial smartphone
Officials are baffled how China seems to have sidestepped US chip sanctions. (Bloomberg $)
+ The new handset may very well be significantly dangerous information for Apple. (WSJ $)
3 US and UK authorities have sanctioned ransomware gang members
The infamous Trickbot group has evaded justice for years. (Wired $)
4 There aren’t any medicine to reliably deal with anorexia
Despite near 50 years of analysis, researchers have had little success. (The Atlantic $)
5 Another FTX government has pleaded responsible
Ryan Salame made political contributions to the Republican social gathering below the guise of loans. (CoinDesk)
+ If he’s discovered responsible, he faces as much as 10 years in jail. (NYT $)
6 Microsoft is engaged on the world’s largest cancer-detecting AI mannequin
The system examines photos of tissues and flags anomalies to human medical doctors. (CNBC)
+ A brand new blood take a look at may diagnose ailments inside 10 minutes. (FT $)
+ Doctors utilizing AI catch breast most cancers extra typically than both does alone. (MIT Technology Review)
7 ChatGPT satisfied the Pentagon to spend money on AI-powered weapons
That’s based on former VR CEO Palmer Luckey, who now builds navy drones. (Motherboard)
+ Inside the messy ethics of creating warfare with machines. (MIT Technology Review)
8 Service workers have had sufficient of your TikTok gimmicks
They’re unwilling individuals in 1000’s of tedious meals skits. (WSJ $)
9 Australia is ditching handwritten signatures
Electronic signatures and video hyperlink witnessing will change the necessity to signal on the dotted line in individual. (The Guardian)
10 You in all probability don’t have to improve your iPhone 
But Apple certain is nice at convincing you that you must. (Vox)
Quote of the day
“People are starting to leave a trace. They’re forgetting the core principles of the burn.”
—Jeffrey Longoria, who attended this 12 months’s mud-stricken Burning Man competition, laments how guests are forgetting to clear up after themselves, Insider studies.
The huge story
VR is pretty much as good as psychedelics at serving to individuals attain transcendence
After a near-death expertise, artist and physicist David Glowacki tried to recapture the hallucinatory transcendence he felt. A VR expertise known as Isness-D is his newest effort.
On 4 key indicators utilized in research of psychedelics, this system confirmed the identical impact as a medium dose of LSD or psilocybin (the principle psychoactive element of “magic” mushrooms).
That means it may probably be used to alleviate the signs of psychological well being situations, together with obsessive-compulsive dysfunction, habit, post-traumatic stress dysfunction, and despair. Read the complete story.
—Hana Kiros
We can nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre instances. (Got any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ These drone pictures of marine creatures are fairly cool.
+ If monitoring murders in late medieval London, York, or Oxford is your factor, boy, do I’ve some maps for you.
+ These no-bake peanut butter bars sound like the right weekend deal with.
+ Ethan Lee is doing essentially the most: by porting our favourite indie PC video games to Linux.
+ Alien is filled with meticulously-designed semiotic requirements. Check them out.