That is as we speak’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a each day dose of what’s occurring on the planet of know-how.
Meet the divers making an attempt to determine how deep people can go
2 hundred thirty meters into one of many deepest underwater caves on Earth, Richard “Harry” Harris knew that not far forward of him was a 15-meter drop resulting in a spot no human being had seen earlier than.
Getting there had taken two helicopters, three weeks of check dives, two tons of apparatus, and arduous work to beat an surprising variety of technical issues. However within the second, Harris was hypnotized by what was earlier than him: the huge, black, gaping unknown.
Staring into it, he felt the acquainted pull—perhaps he might go just a bit farther. As an alternative, he and his diving associate, Craig Challen, determined to show again. They weren’t there to exceed 245 meters—a depth they’d reached three years earlier. Nor had been they there to set a depth report—that might imply going previous 308 meters.
They had been there to check what they noticed as a attainable key to unlocking depths past even 310 meters: respiratory hydrogen. Learn the total story.
—Samantha Schuyler
This story is from the following print situation of MIT Expertise Assessment, all about exploring hidden worlds. Wish to get your arms on a replica when it publishes subsequent Wednesday? Subscribe now.
Why China’s EV ambitions want digital energy crops
Digital energy crops (VPPs) are an concept whose time has arrived. They’re principally a layer on prime of sources like electrical car chargers, photo voltaic panels, and battery packs, which let you coordinate power consumption and provide. This lets utility corporations deal with occasions of upper power demand by adjusting the top use of electrical energy, for instance lowering the effectivity of an EV charger so it takes longer to complete and thus places much less burden on the grid.
In China, which is adopting electrical automobiles sooner than another nation, VPPs could possibly be transformational. The nation has simply began testing packages which incentivize EV homeowners to cost their automobiles late at night time, when there’s much less demand on the grid.
It’s additionally piloting bidirectional charging stations, which might let EV homeowners not solely use electrical energy, however even promote it again into the grid at occasions of peak demand, incomes them a little bit additional money. Learn the total story.
—Zeyi Yang
This story is from China Report, our weekly e-newsletter providing you with behind-the-scenes insights into China and its tech scene. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Tuesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you as we speak’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Alabama’s Supreme Court docket dominated that frozen embryos are ‘youngsters’
It’s a worrying growth, particularly for folks in search of infertility remedies. (CNN)
+ The primary IVF infants conceived by a robotic have been born. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
2 Inside AI startup Anthrophic’s funding spree
Traders can’t hand cash over to promising AI corporations rapidly sufficient proper now, it appears. (NYT $)
+ OpenAI is now valued at a staggering $86 billion. (Bloomberg $)
+ Why the New York Occasions might win in opposition to OpenAI. (Ars Technica)
three The EU is organising guidelines for sucking CO2 out of the sky
It’s making a first-of-its-kind certification framework for carbon removing applied sciences. (The Verge)
+ How carbon removing know-how is sort of a time machine. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
four Researchers are imbibing AI with human-like qualities
Nobody is immune from anthropomorphism, it appears. (New Scientist $)
+ In the event you’ve posted on Reddit, your phrases are in all probability getting used to coach AI. (Ars Technica)
5 What mind-reading units can educate us
They’re restoring features like speech and motion. However they’re additionally shining a lightweight on how the mind works. (Nature)
+ Elon Musk claims the primary Neuralink affected person can now management a pc mouse with their ideas. (CNBC)
6 Faux funeral livestream scams are proliferating on Fb
Past grim, and Meta’s doing virtually nothing to stop it. (404 Media)
7 A spacecraft is about to attempt to snag some house junk
If it really works, it’ll be an vital growth for the hassle to clear Earth’s orbit of particles. (Ars Technica)
eight Persons are breeding pythons to have ‘emoji’ patterns 
However, as at all times amid a gold rush, a few of them are doing a little deeply unethical issues within the course of. (New Yorker $)
9 How scientists predicted Iceland’s huge volcanic eruption
And saved a variety of lives within the course of. (Quanta)
+ How machine studying may unlock earthquake prediction. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
10 Older persons are amongst VR’s most enthusiastic adopters
And research counsel spending time in digital actuality can produce optimistic results, too. (AP)
+ Digital actuality can be utilized as a painkiller. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
Quote of the day
“Folks say AI is overhyped, however I feel it’s not hyped sufficient.”
—Puneet Chandok, who leads Microsoft India and South Asia, says we should always get much more enthusiastic about AI, the Financial Occasions experiences.
The large story
The open-source AI growth is constructed on Large Tech’s handouts. How lengthy will it final?
Could 2023
Final yr a leaked memo written by a senior engineer at Google mentioned out loud what many in Silicon Valley will need to have been whispering: an open-source free-for-all is threatening Large Tech’s grip on AI.
New open-source massive language fashions—options to Google’s Bard or OpenAI’s ChatGPT that researchers and builders can examine, construct on, and modify—are dropping like sweet from a piñata. These are smaller, cheaper variations of the best-in-class AI fashions created by the massive companies that (virtually) match them in efficiency—and so they’re shared free of charge.
In some ways, that’s a great factor. AI gained’t thrive if only a few mega-rich corporations get to gatekeep this know-how or determine how it’s used. However this open-source growth is precarious, and if Large Tech decides to close up store, a boomtown might grow to be a backwater. Learn the total story.
—Will Douglas Heaven
We will nonetheless have good issues
+ Paul McCartney has been reunited with a beloved bass guitar that was stolen 51 years in the past.
+ Learn how to have a greater relationship with cash.
+ Obsessive about Nimbus and his marvelous piano expertise.
+ Cracking up at this recreation the place it’s a must to guess if a reputation refers to antidepressants or a personality from Tolkien.
