Must-read content
We scoured the internet to find the most entertaining/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology today.
1 USDA is launching a national program to test milk for avian influenza
It has been a full nine months since the current outbreak was first detected in dairy cows. (statistics)
+ The risk of an avian influenza pandemic is increasing. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Features of OpenAI’s new model include:
They are moving from prediction to inference, and that can be a big problem. (Atlantic$)
+ Regardless of whether capabilities are slowing down, the impact of AI will only grow. (Vox)
+ It may be comforting to dismiss AI as hype, but that misses the point. (Platformer)
3 Federal appeals court upholds US TikTok ban
But what will happen next is anyone’s guess. (WSJ$)
+ Regardless of whether TikTok is banned or not, actions against TikTok have had a major impact. (MIT Technology Review)
Four top internet sleuths fail to find UnitedHealthcare CEO murderer
In fact, some even criticize those who try to help. (NBC)
+ Why are so many Americans indifferent at best to this particular murder? (New Yorker$)
5 Schools try to stop teens before they try to harm themselves
But the AI tools they are deploying may be doing far more damage than helping. (New York Times dollars)
6 China is building its own Starlink system
The Qianfan satellite constellation could eventually grow to nearly 14,000 satellites. (Economist $)
+ The end of the ISS will usher in a more commercialized future in space. (The Verge)
7 This year has been an exciting year for superconductors.
Superconductivity (the flow of electrical current without resistance) has been discovered in three new materials. (Quanta$)
8 Meet the world’s least productive programmers
A small number of disillusioned “ghost engineers” appear to be doing little work. (WP$)
9 Why people turn their backs on dating apps
I feel very tired and somehow disconnected from reality. (The Guardian)
10 fake snacks with millions of views on Instagram 🍿
There’s even a term to describe this trend: “snack fishing.” (wired$)
quote of the day
“But I think Twitter and now X are like a crack addiction for him. He’s obviously always chasing certain hits and ends up self-radicalizing on the platforms he buys into. ”
– A former Twitter employee in London tells the Guardian how things have changed since Elon Musk bought the platform.