The Obtain: cattle’s lethal tick-borne illness, and molten salt batteries

That is at this time’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a every day dose of what’s happening on the planet of know-how.

A brand new tick-borne illness is killing cattle within the US

Within the spring of 2021, Cynthia and John Grano, who personal a cattle operation in Culpeper County, Virginia, began noticing a few of their cows slowing down and performing “spacey.” They figured the animals had been affected by a typical infectious illness that causes anemia in cattle. However their veterinarian had warned them that one other illness carried by a parasite was spreading quickly within the space.

After a 3rd cow died, the Granos determined to check its blood. Certain sufficient, the take a look at got here again constructive for the illness: theileria. And with no remedy accessible, the cows saved dying.

Cattle homeowners just like the Granos should not alone. Livestock producers across the US are confronting this new and unfamiliar illness with out a lot info. Researchers nonetheless don’t know the way theileria will unfold, even because it rapidly spreads west throughout the nation. If states can’t get the illness underneath management, then nationwide manufacturing losses from sick cows might considerably injury each particular person operations and the whole {industry}. Learn the total story.

—Britta Lokting

Tremendous-hot salt may very well be coming to a battery close to you

The world is constructing extra capability for renewables, particularly photo voltaic and wind energy that come and go together with the climate. However for renewables to make an actual distinction, we want higher choices for storing power. That’s the place batteries are available. And handily, there’s a wave of other chemistries slowly percolating into the rising power storage market.

A few of these new gamers might ultimately be cheaper (and in varied methods, higher) than the industry-standard lithium-ion batteries. Among the many most promising is molten salt know-how, which Ambri, a Boston-area startup, is satisfied may very well be as much as 50% cheaper over its lifetime than an equal lithium-ion system.

However, like its rivals experimenting with different types of power storage, Ambri is dealing with actual boundaries to adoption, with scaling presenting the principle, ever-present hurdle. Learn the total story.

—Casey Crownhart

Casey’s story is from The Spark, her weekly publication protecting battery breakthroughs and different local weather information. Signal as much as obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the web to search out you at this time’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.

1 What comes after Twitter?
Regardless of the reply, downloading information and contacts is a great transfer. (NYT $)
+ It’s unlikely, nevertheless, that you just’ll be capable of save every part. (Wired $)
+ A load of fired contractors aren’t planning on going quietly. (Bloomberg $)
+ One in every of its former information scientists is extraordinarily fearful. (Remainder of World)
+ Twitter’s potential collapse might wipe out huge information of current human historical past. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)

2 The ripple results of FTX’s collapse
The crypto trade’s poor practices are triggering fears concerning the {industry}’s future—and its workers are livid. (WSJ $)
+ Sam Bankman-Fried had an ill-advised chat with a journalist over Twitter. (Vox)
+ A category motion has been filed in opposition to FTX within the US. (The Guardian)

three The US’s bioweapon detection system is unreliable  
20 years after its introduction, it nonetheless prices $80 million a 12 months. (The Verge) 

four Telehealth websites are riddled with information trackers
They may reveal delicate habit info that’s ripe for abuse. (Wired $)

5 Activision Blizzard’s video games are being pulled offline in China
It’s been unable to strike a cope with its Chinese language distributor. (FT $)

6 Intel thinks it might probably catch deepfakes with 96% accuracy
By monitoring the “blood stream” of video pixels to detect residing people. (VentureBeat)
+ A horrifying AI app swaps ladies into porn movies with a click on. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)

7 We’ve ignored concrete’s carbon footprint for too lengthy
It’s not as massive a polluter as transport or power, but it surely’s in pressing want of a greener overhaul. (Knowable Journal)
+ How Joe Biden bought away with passing the IRA. (The Atlantic $)
+ How hydrogen and electrical energy can clear up heavy {industry}. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)

eight Lab-grown meat is fit for human consumption 🍗
The FDA has inexperienced lit lab-grown rooster—but it surely must cross different exams earlier than it may be bought. (NBC Information)
+ Will lab-grown meat attain our plates? (MIT Know-how Evaluate)

9 Why NASA’s astronauts aren’t allowed to TikTok from area 🪐
Despite the fact that their European counterparts are. (Vox) 
+ NASA’s Artemis 1 launch was an oddly muted affair. (The Atlantic $)
+ Right here’s every part the mission is taking with it to the moon. (IEEE Spectrum)

10 We might hitch a experience on a flying taxi in the future 🚁
By the top of the last decade, apparently. Let’s see. (Economist $)

Quote of the day

“Eire actually guess the farm on the way forward for tech . . . virtually on the expense of every part else.”

—Mark O’Connell, govt chair and founding father of OCO International, a commerce and funding targeted advisory agency, tells the Monetary Instances why the tech sector’s mass job cuts will hit Eire significantly laborious.

The large story

Vivid LEDs might spell the top of darkish skies

A view of Milky Way from the Grand Canyon

August 2022

Scientists have identified for years that gentle air pollution is rising and may hurt each people and wildlife. In individuals, elevated publicity to gentle at night time disrupts sleep cycles and has been linked to most cancers and heart problems, whereas wildlife suffers from interruption to their reproductive patterns, elevated hazard and lack of stealth.

Astronomers, policymakers, and lighting professionals are all working to search out methods to scale back gentle air pollution. Lots of them advocate putting in light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, in outside fixtures resembling metropolis streetlights, primarily for his or her potential to direct gentle to a focused space. However the excessive preliminary funding and sturdiness of recent LEDs imply cities must get the transition proper the primary time or doubtlessly face many years of penalties. Learn the total story.

—Shel Evergreen

We will nonetheless have good issues

A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre occasions. (Obtained any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)

+ An expensive practice journey appears to be like like the proper approach to unwind to me.
+ Nothing can exchange the enjoyment of choosing out an awesome learn from a bookstore.
+ It’s by no means too early to start out planning to your subsequent nice journey.
+ Olive oil? Good. Cake? Good. An olive oil cake?! GOOD!
+ The oldest identified sentence written within the first alphabet is entertainingly home.

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