That is at present’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what’s occurring on the earth of expertise.
Inside NASA’s bid to make spacecraft as small as doable
For the reason that Seventies, we’ve despatched loads of huge issues to Mars. However when NASA efficiently despatched twin Mars Dice One spacecraft, the scale of cereal packing containers, to the pink planet in November 2018, it was the primary time we’d ever despatched one thing so small.
Simply making it this far heralded a brand new age in area exploration. NASA and the neighborhood of planetary science researchers caught a glimpse of a future lengthy sought: a pathway to rather more reasonably priced area exploration utilizing smaller, cheaper spacecraft.
There was a catch, although—one which NASA quickly needed to grapple with. Miniaturization can solely go thus far earlier than it involves a crashing halt in opposition to some very elementary legal guidelines of physics. Learn the complete story.
—David W. Brown
This story is from our most up-to-date print challenge of MIT Know-how Evaluate, which is all about society’s hardest issues, and the way we should always deal with them. When you don’t subscribe already, enroll now to get future points after they land.
RSV is on the rise however preventative medicine are in brief provide
This 12 months we have been alleged to have extra instruments than ever earlier than to guard children from RSV (quick for respiratory syncytial virus), together with a brand new shot that’s given preventively to infants and susceptible toddlers to guard them from the worst results of the virus.
However now—simply as charges of illness are rising—this medication is in brief provide. The CDC issued an alert final week advising pediatricians to ration doses, reserving them for infants youthful than six months and people with underlying situations that place them at highest threat for extreme RSV.
The scenario is irritating to folks and pediatricians alike. However shouldn’t forecasting demand for this type of preventative be comparatively easy? And why was there such a mismatch between provide and demand within the first place? Learn the complete story.
—Cassandra Willyard
This story first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Know-how Evaluate’s weekly biotech e-newsletter. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Thursday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you at present’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Sam Bankman-Fried has been discovered responsible on all seven fraud fees
However he’ll have to attend till March subsequent 12 months to search out out his sentence. (Economist $)
+ The tech business has already moved on, although. (NYT $)
+ It’s unlikely that SBF would be the final of his sort. (The Atlantic $)
2 Meta’s open-source AI comes at a value
Simply because Llama 2 is publicly accessible doesn’t imply it’s low-cost. (The Info $)
+ AI companies actually don’t need to pay for coaching knowledge. (Insider $)
3 We shouldn’t get complacent about covid this winter
The very fact vaccines are a lot tougher to get lately isn’t serving to. (The Atlantic $)
+ Who advantages most from the brand new covid vaccines? (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
4 The AI growth is lining Large Tech’s pockets
The wealthy have gotten even richer because of their cloud investments. (WSJ $)
5 Surveillance tech is coming to a metropolis close to you
Metropolis councils are investing in Fusus AI programs, however not all residents are pleased. (404 Media)
+ Marseille’s battle in opposition to the surveillance state. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
6 Zoonotic illnesses are a rising menace
Animal-to-human illnesses are forecast to kill many extra folks in future a long time. (FT $)
+ Meet the scientist on the heart of the covid lab leak controversy. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
7 Overlook the leap second—it’s time for the leap minute
Technically, it might bridge the 2 methods we inform the time. However is the world prepared? (NYT $)
8 How on-line playing ensnared an entire technology of Africans
Its governments are ill-equipped to guard residents who’re turning into more and more addicted. (Bloomberg $)
+ How cellular cash supercharged Kenya’s sports activities betting dependancy. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
9 Airbnb isn’t what it was once
Its value is on the rise—and so are complaints. (Vox)
+ New York’s battle in opposition to Airbnb has made it much more costly to go to. (The Atlantic $)
10 Everyone knows food regimen soda is unhealthy for us 
Possibly candy protein substitutes might provide a more healthy various. (Proto.Life)
Quote of the day
“The crypto business is likely to be new, the gamers like Sam Bankman-Fried could also be new, however this type of fraud is as previous as time and we’ve got no persistence for it.”
— Damian Williams, the US lawyer who led the prosecution of disgraced crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried, has a solemn message for reporters outdoors the Manhattan courtroom, Reuters experiences.
The massive story
Contained in the app Minnesota police used to gather knowledge on journalists at protests
March 2022
Photojournalist J.D. Duggan was protecting a protest in Minnesota in April 2021 when law enforcement officials surrounded him and others, and instructed them to get on the bottom.
Officers sorted the press from the protesters, walked them to a parking zone, and started photographing them, one after the other. They instructed Duggan the photographs can be saved in an app.
An investigation by MIT Know-how Evaluate discovered the information was collected utilizing a device known as Intrepid Response, a straightforward approach to nearly immediately de-anonymize protest attendees and hold tabs on their actions. For some, the device’s use is a harmful step within the course of authoritarianism. Learn the complete story.
—Sam Richards & Tate Ryan-Mosley
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre occasions. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Because of the wonders of AI, we’ve been blessed with one final Beatles tune.
+ 65 years in the past at present, Laika the canine grew to become the primary canine in orbit! 
+ Working as a Disney animation mannequin seems to be completely exhausting.
+ The world’s most distant lighthouses is a good topic for a e-book.
+ Historic England is on the hunt for ghost indicators—these fantastically light painted indicators promoting companies and merchandise of the previous.