That is right now’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what’s happening on this planet of know-how.
Exosomes are touted as a classy cure-all. We don’t know in the event that they work.
There’s a classy new cure-all on the town—you might need seen advertisements pop up on social media or learn rave evaluations in magnificence magazines.
Exosomes are being touted as a miraculous remedy for hair loss, growing older pores and skin, zits, eczema, ache situations, lengthy covid, and even neurological ailments like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. That’s, after all, for those who can afford the worth tag—which might stretch to 1000’s of {dollars}.
However there’s a giant drawback with these large guarantees: We don’t totally perceive how exosomes work—or what they even actually are. Learn our story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
AI will add to the e-waste drawback. Right here’s what we will do about it.
The information: Generative AI might add as much as 5 million metric tons of e-waste in complete by 2030, in line with a brand new research. That’s a comparatively small fraction of the present international complete of over 60 million metric tons of e-waste every year. Nevertheless, it’s nonetheless a major a part of a rising drawback.
Underneath the hood: The first contributor is high-performance computing {hardware} that’s utilized in information facilities and server farms. That tools is stuffed with beneficial metals and unsafe supplies, and it’s being changed at a fast price as AI firms race to undertake probably the most cutting-edge {hardware} to energy their fashions.
What could be carried out: Increasing {hardware}’s lifespan is without doubt one of the most important methods to chop down on e-waste. Refurbishing and reusing elements may play a major position, as can designing {hardware} in ways in which makes it simpler to recycle and improve. Learn the complete story.
—Casey Crownhart
Militaries are nice testing grounds for AI tech, says Palmer Luckey
Battle is a catalyst for technological change, and the final couple of years have been marred by high-profile conflicts world wide. Geopolitical tensions are nonetheless rising now.
Silicon Valley gamers are poised to learn. Considered one of them is Palmer Luckey, the founding father of the virtual-reality headset firm Oculus, which he bought to Fb for $2 billion. After Luckey’s extremely public ousting from Meta, he based Anduril, which focuses on drones, cruise missiles, and different AI-enhanced applied sciences for the US Division of Protection. The corporate is now valued at $14 billion. We interviewed Luckey about his new challenge: headsets for the navy.
However using AI for the navy is a controversial matter, with an extended and bitter historical past that stretches from Mission Maven to killer robots. Learn the complete story.
—Melissa Heikkilä
This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly e-newsletter all concerning the newest in AI. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Monday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you right now’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Strava is leaking the placement of international leaders
Their bodyguards’ runs are revealing greater than they should. (Le Monde)
+ It’s shockingly simple to purchase delicate information about US navy personnel. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
2 A person who used AI to make little one sexual abuse pictures has been jailed
His 18-year sentence is the primary of its form within the UK. (FT $)
3 Right here’s what Trump plans to do if he wins a second time period
The 900-page Mission 2025 doc supplies loads of hints. (The Verge)
+ It could be arduous for him to roll again the Inexperienced New Deal—however not not possible. (Axios)
+ Russia, China and Iran are interfering within the election. (NYT $)
+ However cybercriminals might pose an excellent better risk. (Wired $)
4 Apple Intelligence is right here
However it appears it’s nonetheless kinda dumb. (WP $)
+ Meta is reportedly constructing its personal AI search engine. (The Data $)
+ The difficulty is, AI chatbots make stuff up. And it’s not a completely fixable drawback. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
5 Medium is drowning in AI slop
Nearly half of the posts on there now are in all probability AI-generated. (Wired $)
6 What steampunk can educate tech right now
We’re too eager on eradicating friction—folks nonetheless like fidgeting with dials and gears. (New Yorker $)
+ Prosthetics designers are developing with new methods to enhance our our bodies. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
7 That is what wargaming appears to be like like now
Militaries world wide use software program referred to as Command PE constructed by a tiny British recreation writer. (WSJ $)
8 Tiktok’s founder has change into China’s richest man
Zhang Yiming’s wealth has nearly doubled within the final yr, to $49 billion. (BBC)
+ How China takes excessive measures to maintain teenagers off TikTok. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
9 How complicated life began to flourish 
You possibly can thank eukaryotes, a kind of cell that emerged about 3 billion years in the past. (Quanta $)
10 Oregon Path is being was an action-comedy film
With musical numbers. Sure, severely. (Hollywood Reporter)
Quote of the day
“I believed it could conquer the world.”
—Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice chairman, spoke for us all (properly, for me anyway), when he waxed lyrical concerning the 1999 Sega Dreamcast online game console on a Twitch stream final weekend, the Washington Submit experiences.
Meet the radio-obsessed civilian shaping Ukraine’s drone protection
September 2024
Drones have come to outline the brutal battle in Ukraine that has now dragged on for greater than two and a half years. And most depend on radio communications—a know-how that Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov has obsessed over since childhood.
Whereas Flash is now a civilian, the previous officer has nonetheless taken it upon himself to tell his nation’s protection in all issues associated to radio. He research Russian transmissions and tries to be taught concerning the issues going through troops.
On this race for survival—as either side consistently tries to finest the opposite, solely to begin over again when the opposite inevitably catches up—Ukrainian troopers have to develop artistic options, and quick. As Ukraine’s wartime radio guru, Flash could be one in all their finest hopes for doing that. Learn the complete story.
—Charlie Metcalfe
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Received any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Timothée Chalamet turned up at his personal look-alike contest in New York final weekend. Spoiler alert: he didn’t win.
+ Study these fundamental guidelines to make veg-based meals scrumptious.
+ There’s one thing very particular about historic timber.
+ Do you are inclined to please everybody however your self? Right here’s the way to cease. (NYT $)
