The Obtain: fire-resistant houses, and Huge Tech’s AI chokehold

That is as we speak’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what’s happening on the planet of expertise.

The hunt to construct wildfire-resistant houses

With every devastating wildfire within the US West, officers take into account new strategies or rules that may save houses or lives the following time.

Within the elements of California the place the hillsides meet human growth, and the place the state has suffered recurring seasonal hearth tragedies, that seek for new technique of survival has particularly excessive stakes. 

Many of those strategies are low value and low tech, however no much less really progressive. In truth, the toughest half to deal with will not be supplies engineering, however social change. Learn the total story.

—Susie Cagle

Susie’s story is from our forthcoming Schooling print situation. In the event you’re not already a subscriber, you may enroll from simply $69 a 12 months—a particular low value to mark Earth Week.

Generative AI dangers concentrating Huge Tech’s energy. Right here’s the best way to cease it

If regulators don’t act now, generative AI will focus Huge Tech’s energy even additional. That’s the central argument of a brand new report from analysis institute AI Now. To grasp why, take into account that the present AI increase depends upon two issues: giant quantities of knowledge, and sufficient computing energy to course of it.
  

Proper now, Huge Tech has a chokehold on AI, and enterprise is booming. However what separates this tech increase from earlier ones is that now we have a greater understanding of all of the catastrophic methods AI can go awry. And regulators in all places are paying shut consideration. Learn the total story.

—Melissa Heikkilä

Melissa’s story is from The Algorithm, her weekly AI e-newsletter. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Monday.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the web to search out you as we speak’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.

1 An AI-generated picture gained a serious pictures award
The organizers accused the creator of deceptive them over the extent he used AI. (BBC)
+ An AI-generated Drake tune is taking the web by storm. (Motherboard)
+ Big AI fashions are yesterday’s information, based on Sam Altman. (Wired $)
+ Elon Musk is threatening to launch a brand new AI he calls ‘TruthGPT.’ (Quartz) 

2 SpaceX will attempt to launch its Starship rocket once more on Thursday
A damaged valve compelled it to postpone its deliberate departure yesterday. (Reuters)+ Some SpaceX launches have been extra profitable than others. (NYT $)
+ If it’s profitable, the flight may usher in a brand new age of area journey. (Economist $)

three ICE workers abused their entry to non-public data
Employees reportedly accessed delicate knowledge to hold out private vendettas. (Wired $)

four What is going to it take to construct a profitable Twitter different?
A Jack Dorsey-backed challenge desires to search out out. (The Verge)
+ Mastodon’s person numbers are dropping. (The Guardian)
+ However fewer individuals need to be a part of Twitter, too. (Insider $)

5 The humanities business’s efficiency stay streams are dwindling
That’s notably dangerous information for followers who can’t journey. (NYT $)

6 China is throwing its weight behind its EVs
It’s dangerous information for Tesla. (WSJ $)
+ VW is struggling to compete with China’s native producers, too. (Bloomberg $)
+ Which nation is on the backside of the worldwide EV race? (Economist $)
+ How did China come to dominate the world of electrical automobiles? (MIT Know-how Assessment)

7 Tidal energy isn’t a giant a part of the world’s power combine
However its potential is undoubtedly rising. (Undark)

eight What the way forward for human fertility appears to be like like
From synthetic wombs to three-parent households. (New Yorker $)
+ The thought of utilizing a “three-parent child” method for infertility simply acquired a lift. (MIT Know-how Assessment)

9 Why we will’t look away from TikTok’s revolting meals 
It’s rage-baiting content material at its most interesting. (The Guardian)
+ The porcelain problem didn’t must be actual to get views. (MIT Know-how Assessment)

10 Influencers are laying naked the inside workings of the web
However their audiences don’t appear to care. (The Atlantic $)

Quote of the day

“Not a day goes by the place you don’t use an merchandise that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the Japanese half in it.”

—Ulrike Schaede, professor of Japanese Enterprise on the College of California, explains how necessary Japan’s manufacturing business is to Bloomberg.

The large story

Why we will now not afford to disregard the case for local weather adaptation

August 2022

Again within the 1990s, anybody suggesting that we’d must adapt to local weather change whereas additionally chopping emissions was met with suspicion. Most local weather change researchers felt adaptation research would distract from the very important work of conserving air pollution out of the ambiance to start with.

Regardless of this hostile setting, a handful of specialists have been already sowing the seeds for a brand new subject of analysis referred to as “local weather change adaptation”: research and coverage on how the world may put together for and adapt to the brand new disasters and risks introduced forth on a warming planet. At present, their analysis is extra necessary than ever. Learn the total story. 

—Madeline Ostrander

We are able to nonetheless have good issues

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

+ Kabosu, the shiba inu canine greatest generally known as the face of the doge meme, not too long ago turned 17 years outdated!
+ I really like how Tom and Jerry remains to be conserving it contemporary in any case these years.
+ This kinetic sculpture in Batumi, Georgia, is fairly wonderful.
+  If solely all cats could possibly be as relaxed as Hokule’a the browsing cat. 
+ I just like the sound of the world’s costliest mango.

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