That is right this moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a day by day dose of what’s occurring on the earth of know-how.
Medical doctors have carried out mind surgical procedure on a fetus in one of many first operations of its sort
What’s occurred: A seven-week-old child woman is likely one of the first individuals to have undergone an experimental mind operation whereas nonetheless within the womb. She had developed a harmful situation that led blood to pool in a tiny pocket in her mind, which may have resulted in mind harm, coronary heart issues, and respiration difficulties after delivery. The operation may need saved her life.
How they did it: Medical doctors used ultrasound imaging to assist them information a needle by way of the mom’s stomach, the uterus wall, and the fetus’s cranium and into the malformation within the mind. They then fed a tiny catheter by way of the needle to ship a collection of tiny platinum coils into the blood-filled pocket. As soon as every was launched, it expanded, serving to to dam the purpose the place the artery joined the vein. The infant woman was born wholesome a few days later.
What’s subsequent: The staff behind the operation now plans to deal with extra fetuses with comparable mind situations in the identical means. For situations like these, fetal mind surgical procedure might be the longer term. Learn the total story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
When you’d wish to learn extra about this fascinating story, try the newest concern of The Checkup, Jessica’s weekly biotech publication. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Thursday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you right this moment’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 The White Home is making an attempt to steer AI corporations to be extra moral
Good luck with that. (NYT $)
+ Everybody appears to agree we’d like new rules, however the US authorities doesn’t appear to know proceed. (WP $)
+ The UK’s competitors watchdog is reviewing the AI market. (The Guardian)
2 The FDA has accredited the primary RSV vaccine
The cold-like virus kills hundreds of People annually. (Vox)
three Google is quickly accelerating its work on AI
Simply as requires the business to gradual every part down develop louder. (WP $)
+ Its largest rival, OpenAI, is burning by way of cash. (The Data $)
+ Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing nonetheless isn’t delivering on its guarantees. (The Atlantic $)
4 Neuralink’s oversights board is riddled with potential conflicts
The vast majority of its 22 members are its personal employees. (Reuters)
+ Elon Musk’s Neuralink is neuroscience theater. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
5 Bluesky is a haven for Twitter’s marginalized customers
The early adopters hope to form the platform’s group. (NBC Information)
+ We’re witnessing the mind loss of life of Twitter. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
6 What it’ll take to faucet into geothermal power in Texas
Drilling pipes into sizzling rocks, controversial fracking and an entire lot of cash. (Wired $)
+ An formidable startup needs to tug carbon dioxide straight out of the ocean. (The Verge)
7 Remedy apps aren’t taking care of their customers’ information
Delicate info is weak to interception because of misleading privateness insurance policies. (The Verge)
eight Why e-fuels for EVs aren’t taking off
The business is paying all its consideration to planes, relatively than Earth-bound autos. (The Guardian)
+ Hydrogen-powered planes take off with startup’s check flight. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
9 Would you eat a 3D-printed fish fillet? 
A foodtech firm claims to have created the primary ever fillet utilizing lab-grown cells. (Reuters)
+ Will lab-grown meat attain our plates? (MIT Know-how Assessment)
10 What the rise of Temu means for contemporary procuring 
It’s making corporations like Amazon seem like pointless middlemen. (NY Magazine $)
+ Why my bittersweet relationship with Shein needed to finish. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
Quote of the day
“We have now no secret sauce.”
—A leaked Google doc lays naked senior software program engineer Luke Sernau’s considerations that open-source AI fashions will rapidly eclipse each Google and OpenAI’s efforts, Bloomberg studies.
The massive story
Tips on how to spot AI-generated textual content
December 2022
This sentence was written by an AI—or was it? OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT, presents us with an issue: How will we all know whether or not what we learn on-line is written by a human or a machine?
Because it was launched in November 2022, ChatGPT has been utilized by over one million individuals. It has the AI group enthralled, and it’s clear the web is more and more being flooded with AI-generated textual content.
We’re in determined want of how to distinguish between human- and AI-written textual content to be able to counter potential misuses of the know-how. And whereas labs are racing to develop instruments tasked with recognizing AI-generated textual content, they’re not at all times dependable. Learn the total story.
—Melissa Heikkilä
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre instances. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ What I wouldn’t give to pop by this stress-free cat spa.
+ The historical past of so-called ‘fairy butter’ stretches again lots of of years. 
+ What retains us coming again to enjoying the lottery, even once we know our odds of profitable are staggeringly slim.
+ Check out the trials and tribulations of turning into a author.
+ What occurs to the information canines who don’t fairly make the reduce? They’re nonetheless excellent boys (and women)
