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This is today’s download., Our weekly newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s happening in the world of technology.
This is what prevents electric airplanes from taking off.
what’s happening?: Startups are exploring how electric planes could clean up air travel, which accounts for 3% of global greenhouse-gas emissions. The reductions from adopting electric flight could be significant – up to 90% less emissions for a battery-powered aircraft powered by renewable energy.
what’s the matter?: A recent analysis found that today’s electric airplanes could safely transport you and your passengers only about 30 miles. The limiting factor is the battery, especially the amount of energy that can be stored. Today’s batteries don’t have the energy required to power anything but the lightest of planes, and even for those, the trip will be up to a long bike ride.
What’s next? Batteries have been packing more power into smaller spaces for nearly 30 years, and continued improvements will help make electric airplanes an even more convenient option to fly. But they’re not there yet, and ultimately, the future of electric airplanes may depend on advances in battery technology. Read the full story.
– Casey Crownheart
The three-parent method can help trans boys have children
The news: Fertility treatment may be undesirable for transgender men, as it involves pausing gender-affirming hormone therapy and undergoing stressful procedures. New data show that combining two existing techniques for the first time could help sidestep those issues.
How it works: The process involves taking pieces of a transgender person’s eggs, extracting eggs from the eggs in a lab, and fertilizing the egg pieces with sperm from another person to create an embryo. Egg retrieval in the laboratory has helped some people to have children after surviving cancer. And the so-called three-parent technique – using egg parts from a third person – has been used in an attempt to prevent people from passing on genetic diseases to children and boost fertility.
Why is it important? The new research suggests that these technologies, used in concert, can increase the chances of a trans person using their eggs to create a healthy embryo and have a baby – without resorting to conventional fertility treatments. Read the full story.
-Jessica Hamzelu
Bright LEDs can spell the end of dark skies.
Scientists have known for years that light pollution is growing and harming people and wildlife. In humans, exposure to light at night disrupts sleep cycles and has been linked to cancer and cardiovascular disease, while wildlife suffers from disrupted reproductive patterns, increased risk and loss of prey.
Astronomers, policy makers and lighting experts are working to find ways to reduce light pollution. Many favor the installation of light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, in outdoor fixtures such as urban streetlights, primarily for their ability to direct light to a target location. But the high initial investment and sustainability of modern LEDs means that cities must get the transition first or they can get results that can last for decades. Read the full story.
– Shell Evergreen
It should be read
I’ve scoured the internet for the most entertaining/important/scary/amazing stories about technology today.
1 Google is integrating large language models into robots.
In theory, this means they need to understand a wider range of commands than humans. (WP$)
+ Google Robot is powered by their most powerful model. (wired $)
+ The exciting, dangerous race to understand linguistic AI. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Why we can no longer ignore the issue of climate adaptation.
We live in the midst of careful history. (MIT Technology Review)
+ Higher temperatures mean we need to change how we design cities.. (Atlantic $)
3 The US still does a lot of business with China.
Even as tensions escalate, officials are still approving semiconductor and component deals. (WSJ$)
4 How a girl saw the world changed by a traumatic brain injury
Not trusting her senses helped her develop a new sense of who she was. (wired $)
+ This is how your brain makes your mind.. (MIT Technology Review)
5 This company wants to grow crops in space
The use of the first business place greenhouse. (Reuters)
+ Why are we getting closer to figuring out what dark matter is? (yes)
6 of Bitcoin’s biggest miners lost more than $1 billion in the crash.
As a result, they were forced to sell coins. (Bloomberg $)
+ Alphabet has invested more in blockchain than any other public company. (Cointelegraph)
+ The Texas power grid is cracking under the stress of crypto mining. (Slate$)
+ Losses from crypto hacking this year have also exceeded $1 billion. (Reuters)
Meet 7 influencers fighting Kashmir’s internet blackout
New influencers are getting creative to jump around India’s government shutdown. (rest of the world)
8 Hackers are targeting mining and oil giants.
Anti-Capitalist Protest in a New Wave. (motherboard)
9 scientists want to bring the thylacine back from the dead
The wolf-sized marsupial was hunted to extinction a century ago. Now, it might come back. (Ars Technica)
+ The same company wants to bring back the woolly mammoth. (CNET)
+ How two high school students discovered two new species of scorpions. (Slate)
10 Gen Z is turning its back on Amazon.
Tik Tok stars are backing trade unions’ demand for higher wages. (WP$)
+ Young people in the UK spend more time on Tik Tok than watching TV. (FT$)
+ If your recently published book has been copied, a Tik Tok whipping might help. (the guard)
Quote of the day
“It wasn’t a good night.”
– Ethan Zuckerman, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, told the New York Times that he had a series of faulty chargers that left him unable to charge his electric car.
The big story
China has launched a grand experiment in AI education. It could reshape how the world learns.
August 2021
Zhou Yi was terrible at math. He was worried he wouldn’t get into college. Then a company called Squirrel AI promised to bring personalized learning to a middle school in Hangzhou, China. He had tried tutoring services before, but this one was different: instead of a human teacher, an AI algorithm would prepare the lessons. The 13-year-old boy decided to try. At the end of the semester, the exam results increased from 50% to 62.5%. Two years later, he scored 85% in his final middle school exam.
Experts agree that AI will be useful in 21st century education – but how? While scholars are puzzled by best practices, China is not waiting. In the past few years, the nation’s investment in AI-enabled learning has exploded. Tech giants, startups, and education incumbents have all jumped in. It’s the world’s biggest experiment in AI in education, and no one can predict the outcome. Read the full story.
– Karen Hao
We can still have something good.
A place of comfort, relaxation and distraction in these strange times. (Got an idea? Drop me a line orTweet at me.)
+ Who knows the authority breathing Does it sound as good as the acoustics?
+ A teenager tries to hide from the police in a giant teddy bear.
+ Take a deep breath and enjoy relaxing with this Twitter account.
+ Success looks different things to different people. Here’s why that’s great.
+ The giant inflatable Ozzy Osbourne is touring America, because why not?
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