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That is right now’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what’s happening on the earth of expertise.
DeepMind has predicted the construction of just about each protein identified to science
The information: DeepMind says its AlphaFold software has efficiently predicted the construction of almost all proteins identified to science. From right now, it’s providing its database of over 200 million proteins to anybody without cost. It’s a large enhance to the present database of 1 million proteins it launched final 12 months, and consists of constructions for crops, micro organism, animals, and lots of different organisms.
Why it issues: The expanded database opens up enormous alternatives for AlphaFold to have affect on necessary points corresponding to sustainability, gasoline, meals insecurity, and uncared for ailments, in line with Demis Hassabis, DeepMind’s founder and CEO. Scientists might use the findings to raised perceive ailments, and to hurry innovation in drug discovery and biology, he added. Learn the total story.
—Melissa Heikkilä
AI for protein folding represents such a serious advance that it was chosen as one in all MIT Expertise Evaluation’s 10 Breakthrough Applied sciences this 12 months. Learn our story explaining why it’s so thrilling, and our profile of DeepMind’s founder Demis Hassabis, the place he explains why this can be the corporate’s most important and long-lasting contribution to science.
Stitching collectively the grid will save lives as excessive climate worsens
The blistering warmth waves that set temperature information throughout a lot of the US in latest days have strained electrical energy programs, threatening to knock out energy in weak areas of the nation. Whereas the electrical energy has largely stayed on-line to this point this summer season, heavy use of energy-sucking air-conditioners and the extreme warmth has contributed to scattered issues and shut calls.
It’s unlikely to get higher quickly. Quite a lot of grid operators might wrestle to fulfill peak summer season demand, creating the chance of rolling blackouts, a brand new report from the North American Electrical Reliability Company has discovered. The nation’s remoted and antiquated grids are in determined want of upgrades.
One answer could be to extra tightly combine the nation’s regional grids, stitching them along with extra long-range transmission traces, permitting energy to stream between areas to the place it’s wanted extra urgently. Nonetheless, that’s a mission that’s fraught with challenges. Learn the total story.
—James Temple
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you right now’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Meta’s income dropped for the primary time
The cracks in Mark Zuckerberg’s pivot to the metaverse are starting to indicate. (NYT $)
+ Extra persons are logging into Fb every day, although. (WP $)
+ Zuck says Meta is in ‘very deep, philosophical competitors’ with Apple. (The Verge)
+ Discord is a pure dwelling for customers disillusioned by Instagram. (WSJ $)
+ Ex-Fb and Bumble employees have constructed their very own ‘much less poisonous’ social community. (Protocol)
2 Senators have superior youngster on-line security laws
However others argue that such safeguards ought to apply to customers of all ages. (WP $)
+ Three wannabe senators have deep hyperlinks to the tech companies they’re railing towards. (NYT $)
3 A Greek politician was focused by Israeli adware
He’s filed a lawsuit to power Greek authorities to research who was behind the tried hack. (NYT $)
+ Carine Kanimba claimed the Rwandan authorities used Pegasus adware to spy on her household. (Motherboard)
+ The hacking trade faces the tip of an period. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
4 Bitcoin costs are rising once more
After the Federal Reserve raised rates of interest. (CNBC)
5 Take a journey throughout the universe 
This superb information walks you thru every part from exoplanets to supermassive black holes. (New Scientist $)
+ Will the universe’s enlargement imply planets not orbit stars? (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
7 Your fashionable automotive is leaking your information
Whereas numerous it’s anonymized, the chance of privateness breaches is actual. (The Markup)
8 High-quality TVs lay naked unhealthy CGI
Displaying up all its poorly-rendered flaws. (Vulture $)
9 Is DALL-E’s artwork stolen?
Whereas customers can commercialize their AI creations, the mannequin is skilled on others’ work. (Engadget)
+ Legal professionals might select to symbolize AIs in future courtroom battles. (Slate)
+ OpenAI is able to promote DALL-E to its first million prospects. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
10 What previous canines can educate us about our personal brains
Simply don’t attempt to educate them new methods. (Knowable Journal)
Quote of the day
“This isn’t the Instagram that we used to have.”
—Tatiana Bruening, the creator of a viral put up urging Instagram to cease making an attempt to be TikTok, laments the platform’s choice to chase a Gen Z viewers, she tells the Wall Road Journal.
The large story
She risked every part to reveal Fb. Now she’s telling her story.
July 2021
When Sophie Zhang went public with explosive revelations detailing the political manipulation she’d uncovered throughout her time as a knowledge scientist at Fb, she provided concrete proof to help what critics had lengthy been saying on the surface: that Fb makes election interference straightforward, and that until such exercise hurts the corporate’s enterprise pursuits, it may possibly’t be bothered to repair the issue.
By talking out and eschewing anonymity, Zhang risked authorized motion from the corporate, hurt to her future profession prospects, and maybe even reprisals from the politicians she uncovered within the course of. Her story reveals that it’s actually pure luck that we now know a lot about how Fb permits election interference globally, and to regulators around the globe contemplating the way to rein within the firm, this ought to be a wake-up name. Learn the total story.
—Karen Hao
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre instances. (Bought any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Japanese artist Hiroshige was well-known for his lovely woodblock prints, however these instructive photos explaining the way to create shadow puppets for youngsters are additional particular.
+ Uhoh, Freya the walrus is an actual boat-sinking pest.
+ Whip up these mouth-watering Mediterranean recipes and picture you’re chilling in Rome.
+ The winners of this years’ Audubon Images Awards are spectacular (thanks Peter!)
+ In the event you’re a fan of essay-length texts, you’re a paragraph girlie.
