That is at the moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a each day dose of what’s happening on the earth of expertise.
Exosomes are touted as a stylish cure-all. We don’t know in the event that they work.
There’s a stylish new cure-all on the town—you might need seen advertisements pop up on social media or learn rave critiques in magnificence magazines.
Exosomes are being touted as a miraculous remedy for hair loss, ageing pores and skin, pimples, eczema, ache circumstances, lengthy covid, and even neurological ailments like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. That’s, in fact, when you can afford the worth tag—which might stretch to 1000’s of {dollars}.
However there’s an enormous drawback with these large guarantees: We don’t absolutely 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 may add as much as 5 million metric tons of e-waste in whole by 2030, in response to a brand new examine. That’s a comparatively small fraction of the present world whole of over 60 million metric tons of e-waste every year. Nonetheless, it’s nonetheless a big a part of a rising drawback.
Beneath the hood: The first contributor is high-performance computing {hardware} that’s utilized in information facilities and server farms. That gear is filled with worthwhile metals and unsafe supplies, and it’s being changed at a speedy price as AI corporations race to undertake essentially the most cutting-edge {hardware} to energy their fashions.
What could be achieved: Increasing {hardware}’s lifespan is without doubt one of the most vital methods to chop down on e-waste. Refurbishing and reusing parts also can play a big position, as can designing {hardware} in ways in which makes it simpler to recycle and improve. Learn the total story.
—Casey Crownhart
Militaries are nice testing grounds for AI tech, says Palmer Luckey
Warfare is a catalyst for technological change, and the final couple of years have been marred by high-profile conflicts all over the world. Geopolitical tensions are nonetheless rising now.
Silicon Valley gamers are poised to profit. One in every of them is Palmer Luckey, the founding father of the virtual-reality headset firm Oculus, which he offered 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 venture: headsets for the navy.
However using AI for the navy is a controversial subject, with a protracted and bitter historical past that stretches from Mission Maven to killer robots. Learn the total story.
—Melissa Heikkilä
This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly e-newsletter all in regards to the newest in AI. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Monday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you at the moment’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Strava is leaking the situation of overseas leaders
Their bodyguards’ runs are revealing greater than they must. (Le Monde)
+ It’s shockingly straightforward to purchase delicate information about US navy personnel. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
2 A person who used AI to make youngster sexual abuse pictures has been jailed
His 18-year sentence is the primary of its variety 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 might be arduous for him to roll again the Inexperienced New Deal—however not inconceivable. (Axios)
+ Russia, China and Iran are interfering within the election. (NYT $)
+ However cybercriminals could pose a fair larger risk. (Wired $)
4 Apple Intelligence is right here
But it surely 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 totally fixable drawback. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
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 train tech at the moment
We’re too eager on eradicating friction—folks nonetheless like twiddling with dials and gears. (New Yorker $)
+ Prosthetics designers are arising with new methods to enhance our our bodies. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
7 That is what wargaming appears to be like like now
Militaries all over the world use software program referred to as Command PE constructed by a tiny British recreation writer. (WSJ $)
8 Tiktok’s founder has turn 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 Expertise Evaluate)
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 become an action-comedy film
With musical numbers. Sure, significantly. (Hollywood Reporter)
Quote of the day
“I believed it will conquer the world.”
—Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice chairman, spoke for us all (effectively, for me anyway), when he waxed lyrical in regards to the 1999 Sega Dreamcast online game console on a Twitch stream final weekend, the Washington Put up reviews.
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 expertise 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 study in regards to the issues dealing with troops.
On this race for survival—as all sides continually tries to finest the opposite, solely to begin another time when the opposite inevitably catches up—Ukrainian troopers must develop inventive options, and quick. As Ukraine’s wartime radio guru, Flash may be considered one of their finest hopes for doing that. Learn the total story.
—Charlie Metcalfe
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Acquired 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.
+ Be taught these primary 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 easy methods to cease. (NYT $)
