That is right this moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a every day dose of what’s happening on the earth of know-how.
What’s subsequent for the world’s quickest supercomputers
When the Frontier supercomputer got here on-line final 12 months, it marked the daybreak of so-called exascale computing, with machines that may execute an exaflop—or a quintillion (1018) floating level operations a second.
Since then, scientists have geared as much as make extra of those blazingly quick computer systems: a number of exascale machines are because of come on-line within the US and Europe in 2024.
However velocity itself isn’t the endgame. Researchers hope to pursue beforehand unanswerable questions on nature—and to design new applied sciences in areas from transportation to drugs. Learn the total story.
—Sophia Chen
MIT Know-how Overview’s What’s Subsequent sequence appears to be like throughout industries, developments, and applied sciences to present you a primary take a look at the long run. You’ll be able to learn the remainder of our sequence right here.
How electrical energy might clear up transportation, metal, and even fertilizer
“Electrify every thing” is a standard chorus in local weather circles. The essential idea is a straightforward one: there are some elements of our world which might be largely powered immediately by fossil fuels, like autos or dwelling heating.
In the meantime, renewables energy an growing fraction of {the electrical} grid yearly. So if we will discover methods to hook these fossil-fuel-powered programs as much as electrical energy as an alternative, we’ll be nicely on our solution to actual local weather motion.
Folks shouting “Electrify every thing” usually give attention to acquainted examples like autos and houses. However can we electrify metal manufacturing? What about fertilizer? What may it imply to really electrify every thing? Learn the total story.
Psst: these are simply a few of the questions our local weather reporter Casey Crownhart shall be discussing throughout our second annual ClimateTech convention, happening at MIT on October four and 5. Nab your ticket now!
This story first appeared in The Spark, MIT Know-how Overview’s weekly local weather and vitality publication. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday.
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 ChatGPT can create photographs now
Like all AI turbines, it’s nonetheless inclined to creating errors although. (NYT $)
+ Crucially, artists can decide out of getting their work used as coaching information for it. (TechCrunch)
+ In the meantime, but extra high-profile authors are lining as much as sue OpenAI. (CNBC)
+ Right here’s how AI picture turbines really work. (WP $)
+ See for your self how biased AI picture fashions are. (MIT Know-how Overview)
2 Amazon’s new smarter, extra natural-sounding Alexa is right here
Nevertheless it’s nonetheless bought some solution to show it’s as smart-seeming as a chatbot. (WP $)
+ The corporate’s been engaged on chattier, smoother interactions. (WSJ $)
three Neuralink euthanized as much as a dozen monkeys
The problems they suffered might have been immediately linked to their mind implants. (Wired $)
+ Elon Musk’s Neuralink is neuroscience theater. (MIT Know-how Overview)
four How Apple tried—and failed—to construct its personal iPhone chip
Its want to chop ties with its present chip provider Qualcomm is simpler mentioned than executed. (WSJ $)
+ Google needs to eliminate its present chipmaker, too. (The Info $)
+ The chip patterning machines that can form computing’s subsequent act. (MIT Know-how Overview)
5 US tax firms have been warned to not monetize private information
After they had been revealed to have been monitoring prospects on the internet. (The Markup)
+ How tech firms bought entry to our tax information. (MIT Know-how Overview)
6 The US navy has to make use of an AI to know its personal price range
Combing by means of greater than 15,000 coverage paperwork takes a significantly very long time. (The Intercept)
7 What does ending fossil fuels imply?
Local weather activists are decided to be heard—however not all politicians are listening. (Vox)
+ Local weather change misinformation is rife throughout social platforms. (The Verge)
+ Busting three myths about supplies and renewable vitality. (MIT Know-how Overview)
eight America’s automobile trade is being turned on its head
Strikes will delay the manufacturing of tens of hundreds of autos every week. (Economist $)+ Automobile firms are behaving like Silicon Valley firms nowadays. (The Atlantic $)
+ Automobiles are nonetheless vehicles—even after they’re electrical. (MIT Know-how Overview)
9 The most popular job in AI? Being a poet
Their purpose is to make chatbots’ inventive writing sparkle. (Remainder of World)
10 Service in Starbucks is getting slower 
You’ll be able to blame these silly TikTok concoctions. (Bloomberg $)
Quote of the day
“We’re not executed and gained’t be executed till Alexa is nearly as good or higher than the ‘Star Trek’ laptop.”
—Dave Limp, Amazon’s senior VP of gadgets and companies, reveals the corporate is holding its AI assistant to bold (and fictional) requirements, CNN stories.
The massive story
Social media is polluting society. Moderation alone gained’t repair the issue
August 2022
All of us need to have the ability to converse our minds on-line—to be heard by our pals and speak (again) to our opponents. On the identical time, we don’t wish to be uncovered to disagreeable speech.
Know-how firms handle this conundrum by setting requirements totally free speech, a follow protected beneath federal regulation, hiring in-house moderators to look at particular person items of content material and eradicating them if posts violate predefined guidelines.
The strategy clearly has issues: harassment, misinformation about subjects like public well being, and false descriptions of reliable elections run rampant. However even when content material moderation had been applied completely, it could nonetheless miss a complete host of points. We want a brand new technique: deal with social media firms as potential polluters of the social material, and immediately measure and mitigate the results their decisions have on human populations. Learn the total story.
—Nathaniel Lubin & Thomas Krendl Gilbert
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre instances. (Obtained any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ They don’t make posters like these any extra.
+ Spare a thought for Barbie Oppenheimer, a former Boston College professor, who’s in all probability simply weathered the longest summer time of her life.
+ The world gravy wrestling championships appears to be like like good clear enjoyable.
+ It’s Oktoberfest time once more!
+ Get pleasure from this straight-up ‘90s banger.
