That is immediately’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a each day dose of what’s occurring on the planet of expertise.
That viral video exhibiting a head transplant is a pretend. But it surely is likely to be actual sometime.
An animated video posted this week has a voice-over that feels like a late-night TV advert, however the pitch is straight out of the far future. The arms of an octopus-like robotic surgeon swirl, swiftly eradicating the pinnacle of a dying man and putting it onto a younger, wholesome physique.
That is BrainBridge, the animated video claims—“the world’s first revolutionary idea for a head transplant machine, which makes use of state-of-the-art robotics and synthetic intelligence to conduct full head and face transplantation.”
BrainBridge is just not an actual firm—it’s not included anyplace. But it’s not merely a provocative murals. This video is best understood as the primary public billboard for a massively controversial scheme to defeat dying that’s just lately been gaining consideration amongst some life-extension proponents and entrepreneurs. Learn the complete story.
—Antonio Regalado
Noise-canceling headphones use AI to let a single voice via
Trendy life is noisy. In the event you don’t prefer it, noise-canceling headphones can cut back the sounds in your atmosphere. However they muffle sounds indiscriminately, so you possibly can simply find yourself lacking one thing you truly wish to hear.
A brand new prototype AI system for such headphones goals to resolve this. Known as Goal Speech Listening to, the system provides customers the flexibility to pick out an individual whose voice will stay audible even when all different sounds are canceled out.
Though the expertise is at present a proof of idea, its creators say they’re in talks to embed it in in style manufacturers of noise-canceling earbuds and are additionally working to make it out there for listening to aids. Learn the complete story.
—Rhiannon Williams
Splashy breakthroughs are thrilling, however folks with spinal wire accidents want extra
—Cassandra Willyard
This week, I wrote about an exterior stimulator that delivers electrical pulses to the backbone to assist enhance hand and arm perform in people who find themselves paralyzed. This isn’t a treatment. In lots of circumstances the features had been comparatively modest.
The research didn’t garner as a lot media consideration as earlier, a lot smaller research that centered on serving to folks with paralysis stroll. Tech that enables folks to kind barely sooner or put their hair in a ponytail unaided simply doesn’t have the identical attract.
For the individuals who have spinal wire accidents, nonetheless, incremental features can have a huge effect on high quality of life. So who does this tech actually serve? Learn the complete story.
This story is from The Checkup, our weekly well being and biotech publication. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Thursday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you immediately’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Google’s AI search is advising folks to place glue on pizza
These instruments clearly aren’t prepared to offer billions of customers with correct solutions. (The Verge)
+ That $60 million Google paid Reddit for its information certain seems questionable. (404 Media)
+ However who’s legally accountable right here? (Vox)
+ Why you shouldn’t belief AI engines like google. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
2 Russia is more and more interfering with Ukraine’s Starlink service
It’s disrupting Ukraine’s capacity to gather intelligence and conduct drone assaults. (NYT $)
three Taiwan is ready to close down its chipmaking machines if China invades
China is at present circling the island on navy workouts. (Bloomberg $)
+ In the meantime, China’s PC makers are on the up. (FT $)
+ What’s subsequent in chips. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
four X is planning on hiding customers’ likes
Elon Musk desires to encourage customers to love ‘edgy’ content material with out worry. (Insider $)
5 The scammer who cloned Joe Biden’s voice could possibly be fined $6 million
Regulators wish to make it clear that political AI manipulation won’t be tolerated. (TechCrunch)
+ He’s because of seem in court docket subsequent month. (Reuters)
+ Meta says AI-generated election content material is just not taking place at a “systemic stage.” (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
6 NSO Group’s former CEO is staging a comeback
Shalev Huloi resigned after the US blacklisted the corporate. (The Intercept)
7 Rivers in Alaska are working orange
It’s extremely seemingly that local weather change is in charge. (WP $)
+ It’s wanting unlikely that we’re going to restrict international warming to 1.5°C. (New Scientist $)
eight We’re studying extra about one of many world’s rarest components
Promethium is extraordinarily radioactive, and intensely unstable. (New Scientist $)
9 Youngsters can’t actually turn out to be music lovers with no cellphone
With out cassette gamers or CDs, streaming appears the one possibility.(The Guardian)
10 AI artwork will all the time look low cost 
It’s no substitute for the actual deal. (Vox)
+ This artist is dominating AI-generated artwork. And he’s not comfortable about it. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
Quote of the day
“Naming house as a warfighting area was type of forbidden, however that’s modified.”
—Air Power Normal Charles “CQ” Brown explains how the US is getting ready to struggle adversaries in house, Ars Technica reviews.
The massive story
How Fb acquired hooked on spreading misinformation
March 2021
When the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke in March 2018, it could kick off Fb’s largest publicity disaster to this point. It compounded fears that the algorithms that decide what folks see had been amplifying pretend information and hate speech, and prompted the corporate to begin a group with a directive that was a bit of obscure: to look at the societal affect of the corporate’s algorithms.
Joaquin Quiñonero Candela was a pure decide to go it up. In his six years at Fb, he’d created a few of the first algorithms for focusing on customers with content material exactly tailor-made to their pursuits, after which he’d subtle these algorithms throughout the corporate. Now his mandate could be to make them much less dangerous. Nevertheless, his fingers had been tied, and the drive to earn a living got here first. Learn the complete story.
—Karen Hao
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Obtained any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Zillow is the wild west of dwelling listings. This Twitter (sorry, X) account collates a few of the greatest.
+ COUSIN! We love you, Ebon Moss-Bachrach! 
+ Gimme all of the potato salad.
+ A lot unhappy: relaxation in energy Kabosu, the attractive shiba inu whose tentative face launched a thousand memes.
