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A team in Iraq and Australia have developed another way to use drones in healthcare as part of a system that detects when an elderly person has fallen. Fall detection devices were attached to healthy volunteers during a test and then triggered in crowded, hard to reach areas. Teams with drones and ambulances were alerted at the same time. The drones carried first aid kits to the patient's location, where a caregiver would then administer first aid. On average, the drones arrived 105 seconds faster than the ambulances, which is a significant amount of time especially in incidents where patients aren't breathing or where the patient's heart stops beating. Further improvements such as automated loading of supplies and faster drones could potentially shave another five to 40 seconds off the response time.
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Drone Beats Ambulance in Race to Deliver First Aid to Patients
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Apple recently revealed news about macOS Ventura, iOS 16, the M2 chip, a new MacBook Air, and much more at WWDC 2022. iOS 16 will have a customizable lock screen, updated notifications, Live Activities, editable and unsendable texts in Messages, a Pay Later feature, Safety Checks, and more. watchOS 9 will come with new health-tracking features. The new MacBook Air will feature the new M2 chip, which offers an 18 percent performance upgrade when compared to the M1. macOS Ventura will feature an improved multitasking tool, Passkeys, and the ability to use an iPhone as a webcam. iPadOS 16 will have new multitasking and collaboration features. More details about the announcements are available in the article.
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Apple WWDC 2022: the 16 biggest announcements
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Alibaba reported $38.4 billion of sales during its Singles' Day event. Singles' Day is China's equivalent to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Alibaba invested in weeks of aggressive advertising and promotions prior to the event, with ads including celebrities such as Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian. Before the event, Alibaba had to tune its business so that it could handle the upcoming increase in sales. One of the improvements was in its logistics network. Alibaba recently announced an additional $3.3 billion investment into Cainiao, a logistics unit that Alibaba co-founded six years ago. It is currently facing competition from JD.com and Pinduoduo. Singles day is an event that falls on November 11 every year that is dedicated to people who are not in a relationship.
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Alibaba’s Singles’ Day sales top $38 billion
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Nesayamun was an ancient Egyptian priest that was in his 50s when he died from an allergic reaction. Researchers have created a 3D-printed reproduction of Nesyamun's over 3,000-year-old vocal tract to hear what his voice would have sounded like. A team from the University of London took a series of CT scans of Nesyamun's mummified body to create the 3D model. Some parts, such as the tongue that had shriveled, were virtually filled in. The model was attached to an electronic larynx and loudspeaker. Using this method, the team recreated the sound of Nesayamun's voice. The team is working on a way to move the vocal tract to form different sounds.
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Talk like an Egyptian: mummy's voice heard 3,000 years after death
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The Democratic party has delayed the announcement of the winner of the Iowa caucus due to a failed app that caused vote numbers to be reported incorrectly. Prior to the election, the party had kept the app developer's identity secret for security purposes. It has now been revealed that the app was developed by a startup called Shadow, which has also previously provided services to the Texas Democratic Party, Kirsten Gillibrand's primary bid, and Pete Buttigieg's campaign. Shadow's parent company, Acronym, has stated that they only invested in the company and that they don't know the specifics of the app failure. The app was never vetted by major cybersecurity agencies or the wider cybersecurity community. Many of the specifics of the app are still kept secret, which is a cause for concern according to security experts.
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Here Is a Link to the App that Blew Up the Iowa Caucus
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Tesla's stock dropped 7.1% after news broke that federal prosecutors had opened a criminal probe into Elon Musk's tweet claiming that he had "funding secured" to take the company private at $420 a share. The Justice Department is running the criminal investigation in tandem with a civil fraud probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Musk's comments. The SEC's rule 14e-8 basically prohibits publicly traded companies from announcing plans to buy or sell securities if executives don't intend to follow through, don't have the means to complete the deal or are flat out trying to manipulate the stock price. This is the law that Elon Musk may have broken with his "funding secured" tweet on August 7th.
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Tesla says Justice Department requested documents on CEO Musk's take-private tweet
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A veterinary student from Tufts University, Tiffany Filler, has been accused of hacking into the school’s systems in order to manipulate her grades. The university created a case based on log files and database records supplied by the IT department which showed that Filler logged on to the systems under a pseudonym and manipulated her own and other students’, with details about the time and location of access. Filler was not given a chance to defend herself and was immediately expelled from the school. The student was able to later provide evidence that her laptop had been compromised with a Remote Access Trojan, as well as evidence that she was not at the locations that the IT department had provided at the times the alleged hacks occurred. Despite the evidence, Filler was not able to defend herself and was not allowed to continue her education at the school.
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Tufts expelled a student for grade hacking. She claims innocence (10 minute read)
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Fendouzhe, a Chinese submersible more than a decade in the making, reached a depth of 35,791 feet (10,909 meters) at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The submersible completed 13 dives in the area, with eight of those dives exceeding 32,808 feet (10,000 meters). It collected sediment, rock, and biological samples from the bottom of the trench while the crew overcame difficulties such as typhoons, rains, and high temperatures. The depth world record is still held by a private equity investor who dived to 35,873 feet (10,934 meters) in June. A 44-second video summary of the event showing footage of the vessel is available in the article.
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Chinese submarine reaches the deepest place on Earth
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Security researchers at McAfee were able to trick Tesla vehicles into speeding up by 50 mph by using tape to modify speed signs. The researchers stuck two inches of tape on a 35-mph speed sign, making it appear to look like an 85-mph speed sign. When the Tesla vehicles approached the speed sign, it read the incorrect speed limit and accelerated. MobilEye EyeQ3, the company that provides the Tesla 2016 models with their camera systems, dismissed the research, saying that the modified signs could have been misread by humans. Tesla's newer models use proprietary cameras and were not fooled by the modified sign.
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Hackers stuck a 2-inch strip of tape on a 35-mph speed sign and successfully tricked 2 Teslas into accelerating to 85 mph
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Leaked audio from an all-hands meeting at Google recorded Google CEO Sundar Pichai responding to concerns regarding recent hires, management, and trust. Google had recently hired a former Department of Homeland Security staffer who had defended a travel ban on citizens of predominantly Muslim nations. Employees who had been part of protest walkouts have claimed that they faced retaliation for their efforts. A new Chrome extension by Google automatically reports any staffer who creates a meeting event with more than 10 rooms or 100 participants. Staff claim that the extension was created to target dissenters, but managers say that it was created to reduce potential calendar spam. Pichai discussed the trouble of maintaining trust and transparency at scale, especially when internal discussions have been leaked for use against the company and some of its employees.
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Leaked audio captures Sundar Pichai discussing leaks at Google
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Virtually every tech company relies on open-source projects where developers often work for free. Developers contribute to code to sharpen their skills, gain perspectives from the community, or just to help the industry. When open-source software is maintained on a voluntary basis, sometimes projects are abandoned or mistakes aren't corrected in a timely manner. Some open-source developers end up being hired by companies to maintain support for the code. However, as the code is free for anyone to use, companies may be reluctant to pay for the work, which will often benefit competitors. The open-source community is divided on whether they should be paid for work, with some believing that monetization defeats the purpose of software being free. However, developers who spend time creating software used by millions of people around the world still need to provide for themselves, so monetization eventually becomes a necessity.
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The Internet Relies on People Working for Free
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The State of Startups surveyed 950 startup founders and employees to explore the startup industry. Founders are more concerned than ever in 2019 that the technology startup bubble is about to burst and that fundraising will be harder in 2020. Bias within startups is prevalent, with females reporting that it was harder for them to land roles or raise funds. Employees tend to enjoy diverse environments, and they take Glassdoor reviews seriously. Many employees prioritize the type of work that they will be doing over the pay that they receive. Female founders were more likely to report enlisting a therapist or psychiatrist compared to their male counterparts. A similar difference was seen between founders over and under the age of 40. Most founders report building a community of users as important to their business.
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First Round State of Startups 2019 (10 minute read)
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Apple will launch a new program that will allow Apple Card users to purchase an iPhone over 24 months with no interest. Previously, customers could pay for iPhone purchases interest-free through a loan from Citizens One, but this involved some other fees. Customers can also bundle in AppleCare over the 24-month period. The payment plan may lay the groundwork for larger subscription offerings in the future. Apple is already experimenting with small subscription bundles that offer both Apple Music and Apple TV+ at a lower price for students. Customers who use their Apple Card to buy Apple products will receive a 6 percent cashback between December 10 and December 31. The cashback offer is available for purchases made at Apple Stores, on Apple.com, or through the Apple Store app.
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Apple Card’s interest-free iPhone installment plan goes live, now with 6% back on Apple holiday purchases
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Uber has proposed a policy that would give drivers a minimum $21 per hour while on a trip, paid time off, sick leave, and compensation if they are injured while driving, and also a voice when Uber is making decisions regarding their work. A new website called Independent Driver has been launched by Uber in support of drivers who want to remain independent contractors. Lyft and Uber are both circulating petitions against a bill which would reclassify drivers as employees rather than independent contractors. The bill would ensure gig economy workers are entitled to minimum wage, workers' compensation, and other benefits. Gig Workers Rising, one of the organizations leading the effort to unionize, has rejected Uber and Lyft's efforts to stop the bill, stating that these attempts show how worried the companies are regarding the new laws.
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Uber proposes policy that would pay drivers a minimum wage of $21 per hour while on a trip
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Water is used for almost everything that we do, from growing food to manufacturing every type of goods, and it is becoming more and more scarce. A team at Columbia University, New York, has developed a technique to create clean drinking water from industrial waste. It can remove more than 98% of salt from wastewater with high efficiency. While the technique was created for industrial waste, it is also effective for treating other wastewater. Another way to preserve water is through recycling water used in farming, which is what a company called Bowery is doing. Bowery builds indoor vertical farms inside cities which can grow crops all year around. It grows crops twice as fast as traditional farms while saving 95% of the water it uses. The whole farm is automated and everything is controlled with a central operating system. Ideas like these will help prevent a water crisis in the future.
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Robots run this farm (13 minute video)
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All but three of the 60 Starlink broadband satellites launched last month are in contact with SpaceX’s network of ground stations. The company is now ready to start the next round of testing, which includes streaming videos and playing online games via satellite. Most of the satellites have reached their intended 550-kilometer altitude, with the others soon to join them. Two satellites will be intentionally deorbited to simulate an end-of-life disposal scenario. As it is the first satellite system to operate in the Ku-band and communicate with US ground stations, SpaceX is able to be the first to select the frequencies used for this purpose. Other companies have launched Ku-band satellites. However, as their ground stations were not based in the US, they were not able to claim ‘first choice’ status with the FCC.
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SpaceX reports milestone for Starlink satellite links — and sparks a debate
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Huawei overtook Apple to become the world's second best selling smartphone manufacturer in 2019. Samsung remained in the lead, with Xiaomi and Oppo making up the rest of the top five. Huawei is still on the USA's entity list, which means that it can't install Google's apps and services on its new devices. 60 percent of Huawei phone sales were in China. While Apple ended up as third for the year, it beat out Samsung in the last quarter due to its iPhone 11 sales. Samsung will be launching its flagship Galaxy S20 series next month, and Apple is set to launch its successor to the iPhone SE soon. Overall, the industry sold fewer phones in 2019 than it did in 2018.
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Huawei overtakes Apple in annual race to Samsung’s smartphone crown
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Tired of waiting for Tesla to release its new Tesla pickup truck, YouTuber Simone Giertz decided to make her own by transforming her Model 3. After a year of planning and designing, a team of mechanics and DIY car modifiers helped Giertz to build the truck, all while being filmed. Elon Musk has been hyping up the Tesla pickup truck for several years, promising that it won’t look anything like other trucks on the market. Giertz says she performed the stunt to celebrate Musk’s products, as a Tesla pickup truck would truly be her dream car. The final video, pictures of the finished truck, and a link to a fake truck commercial produced by Giertz are available.
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YouTuber Simone Giertz transformed a Tesla Model 3 into a pickup truck
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Tesla held an event with shareholders to discuss their autonomous driving technology two days before their first-quarter earnings disclosure. A new neural network chip which Tesla built from the ground up specifically for self-driving cars was announced. Elon Musk confirmed that all Tesla vehicles already have the necessary technology for self-driving and that all is needed is a software fix. Musk stated that using LiDAR technology for autonomous driving was ‘a fool’s errand’ as it was expensive and unnecessary. Tesla aims to have completely self-driving vehicles by the end of this year, and robo-taxis on the road in 2020. In another two years, Tesla hopes to manufacture cars that won’t have a steering wheel or pedals at all.
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Tesla promises ‘one million robo-taxis’ in 2020
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2,400 WeWork employees will be laid off as the company cuts costs and resizes its business. WeWork is aiming to create a more efficient and focused organization. This layoff represents 19 percent of WeWork's total workforce. Former employees will receive severance, continued benefits, and other forms of assistance. The job cuts have been rumored for some time now. WeWork pulled its IPO filing after investors expressed concerns over the company's mounting losses and unusual corporate governance structure. Adam Neumann, one of WeWork's cofounders, has since stepped down from his role as CEO. WeWork almost ran out of money but secured a bailout from SoftBank, its biggest investor. It continues to bleed cash, with $1.25 billion in reported losses for the third quarter.
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WeWork lays off 2,400 employees
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Electronic skin (e-skin) could play an important role in next-generation personalized medicine, prosthetics, AI, and soft robotics. The ideal e-skin would mimic the natural functions of human skin, such as sensing and touch, while being flexible and durable. A team of scientists has developed a durable e-skin using a hydrogel reinforced with silica nanoparticles and a 2D titanium carbine MXene sensing layer bound together with highly conductive nanowires. The e-skin's conductive pathways to the sensor layer remain intact even when the material is stretched to 28 times its original size. It can sense objects from 20cm away and respond to stimuli in less than one-tenth of a second.
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Scientists develop an ‘electronic skin’ that can mimic the natural functions of human skin
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Oil spills can devastate the environment and threaten communities who rely on the sea for their livelihoods. They can take months or years to clean up, and they will continue to occur as long as fossil fuels are being used. Several technologies have been developed to combat oil spills. Researchers have developed a sponge with a coating of magnetic nanostructures and a carbon-based surface that attracts and binds to oil, allowing the sponge to absorb more than 30 times its weight in oil. Magnetic soap, composed of dissolvable iron-rich salts, are also another solution. These soaps respond to magnetic fields and could one day be used for industrial cleaning operations and environmental clean-up procedures. Self-navigating robots can be used to collect oil as clean-up operations can be dangerous.
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Robots and magnetic soap: scientists rethink oil spill clean-ups
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The advantages of choosing a STEM major fades after the first job, and by age 40, the earnings of people who majored in fields like social science or history have caught up. This may be because older workers in STEM areas have to learn on the job, whereas their younger counterparts learn skills in school, making them more competitive when entering the job market. Those who major in other fields usually develop stronger soft skills, which have long-run value in a wide variety of careers. With technology changing all the time, those who learned skills that were in demand would receive a short-run salary premium, but when the technology changes, these workers will have to compete with people who graduated while learning the new technology. People who took non-STEM majors were more likely to develop skills that eventually put them into high-paying management positions.
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Engineers Sprint Ahead, but Don’t Underestimate the Poets
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Two men who had worked at Twitter were charged for monitoring accounts on the behalf of the Saudi government. A third man, who didn't work for Twitter, was also charged for spying. The trio obtained personal info for more than 6,000 accounts. One of the spies was paid a minimum of $300,000, plus a gift, for the espionage work. Another was granted a director position in the Crown Prince's private office. Twitter stated that those employees with access to sensitive information were trained and vetted and that there were tools in place to protect users' privacy. Only one of the three men are currently in the US. The others are in Saudi Arabia, where there is no extradition treaty with the US. This is the first time Saudi Arabia has ever been accused of spying within the US.
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Former Twitter employees charged with spying for Saudi Arabia
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BlockAdBlock is a script that detects ad-blockers and disables website access until the ad-blocker is disabled. By searching through its version history using the Wayback Machine, it is possible to figure out how it was developed and how it works. BlockAdBlock's basic architecture consisted of a bait, a check to see if the ad-blocker blocked the bait, and then a function that created the overlay. Improvements in the code implemented different strategies of detecting ads, such as checking the page to see if target ads had loaded. As BlockAdBlock improved, ad-blockers also improved, creating a need for BlockAdBlock to be more creative in its methods. In the end, it is much harder to block ad-blockers than it is to block ads due to how web technologies work.
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How an anti ad-blocker works: Reverse-engineering BlockAdBlock (15 minute read)
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Elon Musk revealed more information on Tesla’s upcoming pickup truck on a podcast over the weekend. Musk aims to ensure that the truck is affordable and is aiming for a start price of $49,000 or less. The futuristic design of the truck may not be for everybody. Musk compared the changes in the new design to the difference between the horse-drawn carriage and the car. His aim is to create a truck that is a better truck than a Ford F-150 and a better sports car than a standard Porsche 911. The teaser image released at the launch of the Model Y was revealed to be the design of the front of the Tesla pickup truck.
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Tesla Pickup truck to cost less than $50,000, ‘be better than F150’, says Elon Musk
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A new ultrasound imaging technique that doesn't require any skin contact with the body has been developed at MIT. Ultrasounds are inexpensive and do not involve harmful radiation, unlike PET or MRI scans. One of the main limitations of the technology is that it requires significant bodily contact in the process of imaging. The new non-contact method uses lasers to produce and detect sound waves to generate images. Tests of the new imaging technique were run on gelatin molds, animal tissues, and human volunteers. Currently, the method does not deliver images of the same quality as conventional ultrasound techniques, but researchers believe that the system can be refined and improved. The technique will allow people who can't have skin contact to be easily imaged. It also opens up the possibility for the development of portable screening devices.
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MIT reveals first ever laser ultrasound pictures of a human body
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The Xbox Series X has been officially revealed by Microsoft at the Game Awards. It is designed to be used in both vertical and horizontal orientations. The Xbox Series X will deliver four times the processing power of the Xbox One X. It has a custom-designed CPU based on AMD's Zen 2 and Radeon RDNA architecture. The console will support 8K gaming, frame rates of up to 120 fps, ray tracing, and variable refresh rate. Microsoft has not officially talked about its GPU performance, but it could be capable of 12 teraflops. A new controller was revealed that is slightly smaller with a new Share button. The Xbox Series X will include an Auto Low Latency Mode and Dynamic Latency Input, which will make the console the most responsive console ever.
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Microsoft’s next Xbox is Xbox Series X, coming holiday 2020
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A flying car unveiled by NEC at a facility in the city of Abiko was able to hover steadily for about a minute using its four propellors during two brief demonstrations. Japan aims to be using flying cars by 2030 to connect islands in the Mie resort area. Dubai is also aggressively pursuing the technology. Flying cars are defined as aircraft which are electric, or hybrid electric, with driverless capabilities and the ability to take off and land vertically. They are also known as EVtol, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. Compared to helicopters, they are less expensive to maintain, produce less noise, and don't require trained pilots. Uber is also launching a similar technology called Uber Air, starting demonstrator flights in 2020 and commercial operations in 2023.
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Japan successfully tests flying car which hovers steadily for a minute
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I'm seeing a ton of interesting crypto stories like the SOS airdrop and this Avalanche development tutorial but I don't want the whole newsletter to be flooded with crypto content, so if you'd be interested in a separate smaller version of TLDR that is only crypto tech and programming news, could you please fill out the above form so I can see if this is something worth creating? Thanks!
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Would you be interested in a crypto version of TLDR?I'm seeing a ton of interesting crypto stories like the SOS airdrop and this Avalanche development tutorial but I don't want the whole newsletter to be flooded with crypto content, so if you'd be interested in a separate smaller version of TLDR that is only crypto tech and programming news, could you please fill out the above form so I can see if this is something worth creating? Thanks!
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The Consumer Electronics Show started today, Hyundai debuted a concept car that "walks" like an insect, the wheels are attached to legs so it can get through extremely rocky terrain (there's a video in the article), Samsung debuted a 98-inch 8k TV available for pre-order for $15,000, Bell Helicopter debuted a prototype for a flying taxi that can fly at 150 mph for 150 miles. HTC debuted the Vive Pro Eye, a high end VR headset with built in eye tracking so you don't have to move your head as much. There was also an underwater drone, micro-LED screens (brighter and longer lasting than OLED TVs), LG's foldable TV, and even a bread-baking robot.
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CES 2019 Liveblog
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The Raspberry Pi 400 is a compact keyboard with an ARM-based computer built-in and it is available now as a standalone machine for $70. It has two micro HDMI ports, a microSD card slot, two USB 3.0 ports, and a single USB 2.0 port. There is a USB-C port for power and a GPIO header for attaching a variety of niche devices. Inside, it features a quad-core 1.8GHz ARM Cortex-A72 CPU, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 5.0, and 802.11ac Wi-Fi. It can be purchased in a bundle including a mouse, power supply, microSD card, HDMI cable, and beginner's guide for $100.
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The Raspberry Pi 400 is a compact keyboard with a built-in computer
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The first death in the US from coronavirus was a man in his 50s with chronic underlying conditions. Two new cases in Washington state have recently been announced, with the cases linked to a long-term care facility. One of the new confirmed cases is a healthcare worker. Out of 108 residents and 180 staff at the healthcare facility, 27 residents and 25 staff members have symptoms of the virus. Testing is underway as public health officials rush to contain the outbreak. The recent patterns of cases in the US indicate that the disease is likely circulating within the population. COVID-19 has spread to 57 countries, infecting more than 85,000 people and killing more than 2,900. There have been 66 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US.
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First U.S. coronavirus death confirmed in Washington state
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Starlink beta users are reporting download speeds ranging from 11Mbps to 60Mbps and upload speeds ranging from 5Mbps to 18Mbps, with latencies ranging from 20ms to 94ms. Users have been testing the network over the past two weeks, with some anonymous users posting their speed test results on Reddit. Beta testers must sign non-disclosure agreements, so information is restricted. SpaceX says that its network will eventually reach gigabit speeds and the company is targeting latency below 20ms. Its Starlink network currently has 600 satellites and the company has permission to launch nearly 12,000. Screenshots of the speed tests are available in the article.
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SpaceX Starlink speeds revealed as beta users get downloads of 11 to 60Mbps
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A team of computer scientists has developed a theory on how quantum computers should be able to rapidly verify that a practically infinite problem was solved. The scientists were surprised by their findings, as quantum computers were not supposed to be able to complete this feat. In theoretical computer science, scientists can describe computers of unlimited power with formulas and theories. The field is focused on understanding the complexity of problems that computers can solve. In the paper, the authors show that planet-sized quantum computers with unlimited energy might be able to quickly verify the solution to the halting problem, a problem of determining whether a running program ever comes to a stop. Alan Turing had deemed the program as uncomputable in 1936, so the only way to solve the problem is by watching to see if a program eventually stops, which could take thousands of years.
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Mathematicians Are Studying Planet-Sized Quantum Computers With God-Like Powers
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People registering new mobile phone services in China will now be required to have their faces scanned as part of the identity verification process. China has been trying to ensure that everyone who uses the internet does so under their real identities. It claims that removing anonymity from internet use boosts cyber-security and reduces internet fraud. Removing anonymity makes it easier to track the population. China's citizen database has been breached before, resulting in people being contacted by scammers who knew their personal details. There were 170 million CCTV cameras installed in China in 2017, with another 400 million new ones planned to be installed by 2020. Facial recognition plays a key role in China's surveillance system. It has been used to track fugitives, as well as to identify certain minority groups.
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China due to introduce face scans for mobile users
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Tesla's aggressive deadline for full self-driving capability seems more possible now that Elon Musk has revealed Project Dojo. While most people were focused on Tesla's new HW3 Full Self-Driving Computer during Tesla's Autonomy Day presentations, the Dojo computer went under the radar. It only had a brief mention during the presentations where Musk described it as a super-powerful training computer that will be able to take in vast amounts of data and complete massive amounts of video training unsupervised. Current machine learning systems process videos frame by frame, but Dojo may be able to handle videos on its own. Being able to process video footage unsupervised may potentially accelerate the pace of progress with autonomous driving significantly.
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Elon Musk hints at Tesla’s secret project ‘Dojo’ making the difference in race to full self-driving
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When Facebook acquired Instagram, there was an understanding that Instagram would remain relatively autonomous. However, in May, Instagram's VP of Product Kevin Weil was replaced by former VP of Facebook News Feed Adam Mosseri, a member of Zuckerberg's inner circle. Adam and Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom did not get along according to sources. Systrom and Zuckerberg also had disagreements particularly about sharing on Instagram and Facebook, as Zuckerberg wanted more Instagram content to flow to Facebook. Recently, the shortcut to Instagram in the Facebook menu was removed, and Facebook alerts began appearing in the Instagram notifications tab. With Instagram's autonomy lessening and several long-time executives leaving, the time was right for Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger to make their departure.
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Why Instagram's founders are resigning: independence from Facebook weakened
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The Federal Reserve is trying to work out the value of the internet, as while the current expansion of the economy is the longest in history, productivity gains are weak, and GDP growth is far from stellar. This may be due to the fact that many of the most used products on the internet are free, and GDP measures the value of products and services that are bought and sold. In a study on the value of these services, it was found that the median user of Facebook would give up the service for $48 a month, people would give up YouTube for $1,173 a year, and it would take $17,530 for users to give up search engines for a year. The studies on the value of free internet services found that the GDP would be higher if the value of these services were included in calculations.
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Would you give up Google for $17,000 a year? The Federal Reserve wants to know
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A ‘Vegebot’ developed by a team at the University of Cambridge is able to harvest iceberg lettuce using machine learning. Crops such as potatoes and wheat have been harvested using machinery for decades. However, iceberg lettuce presents a more difficult problem as it is harder to determine when they are ripe, and the crops are easily damaged during harvesting. The Vegebot is trained on images of ripe crops and is able to tell which crops are ready for harvest with a visual scan. A second component focuses on harvesting the crop without damage so that it is supermarket ready. The process usually takes a few seconds for a human worker, but the farming industry is currently facing a worker shortage. These bots can also work around the clock, going through fields multiple times to harvest exactly at the right time.
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Robot uses machine learning to harvest lettuce
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Walmart has sued Tesla, claiming that Tesla's solar panels caused fires in seven of its stores, destroying merchandise and property and resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses. According to Walmart, Tesla failed to produce solar tiles that lived up to industry standards. Walmart has installed Tesla's solar panels on the roofs of around 240 of its stores. Tesla paid $2.6 billion in 2016 to buy SolarCity before producing its own solar tiles. Last year, Tesla reported a $408 million loss in its second quarter, despite selling more cars than ever. It is currently facing a field investigation by the US National Transportation Safety Board after several Model X and Model S owners claimed that their cars burst into flames.
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Walmart sues Tesla over solar panels it says caused multiple fires
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Billions of dollars are being poured into AI-based projects by governments around the world to change how low-income people will interact with the state. Governments are looking into ways to automate how welfare payments are distributed amongst those who need them. They claim the new systems will speed up benefits payments, increase efficiency and transparency, reduce waste, save money for taxpayers, eradicate human fallibility and prejudice, and ensure that limited resources reach those most in need. However, many have seen their payments reduced or stopped, and unexplainable mistakes often occur. Victims of these mistakes often have no way of seeking remedies. The technology is also being used to demand repayments from those who have been overpaid, with some cases where up to 30 years of overpayments were demanded to be repaid.
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Digital dystopia: how algorithms punish the poor
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Apple announced a new version of the iPhone SE, a new desktop Mac, an external monitor, and more at its Peek Performance event. The new iPhone SE, which will launch on March 18, has 5G and will start at $429. Apple's new 27-inch 5K Studio Display costs $1,599 and can reach up to 600 nits of brightness. The display will support P3 wide color and work with macOS's TrueTone feature. The Mac Studio is similar to a Mac Mini but aimed at creative professionals. Customers will be able to choose between an M1 Max version starting at $1,999 or an M1 Ultra version starting at $3,999. More details about the announcements from the event are available in the article.
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The 7 biggest announcements from Apple’s Peek Performance event
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Facebook's brain-reading computer interface is able to look for patterns in activity in the brain and match them with specific words and phrases in real-time. In experiments, participants answered multiple-choice questions with their thoughts, which were then translated into words by the brain-computer interface. The system was able to detect when the participant was being asked a question, understand the content of the question asked, and translate the thought answer into words. The patients in the study were using highly invasive implants, and the system was very limited. It was only able to understand nine questions and 24 total answer options with between 61 to 76 percent accuracy. Even a very basic level of thought control could make huge differences in how we interact with VR systems. The technology could help improve the lives of people who can't speak due to paralysis or other issues.
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Facebook just published an update on its futuristic brain-typing project
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Two men from The Hague, 75-year-old Bap K. and 34-year-old Reinier van E., ran Ecatel from a data center in a town north-west of Amsterdam. Due to Dutch law, hosting companies can't be prosecuted for the actions of those who hire their servers. Ecatel shielded its clients from the law by claiming to know nothing about its clients' actions, responding to no one, and being obstructive. The Ecatel network was known for its connections with cybercrime, malware, and child pornography. Ecatel's offices were raided in September by the Dutch Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service based on suspicions that the business had avoided paying hundreds of thousands of euros in tax.
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The cesspool of the internet is to be found in a village in North Holland (22 minute read)
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Around 2,300 Google cafeteria workers have unionized, claiming that they are overworked and underpaid. The unionization is some of the most significant union activity that tech industry workers have accomplished. Cafeteria workers earn wages that start around $35,000 and don't receive the same benefits that are standard for full-time Google employees. On-site food workers are contracted to work via a third party, Compass Group. A local chapter of Unite Here is helping the workers organize their union. Service workers in the tech industry have seen stagnating wages that haven't kept up with the high cost of living. Some employees live in an RV camp that has formed outside Google's headquarters. Google announced in June that it would invest $1 billion in land and building homes.
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Thousands of Google’s cafeteria workers have unionized
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Researchers at UCLA Health have created a device that can help blind people navigate the world by restoring their ability to perceive objects and movement. So far, six blind patients have had the devices surgically implanted in them. With the implants, the patients are able to complete daily tasks like sorting laundry or finding and picking up items from a table. The device is designed for people who have lost their vision due to injury or disease. It is the first device of its kind that can be used in a patient's home without having to be plugged into another external device. The device works by converting images from a video camera mounted on sunglasses into a series of electric pulses that stimulate the 60 electrodes implanted on top of the patients' brain's visual cortex. Patients report seeing in 'dots' rather than full images.
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Experimental Brain Implant Restores Visual Perception to the Blind
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The new line-up of iPhones could include four new smartphones, a 5G upgrade, and an infusion of iPad Pro styling and tech. Apple has supposedly reduced the size of the notch on the screen panel, flattened out the glass on the 2020 iPhone Pro, and increased the screen size of the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s successor. The 2020 iPhone Pro is expected to have three cameras and a LIDAR Scanner, and the iPhone 11’s successor will have two cameras. A new HomePod will be launched that will be roughly half the size of the original and will feature a smarter Siri. Apple AirTags are also expected to launch this year. There could be a delay in the release of some models due to the pandemic.
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Huge iPhone 12 changes inside & out leak in Apple 2020 roadmap report
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Ryan Kaji, a nine-year-old boy who makes unboxing and review videos on YouTube, has held onto the title of highest-paid YouTuber for the third year running. Kaji made $29.5 million from his YouTube channel and a further estimated $200 million from branded toys and clothing. His family runs nine YouTube channels, with Ryan's World being the most popular with 41.7 million subscribers. Kaji and his family are facing the threat of a US FTC investigation over allegations that their videos' sponsors were not properly disclosed. The top ten biggest-earning YouTube stars earned a total of $211 million this year. A list of the top ten YouTube earners is available at the end of the article.
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Ryan Kaji, 9, earns $29.5m as this year's highest-paid YouTuber
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A US Navy ship, the USS Boxer, used a new anti-drone system to take down an Iranian drone that came too close to it. The new system is called an MRZR LMADIS, a Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System, which is mounted on two Polaris MRZR vehicles. It consists of a command node and a sensor node, and the vehicles are outfitted with radar sensors, cameras, and radio-frequency detectors and jammers. The MRZR LMADIS uses the jammer to disrupt signals from the drone, a method which is more accurate and less expensive than using missiles. A US spy drone was recently shot down by the Iranian military. Other directed-energy weapons, aimed at combating drones, are currently in development.
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A US Navy ship used a new drone-defense system to take down an Iranian drone
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Food delivery apps allow customers to summon food with a tap on a smartphone screen. Companies such as DoorDash have started building delivery-only kitchens and renting them out to restaurants. Restaurants can move into a DoorDash kitchen and then be live on the platform the next day. DoorDash's tenants include Chick-fil-A. Its delivery-only kitchens allow restaurants to deliver to wider areas. Restaurants can test areas without the expensive costs of setting up a full business. Uber is encouraging some of its restaurants to set up separate app-only restaurants under different names. Restaurants have been receiving additional sales from delivery apps, but the apps take around 30 percent from each order, making it tough for businesses to cover expenses.
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Delivery Only: The Rise Of Restaurants With No Diners As Apps Take Orders
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Floating Farm is the world's first floating dairy farm, a three-story structure that employs two farmers and three types of robots. It was built as a response to climate change and populations moving closer to cities. The aim of the project was to build a form of urban farming that was circular, self-sufficient, and sustainable. Cows are able to move freely between the top and middle floors of the structure, feeding on grass clippings, potato peels, and beer broth. The manure they produce is used to fertilize local parks and playing fields and the milk they produce is pasteurized and sold or processed into other products. Floating Farm is able to break even on costs only because it processes its own milk. Cities worldwide are interested in the concept, which can be scaled.
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World's 1st floating dairy farm could help cities adapt to climate change
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While humans haven't needed surgery in space yet, the time is coming near when it will be necessary as spaceflight is becoming more accessible. Current procedures on the ISS are to stabilize patients enough to transport them back to Earth for surgery. However, that procedure won't work for longer missions, such as trips to Mars. Space travel changes many aspects of how the body works due to changed physics. Experimental surgeries have already been performed on rats in microgravity, resulting in innovations such as magnetic surgical tools. A specialized surgical enclosure could help solve many of the issues associated with the lack of gravity. 3D printing will be an important technology when it comes to equipping space surgeons. Robotic surgery is also another option, but the lag in communications in space is an issue.
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From floating guts to 'sticky' blood – here's how to do surgery in space
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A large scale study has found that antiretroviral drugs which suppressed HIV infections in patients also prevented the virus from spreading to other people. This means that if everyone with HIV went under the same treatment, the virus could possibly be eradicated. The study tracked almost 1,000 male couples where one party was infected with HIV, and while 15 patients contracted the virus, it was through contact with partners that were not involved in the study. In 2017, around 40 million people were infected with HIV worldwide, with around 21.7 million of these people being on antiretroviral treatments. Many people with HIV remain undiagnosed due to lack of access to care and the fear or stigma around contracting the virus.
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End to Aids in sight as huge study finds drugs stop HIV transmission
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The central bank of Venezuela is investigating possibilities into storing cryptocurrencies after a request by Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PSDV), the state-owned oil and natural gas company, to send Bitcoin and Ethereum to the bank. It is unknown how much cryptocurrency PSDV owns and how they obtained it. If PSDV was to sell its holdings on an exchange, it would have to open itself up to the standard cryptocurrency exchange diligence checks. Venezuela's international reserves hit a 29-year low of $7.9 billion in May, and the country is facing increased international sanctions. Storing and using cryptocurrencies may help the country overcome its isolation from the global financial system. Venezuela has its own state-run cryptocurrency, El Petro.
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Venezuela may have Bitcoin and Ethereum, but it’s unsure how it can use them
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JPMorgan Chase & Co is seeking to increase the diversity of its workforce by broadening its candidate pool, and it will use neuroscience-based video games to help achieve this goal. The bank will use technology developed by Pymetrics, a start-up that develops games that help companies assess an applicant’s social, cognitive, and behavioral features, such as attention, memory, and altruism. While employment history is usually a good indicator of performance, more recent college graduates usually do not have the work experience required, and using this technology may be a better way to assess their fitness during the recruitment phase. JPMorgan has been testing the games with existing employees for the last few months and will use the technology to assess applicants for their 2020 internships in the US.
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JPMorgan Chase tests neuroscience-based video games to recruit interns
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Apple is planning to release a range of new hardware in the first half of 2020, according to TF Securities analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo. Included with the release will be a pair of AR glasses that Apple has developed with third-party brands. The new, lower-cost iPhone SE 2 and a new iPad Pro will also be released. A 5G iPhone is set to be released in the third quarter of 2020. Kuo did not mention the 16-inch MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, which was supposed to launch sometime this month. The new iPhone SE 2 will use the same A13 chip as the iPhone 11 and have a similar design to the iPhone 8. It should cost around $399.
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Apple’s smart glasses will arrive in the first half of 2020, top analyst says
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The People's Bank in China is rumored to be almost ready to launch a digital version of the renminbi. It is unknown whether it will use blockchain technology or how private the system will be. The announcement of Facebook's Libra has apparently accelerated China's plan to roll out its own digital currency. China aims to use the currency to protect its monetary sovereignty. There are many electronic payment methods in China already, with private companies handling trillions of dollars' worth of transactions per quarter. A government-owned currency would be more secure in the case of a private company declaring bankruptcy. The currency is likely to be similar to Libra. China aims to strike a balance between anonymous payments and preventing money laundering. The new digital tokens will be able to be used without an internet connection.
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China is about to launch its own digital currency. Here’s what we know so far
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An international team of biohackers is creating a pirated version of a million-dollar gene therapy. Glybera is a gene therapy that costs $1 million per treatment. It treats an inherited disease that affects the fat levels in blood. The biohackers developed the first prototype of their version of the gene therapy with less than $7,000. They will require help to complete the animal testing stage, which is much more expensive. Glybera uses viruses to deliver the genes, but the knock-off version uses minicircles, which are less efficient. Viruses are expensive to procure. While Glybera only requires one shot, the new treatment will likely require multiple injections over a six month period. The group is not ready for patients and the drug still requires further development.
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Biohackers are pirating a cheap version of a million-dollar gene therapy
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Scientists from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences have developed a system that can accurately detect cancer cells in the bloodstream and destroy these cells in real time as they pass through the body. The machine could mean that doctors will eventually be able to destroy cancer cells in the bloodstream before they form new tumors in the body with a harmless, noninvasive, and thorough procedure. In the study, the machine was able to detect cancer cells in 27 out of the 28 patients, with a sensitivity that is about 1,000 times better than current technology. It works by aiming a laser at a vein, where it heats up circulating tumor cells faster than normal cells, causing them to expand quickly and die, a process which produces sound. The sound produced indicates how many cells have passed through the laser.
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Laser Destroys Cancer Cells Circulating in the Blood
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Uber's special investigations team has rules which prevent it from escalating issues to law enforcement, filing official police reports, or advising victims of crimes to seek legal counsel. The investigators' main priority is to protect Uber and to make sure that the company is not liable for any crimes committed by its contractors. Neutral language is always to be used when communicating with victims, and investigators are not to specifically ask alleged perpetrators about claims made against them. Uber justifies its actions by maintaining that it is a business, not a unit of law enforcement, and that victims are free to file complaints directly with the police. It has a three-strikes approach to enforcing driver behavior. This approach has allowed some perpetrators to continue to assault victims until their fourth offense.
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Uber stopped its own investigators from reporting crimes to the police
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The US birth-rate fell by 2 percent in 2018 to 3,788,235 births, the lowest number of births in over 32 years. It has been the fourth consecutive year of birth declines. Research suggests that the current political climate and future outlook for the planet are significant factors that affect people’s decisions to have children. High childcare and insurance costs are also cited as reasons for the low birth-rate. Many people do not have a stable income or job security, and while the cost of living has risen, income levels have not. There has been an increase in the average age for women giving birth, as people are opting to have children later in life when they gain more stability.
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U.S. Births Fell To A 32-Year Low In 2018; CDC Says Birthrate Is In Record Slump
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Nurses are currently in high demand. The number of nursing jobs was estimated to grow by 15 percent between 2016 and 2026. A robot designed by Diligent Robotics helps nurses by completing approximately 30 percent of the tasks that nurses are required to do that do not involve interacting with patients. Moxi is preprogrammed to run errands automatically, such as delivering an admission bucket to a room after a patient is discharged. The robot was unexpectedly popular with patients and staff during testing, especially after the team added some social functions. It is designed to look non-threatening while remaining highly functional. The workload that the robot takes off nurses means that nurses have more time and energy to focus on patients.
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A hospital introduced a robot to help nurses. They didn’t expect it to be so popular
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Buster Hernandez is a Californian man that systematically harassed and terrorized young girls using chat apps, email, and Facebook. Facebook worked with a third-party company to develop an exploit to hack Hernandez in order to provide evidence to the FBI to arrest and convict him. It is unclear whether the FBI knew of Facebook's involvement. The exploit targeted a vulnerability in Tails related to its traffic routing through the Tor anonymity network. This incident highlights the technical capabilities of Facebook, a third-party hacking firm, and law enforcement, and raises questions about whether it is appropriate for private companies to assist in the hacking of their users. In this case, there were no other privacy risks and the human impact was so large that many employees felt like Facebook had no choice but to act.
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Facebook Helped the FBI Hack a Child Predator (15 minute read)
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Material scientists have created a robot hand that is designed to sweat when overheated in order to cool down. The three-fingered machine has pressurized reservoirs filled with water inside its fingers which are connected to the surface via ducts made of heat-reactive plastic. When the plastic reaches a certain temperature, the pores open and water is released onto the surface, evaporating and cooling the machine down. Most robots are made of metal, which is good at dispersing heat, but soft robots designed for delicate tasks like medical procedures and packing fruit are made from rubber, which is a good insulator. One of the downsides to sweating is that it reduces friction, which could be an issue for gripping-type robots. There are GIFs in the article showing the sweating robot in action.
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Robots learn to sweat to stop overheating
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A fungus that has been modified with genes from a spider produces a venom that can quickly kill mosquitos. In lab experiments, the fungus was able to kill off mosquito populations in a confined area within two generations. While some scientists are worried that using genetic engineering to combat mosquitos may have wide-reaching consequences, such as killing off other organisms, lab research has so far shown the fungus to be harmless to other insects, such as bees. Malaria currently infects over 200 million people every year, killing more than 400,000, mostly children in sub-Saharan Africa. Other approaches to combating malaria involve using CRISPR to inject genes into mosquitos that cause them to become infertile.
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Scientists Genetically Modify Fungus To Kill Mosquitoes That Spread Malaria
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Boston Dynamics has been showing off advanced robots for years, gaining a large following for their machines. After decades of developing robots, Boston Dynamics is finally set to launch its first commercial bot later this year, a quadrupedal robot called 'Spot'. Robot development is difficult and requires significant funding, resources, and highly skilled staff. Boston Dynamics' robots are different in that they are legged and able to handle unexpected interference, such as being kicked. Spot will be able to be customized, with the ability to add attachments such as robotic arms, cameras, radios, sensors, and more. It is designed to be able to replace a human in current warehouse working environments. Other companies have also been developing legged robots for different environments.
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Boston Dynamics’ robots are preparing to leave the lab - is the world ready? (11 minute read)
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According to a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research, only one percent of Uber customers always tip, while almost 60 percent of customers never do. The average tip drivers receive is around $3 for customers who tip. Female drivers are more likely to receive tips, but men are usually the ones who tip. Tipping may occur less on ride-sharing platforms as the tipping happens after the ride, not face to face. Users pay for their rides through an app, rather than in cash. Uber had resisted adding tipping functionality to its app in the past as certain types of people tend to get tipped more regardless of the quality of service, which it considers unfair. Since Uber has enabled in-app tipping, Uber drivers and Uber Eats couriers have collected nearly $2 billion in tips.
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Nearly two-thirds of Uber customers don’t tip their drivers, study says
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A report from the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center detailed what the field of cybernetics might look like in 2050. The report aimed to determine the potential of machines that are physically integrated within the human body to augment and enhance the performance of humans. Poor public perception may be a barrier to the mass adoption of cybernetics. The four probable areas of enhancement are super vision, augmented hearing, enhanced muscle, and two-way data transfer between the brain and a brain interface device. Legal and ethical frameworks may need to be altered to account for cybernetics. The full impact of cybernetic technology is still being determined, and it is likely that most moral, ethical, and legal considerations will be made after the technology becomes common.
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Here's the Pentagon's Terrifying Plan for Cyborg Supersoldiers
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Xiaoice is an artificial intelligence-driven chatbot first developed by Microsoft researchers in 2014. It appears as an 18-year-old who flirts, jokes, and sexts with her human partners. Xiaoice's algorithm tries to work out how to become the perfect companion. The company uses its algorithms to provide financial analysis, content production, and virtual assistants. Critics are concerned that the AI's growing influence is creating serious ethical and privacy risks. The bot has had several scandals, sometimes discussing topics deemed unacceptable by China's media regulators, resulting in the creators working on an enormous filter system to prevent the bot from touching on certain subjects. Xiaoice follows strict data protection guidelines to prevent individuals' privacy.
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The AI Girlfriend Seducing China’s Lonely Men (11 minute read)
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Project Starline is a 3D video chat booth from Google that aims to replace one-on-one 2D video conference calls. Google recently released a research paper detailing the tech behind its demo of Project Starline at this year's I/O conference. The system consists of a large 65-inch 8K panel running at 60Hz, three capture pods for collecting imagery and depth data, four tracking cameras, four microphones, two loudspeakers, and infrared projectors. It captures a total of seven video streams. Processing this data requires transmission bandwidth of between 30Mbps to 100Mbps and four high-end Nvidia graphics cards. More details, including diagrams and a video demonstrating the technology, are available in the article.
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Here’s how Google’s experimental 3D telepresence booth works
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Facebook’s new dating app, which is currently only in a testing phase in a few select countries, has a new feature which will let users list up to nine ‘secret crushes’ from their friends list. If one of their friends also lists them as a secret crush, Facebook will send a notification to both users and match them. Facebook Dating usually avoids listing friends as potential matches. While there seems to be no method of monetization during its testing phase, there is big money in the dating app marketplace. Analysts predict that the dating app industry could be worth $12 billion by 2020. The Match Group, who owns Tinder, OkCupid, Match.com, and many other dating sites, brought in $1.7 billion last year from memberships, advertising, and premium features.
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Facebook’s dating app will let you list your secret crushes
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Ride-hailing and delivery drivers from Uber and Postmates are suing the state of California over a law that is set to take effect today. AB 5 introduces a test for determining when a worker must be classified as an employee and therefore be entitled to minimum wage and benefits. This law has severe implications for the business models of companies that rely on contractors. The lawsuit is an attempt to get lawmakers to rethink the law to create a better solution. Some workers want to remain classified as independent contractors due to the schedule flexibility it provides them. Experts believe that it is likely the lawsuit will be unsuccessful. Workers from many industries are affected by this law, including truck drivers, freelance journalists, and musicians. Some of these groups have also filed lawsuits.
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Uber sues California over the gig-worker law. Now what?
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The Hubble Space Telescope took new images of Jupiter when the planet was 653 million kilometers from Earth in August. They show a new storm brewing in the planet's atmosphere and a cousin of the Great Red Spot changing color. While it is common for storms to form, the new disturbance appears to have more structure behind it and researchers speculate that it may be the beginning of a longer-lasting spot. The Great Red Spot now measures 15,800 kilometers across, and while it is still shrinking, its rate of shrinkage appears to have slowed. Red Spot Jr, a smaller spot below the Great Red Spot, has started taking on a darker reddish hue. Hubble also captured a new multi-wavelength observation of Jupiter. The images are available in the article.
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Hubble Captures Crisp New Image of Jupiter and Europa
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'Mario Paint Composer' is a genre that you can search for on YouTube. Using Mario Paint to create songs involves having to use a very unusual set of in-game tools. Starting in 2013, the trend has now evolved so that most composers aren't even using the original music maker anymore. Instead, they are using a custom program that mimics Mario Paint's compositional capabilities with a few extra features added. Early players had to find creative methods to create specific sounds in the original game. The trend died down soon after it began, and most videos and resources are old. There are still small, active Mario Paint communities on Discord. Members of the community feel that the restrictions that the game imposes on its players force them to be more creative, making composing songs inside the game fun and challenging.
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Meet the musicians who compose in Mario Paint
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The president of SpaceX's Starlink business has said that the company is considering going public as it is ripe to do so. Starlink has already launched 240 satellites and plans to launch up to another 1,440 satellites this year. These satellites are designed to beam down broadband internet coverage all over the world. Elon Musk is known for hating publicly traded companies and has said in the past that SpaceX won't be going public until its Mars vehicle is complete. SpaceX has recently been valued at around $33.3 billion. The revenue from Starlink will help fund SpaceX's plans to send people to the Moon and Mars. Those in the astronomy community have criticized broadband satellite projects as the resulting constellation could obstruct their observations of the night sky.
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SpaceX may spin out internet-from-space business and make it public
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Visa is buying Plaid in a deal worth $5.3 billion. Plaid's API software is used by many companies to connect to users' bank accounts. One in four people in the United States with bank accounts has used Plaid's services. Visa was an early investor in the start-up, along with Mastercard, Citi, American Express, and Goldman Sachs. Plaid has seen a compound annual growth rate of roughly 100% since 2015. Its customer base doubled from 2017 to 2018 and has expanded to the UK and Canada. Visa has estimated that the deal could add up to 100 basis points to the company's net revenue growth by 2021.
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Visa to acquire Plaid, the fintech powering Venmo and other banking apps, in $5.3 billion deal
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Since 2002, SpaceX has been working to make space travel cheaper and more accessible. Its Starship is a large vehicle that could theoretically carry people into space and land safely back on Earth. Starship will be able to return to space multiple times using a rapidly reusable orbital rocket. Spaceships need to become more like airplanes, with reusable vehicles, in order for them to be a viable form of transport. SpaceX plans to have more prototypes of Starship built in the next six months. A Japanese billionaire has announced that he has booked a trip as a private passenger with SpaceX for a voyage to the moon next year. SpaceX has partnered with NASA on the Commercial Crew Program to transport crew to and from the International Space Station.
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Elon Musk Unveils SpaceX's New Starship, Designed To Fly To The Moon, Mars And Beyond
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A new social media network called WT:Social has been stealthily launched by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales. WT:Social was previously a news-focused site, but it was revamped and has slowly been onboarding new users since last month. Its focus is on removing bad actors, editing misleading stories, and giving people the choice to dictate which stories get presented to them. WT:Social will allow users to build niche communities called SubWikis that will rely on volunteers to moderate and enforce standards of content. The platform survives on donations and is ad-free. There is currently a waitlist to join WT:Social. Users can skip the queue by pledging $12.99 a month or $100 for a year. None of the data generated on the site will be sold.
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Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales Launches Social Network
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From 2014 to 2016, astronauts grew red romaine lettuce inside the ISS Vegetable Production System chambers. A sample was harvested in August 2015 and the lettuce became the first crop to be grown in space and then eaten. The lettuce grown in space was similar to lettuce grown on Earth, with equivalent levels of nutrients and oxidants, as well as the same diverse microbial communities. NASA plans to grow tomatoes and peppers next, but these crops will take a lot longer to grow compared to the lettuce. Being able to grow crops in space is essential for long-term space travel or missions. There are many challenges to growing crops in space, for example, the lack of soil, gravity, rain, or bees.
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Before we settle Mars, scientists must perfect growing space salad
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The Boring Company landed a $48.6 million deal with Las Vegas city to build an underground transportation system underneath the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). It is estimated that the tunnel will be able to transport 4,400 passengers per hour using autonomous electric vehicles. Commuters will be able to reach the opposite side of the LVCC in a minute using the tunnel. Tunnels and cars are not new technology, but the method for digging the tunnel is an innovation by The Boring Company that cuts the cost of digging to a fraction of the usual cost. The city’s Mayor has stated concerns for the project, noting that The Boring Company had not yet finished any of its projects in the three years that it has been operating.
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Elon Musk’s $49 Million Las Vegas Loop Makes Perfect Sense—for Las Vegas
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A World Economic Forum report based on a survey of executives at 300 global companies across a variety of industries found that while automation and AI would replace 75 million jobs by 2025, it will also create 133 million new jobs. Machines are expected to perform about 42% of all current tasks in the workplace by 2022, compared to only 29% now, and the nature of the jobs human do may change. In fact full-time, permanent employment may potentially fall, as companies move towards temporary workers, freelancers and specialist contractors. It's worth noting that in the report, nearly half of all companies expect their full-time workforce to shrink over the next several years.
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A.I. and robotics will create almost 60 million more jobs than they destroy by 2022, report says
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The Pirate Bay was born in 2003, and despite many attempts at closing down the website, it still remains an internet giant today. It uses torrents, a system which decentralizes the location of files so that users are downloading from their peers rather than a website. Many countries have attempted to block the site, and the Swedish government attempted to charge the creators of the website for copyright infringements, resulting in a year of prison and a $3.5 million fine for the four defendants. While piracy has dropped over the years due to streaming services like Netflix, which made content conveniently available and affordable, the piracy rate has raised recently due to the splitting of streaming services. Consumers are finding it more convenient to pirate again, rather than pay for multiple streaming services.
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After 15 Years, The Pirate Bay Still Can’t Be Killed (14 minute read)
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Around 68 percent of ordinary investors, those who are not part of the management or board, voted to oust Mark Zuckerberg as chairman of Facebook during the annual shareholders meeting last week. Shareholders are concerned with the direction of the company and the handling of recent scandals. An independent chairman may benefit the company and hold Zuckerberg and his team accountable for their actions. Shareholders also voted to scrap Facebook’s dual-class share structure, where Class B shareholders have 10 times as much voting power as Class A shareholders. As Zuckerberg owns more than 75% of Class B stocks, earning him 60% of the voting power in Facebook, the proposal to oust him as chairman was dismissed.
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Facebook shareholder revolt gets bloody: Powerless investors vote overwhelmingly to oust Mark Zuckerberg as chairman
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A 15-million-year-old camel fossil was unearthed during a road construction project in San Diego, California, revealing that the animals roamed North America well before they spread to South America and the rest of the world. The North American camels lived alongside mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths, the short-faced bear, and sabertooth cats until around 12,000 to 10,000 years ago, when the first indigenous people arrived in the area. There are now three living species of camel, with most camel populations being domesticated except for some feral populations in Australia, India, and Kazakhstan. Other camel facts, including their history of use in war, different products made from them, and more, are available in the article.
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Camels Originated in North America, Probably Roamed Hollywood
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Massachusetts State Police have been testing Boston Dynamic's Spot robot dogs in the past three months. The American Civil Liberties Union launching and enquiry as there are no regulations governing the use of the robots and they want to ensure that the use of the robots will not trample on established civil rights and liberties or lead to racial injustice. The Massachusetts State Police stated that the robots were being used as mobile remote observation devices to look at suspicious devices or locations that might be hazardous for human officers. Spot has been used in two incidents, working with the organization's bomb squad. Boston Dynamics leased the robots to the police in order to retain control over how they are used. There are explicit clauses in the lease that prevent the police from using the robots to physically harm or intimidate people.
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Call to probe Boston police tests of 'dog' robots
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In the fast-food chain’s largest acquisition in 20 years, McDonald’s has acquired personalization company Dynamic Yield for a rumored amount of more than $300 million. McDonald’s plans to use the technology developed by Dynamic Yield to build drive-thru menus that are tailored to things such as weather, current restaurant traffic, and trending menu items. The new menus will also offer additional items based on what has been selected. These new menus have already been tested in several locations in the US in 2018 and will be rolled out to other areas in the US in 2019 before moving into international markets. Dynamic Yield will continue to operate as a standalone company and will serve existing and future clients while continuing the development of its personalization technology.
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McDonald’s is acquiring Dynamic Yield to create a more customized drive-thru
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The world's first raspberry-picking robot had begun trials in the UK as the agriculture industry battles rising labor costs and shortages of seasonal workers. Guided by sensors and 3D cameras, the robot will be able to harvest more than 25,000 raspberries a day. Human workers can only harvest around 15,000 raspberries within an eight-hour shift. The developers of the robot wanted to focus on difficult soft fruits first as the technology can then be tweaked to other fruits and vegetables. Despite new governmental programs to incentivize seasonal workers to come to the UK, Farmers have seen an increasing shortage of workers year after year. Robots will be able to raise productivity while solving the worker shortage issue.
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Robocrop: world's first raspberry-picking robot set to work
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Bitcoin has skyrocketed by 40 percent overnight after Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke highly of blockchain technology. Xi said that China must increase investment, focus on a number of key core technologies, and accelerate the development of blockchain technology and industrial innovation. China had banned cryptocurrency exchanges in 2017. The country has been working on its own cryptocurrency since last year and is rumored to be close to release. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently testified about Facebook's proposed cryptocurrency, Libra, before the House Committee on Financial Services. All major US payment processors have left the Libra Association. Concerns regarding Libra include criminals exploiting the technology to conceal their identities and engage in financial wrongdoing.
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Bitcoin Price Surges as Chinese President Xi Jinping Embraces Blockchain Technology
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McDonald’s posted better-than-expected Q2 results in the US, partly due to sales of bacon and Donut Sticks. They also used competitions between employees and other promotions to increase efficiency within the company and attract more customers. Going forward, McDonald’s will be deploying AI-powered menu boards at 700 restaurants. The menu boards will use AI to suggest and upsell products based on trending items, the time of day, and the weather. These menus will eventually be added to apps and kiosks. There is pressure from customers and advocacy groups for McDonald’s to introduce a plant-based meat option, similar to Burger King’s new Impossible Whopper, which will be available country-wide by the end of 2019.
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McDonald’s deploys 700 AI-powered menu boards
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Scammers who had duped investors of more than $2 billion in bitcoin recently started selling their coins via over-the-counter markets. This resulted in a domino effect, causing mass liquidations in the market, which led to bitcoin's price dropping to below $7,000 within 30 minutes. Some of the scammers have been selling their coins since June when bitcoin reached its year-to-date high of around $14,000. Around the same time, Chinese authorities detained some of the people suspected of being involved with the PlusToken scam. The scammers still have a large amount of bitcoin yet unliquidated, so there is a chance that they may continue selling and push the market down further.
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How a Whale Crashed Bitcoin to Sub-$7,000 Overnight
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### Content:
Liz Parrish, CEO of BioViva, is patient zero for two anti-aging therapies that the company is researching. BioViva is a biotechnology company that focuses on developing therapies to intervene with human aging. One of the treatments involves injections of a myostatin inhibitor which is expected to prevent age-associated muscle loss. The other therapy is a telomerase gene therapy expected to lengthen telomeres. Early results show that the length of the telomeres of T-lymphocytes in blood samples taken from Parrish had grown in length in the six months since the therapies started. The article contains an interview with Parrish about the therapies and her feelings about being the first test subject.
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Liz Parrish Is Patient Zero in Her Own Anti-Aging Experiment (11 minute read)
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### Content:
Global malaria deaths declined to 409,000 in 2019, compared to 585,000 in 2010. Several countries have eliminated the disease, or are about to. A new strain of the parasite has shown resistance to one of the most commonly used malaria treatments. The new strain could lead to more deaths, an increased spread in the resistance itself, and a loss of confidence in malaria treatments. Increased funding for more testing and research capacity, as well as more effective use of drugs by providers and patients, will help limit the spread of the new strain. The mutation was seen in Southeast Asia in 2013, and it is being held at bay there with the careful use of drugs.
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A New Strain of Drug-Resistant Malaria Has Sprung Up in Africa
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### Content:
Countries around the globe have effectively shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic and this is likely to cause a global financial crisis. Leaders around the world are starting to consider implementing a Universal Basic Income. A UBI is a regular cash payment to the population with minimal or no conditions. Some experts believe that the economy may not be able to revive itself without a UBI. Spain is looking to implement a UBI as soon as possible. The US recently released its first wave of stimulus relief checks, but these checks are unlikely to have a positive effect on the economy as people are hesitant to spend money if they don't know when they will get paid next. Give feedback by replying here or messaging me on Twitter @tldrdan! If you don't want to receive future editions of TLDR, please click here.
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The coronavirus crisis could pave the way to universal basic income
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### Content:
A lack of micronutrients can cause malnourished people to suffer even if they don't look starved. Additional nutritional programs in malnourished communities are often underfunded. Micronutrients in food are often lost due to long cooking times or improper storage. A new capsule has been invented that can keep micronutrients protected until they are ingested. Bill Gates was personally involved in the development of the capsule, and his organization helped fund the project. The next challenge is to distribute the capsules to the areas in which they are needed. While producing the capsules might not be profitable, it may have a long-term positive effect on the economy as people who are no longer micronutrient deficient will be healthier and more productive.
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Bill and Melinda Gates-funded invention could invisibly solve malnutrition
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### Content:
Russian scientist Denis Rebrikov has said in an interview that he is trying to gain approval to create gene-edited babies. He wants to create humans with natural resistance to HIV. Last year, an experiment in China attempted to create humans with genetic resistance to HIV by removing the CCR5 gene. While the CCR5 gene has been associated with HIV resistance, studies have also shown that the gene also moderates cognition and life span. Rebrikov is not known for his work on gene editing, and his name only appears on one paper where gene editing was applied to embryos. The rules for creating gene-modified babies in Russia are unclear, and Rebrikov hopes to take advantage of this to gain approval to carry out the procedure. He believes that he can improve on the experiments carried out in China.
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A Russian scientist has threatened to make more CRISPR babies
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### Content:
Hey guys, doing a quick end of year reader survey to get a better idea of who is reading TLDR, if you could take a second to fill it out I would really appreciate it! 🙏
### Headline:
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TLDR Reader Survey
Hey guys, doing a quick end of year reader survey to get a better idea of who is reading TLDR, if you could take a second to fill it out I would really appreciate it! 🙏
Thanks for reading! If you enjoy TLDR I would really appreciate you spreading the word by forwarding this to your friends! 🙏
If you are just now finding out about TLDR, you can subscribe here!
Give feedback by replying here or messaging me on Twitter @tldrdan!
If you don't want to receive future editions of TLDR, please click here.
)
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### Content:
Iowa Democratic Party officials found irregularities in the data collected by its caucusing app during the recent elections, causing them to switch from the app to counting votes manually. The Iowa Democrats were using an app made by a startup named Shadow Inc, which is managed by a nonprofit investment company called Acronym. According to the party, the issue only affected reporting and did not affect how accurate the data was. The Iowa Democratic Party used an application made by Microsoft in 2016 and the reason they chose to switch to using the untested startup's app is unclear. In August, the Democratic National Committee had recommended Iowa stop using an app altogether. The fact that it has taken so much time for the party to recover from the coding issue shows how unprepared they would have been in the event of an actual cyberattack.
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Iowa caucus debacle is one of the most stunning tech failures ever
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Larry Tesler, one of the first computer scientists who worked at Apple, has passed away at the age of 74. Tesler created computerized cut, copy, and paste. He studied computer science at Stanford University and worked at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Tesler helped find a hippie commune in rural Oregon in 1970. He was passionate about modeless computing, a type of computing where users don't have to switch constantly between different input states. Tesler met Steve Jobs in late 1979 while working at Xerox. A few months later, he was working for Apple on the Apple Lisa project. He left Apple in 1997 and later worked at Amazon, Yahoo!, and then as a freelancer.
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Larry Tesler, the Apple employee who invented cut, copy and paste, dies at 74
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### Content:
A team of Japanese and Russian scientists have ‘reawakened’ cells from a 28,000-year-old wooly mammoth nicknamed 'Yuka’. Nucleus-like structures were taken from Yuka and implanted into mouse oocytes, and then these cells were observed using live-cell imaging techniques. Traces of biological activity were observed, and while the cells were not able to divide, scientists were able to induce the cells to undergo spindle assembly, an activity that proceeds cell division. While scientists are still very far away from cloning a woolly mammoth, the study marks a significant step in bringing mammoths back from the dead. There is an 11 second video available showing the cell activity.
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Scientists reactivate cells from 28,000-year-old woolly mammoth
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