That is in the present day’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a every day dose of what’s happening on the planet of know-how.
How widespread chemical substances may assist clear up international delivery
International delivery is an enormous deal for the local weather, accounting for 3% of the world’s greenhouse-gas emissions. Final week noticed an enormous information announcement from the Worldwide Maritime Group, the UN company in command of regulating the vessels that carry the products we purchase all around the world.
On July 7, the IMO agreed to new local weather targets, setting a goal date of “by or round 2050” to scrub up the business’s act and attain net-zero emissions. There are checkpoints too: emissions must be no less than 20% beneath 2008 ranges by 2030.
The delivery business hasn’t had targets like this earlier than. So how does it attain them? It’s extra doable than you would possibly assume, as our local weather reporter Casey Crownhart explains. Learn the complete story.
Casey’s story is from The Spark, her weekly local weather and vitality e-newsletter. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday.
Should you’re within the delivery business’s carbon footprint, why not take a look at:
+ How ammonia may assist clear up international delivery. The gas may present an environment friendly method to retailer the vitality wanted to energy giant ships on lengthy journeys. Learn the complete story.
+ Why slower ships and new fuels may very well be a vital piece of the puzzle in relation to reaching these net-zero targets.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you in the present day’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Elon Musk has unveiled his new startup, xAI
However his probabilities of overtaking OpenAI any time quickly are slim. (Wired $)
+ The brand new firm will depend on Tesla for lots of its sources. (WP $)
+ Anthropic’s new chatbot is right here. (The Guardian)
2 What the James Webb House Telescope has taught us 
Its first yr of operation has opened our eyes to the wonders of the universe. (The Atlantic $)
+ There’s granite on the moon, apparently. (Economist $)
+ How the James Webb House Telescope broke the universe. (MIT Expertise Overview)
Three What hasn’t Sam Altman invested in?
A lot of his 400 or so investments are benefiting from the AI increase, too. (The Info $)
+ Has GPT-Four been secretly overhauled? It looks as if it. (Insider $)
+ Sam Altman invested $180 million into an organization making an attempt to delay demise. (MIT Expertise Overview)
Four America’s aggressive subsidies coverage is paying off
The US needs future applied sciences to be developed at house, and the remainder of the world is scrabbling to maintain up. (FT $)
+ The $100 billion wager {that a} postindustrial US metropolis can reinvent itself as a high-tech hub. (MIT Expertise Overview)
5 Fb and Google are monitoring your tax preparations
Now, a bunch of lawmakers need to do one thing about it. (Vox)
6 Junky AI content material is taking on the web
It’s a brand new type of spam, and it’s in all places. (WSJ $)
+ Junk web sites stuffed with AI-generated textual content are pulling in cash from programmatic advertisements. (MIT Expertise Overview)
+ AI is fueling a drug dependancy disaster. (Insider $)
7 Local weather change is altering the colour of the ocean
Its new greener hue signifies critical disruptions within the marine meals internet. (Motherboard)
eight IT staff in Bangladesh are struggling within the warmth
The nation’s intense heatwave makes it just about unimaginable to work in workplaces. (Remainder of World)
+ Warmth publicity is a lethal killer. (Slate $)
+ The villagers combating to outlive India’s lethal heatwaves. (MIT Expertise Overview)
9 Farming robots are getting higher—and cheaper 
Human laborers are now not all the time the perfect at what they do. (FT $)
+ How know-how would possibly lastly begin telling farmers issues they didn’t already know. (MIT Expertise Overview)
10 Airbnb’s celebration ban isn’t working
It looks as if background checks aren’t doing a lot to curb wild friends. (Wired $)
Quote of the day
“I look a bit of bit askance at signing a six month pause whilst you’re making an attempt to speed up your individual effort.”
—Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, criticizes Elon Musk’s current name for a pause on AI improvement on condition that the billionaire has simply unveiled his personal AI startup, xAI, he tells Bloomberg.
The massive story
Predictive policing algorithms are racist. They have to be dismantled.
July 2020
Inequality and the misuses of police energy don’t simply play out on the streets or throughout college riots. For digital rights activists, the main target is now on the place there may be most potential for long-lasting injury: predictive policing instruments and the abuse of information by police forces.
Plenty of research have proven that these instruments perpetuate systemic racism, and but we nonetheless know little or no about how they work, who’s utilizing them, and for what function. All of this wants to alter earlier than a correct reckoning can happen, however a transparent precept is rising: if we are able to’t repair them, we should always ditch them. Learn the complete story.
—Will Douglas Heaven
We are able to 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.)
+ This child flamingo studying to face on one leg is simply too cute. 
+ Dwell Assist was 38 years in the past in the present day! Let’s revisit simply one among its iconic performances.
+ Brutalist structure is an acquired style, however you’ll be able to’t deny its buildings are placing.
+ Mads Mikkelsen is simply unapologetically himself.
+ What are these daring shrimp as much as on the backside of the ocean, precisely?
