The Download: weight-loss drugs, and the future of offshore wind

The Download: weight-loss drugs, and the future of offshore wind

Plus: the SEC’s X account was hacked

This is today’s edition ofThe Downloadour weekday newsletter that offers an everyday dosage of what’s going on the planet of innovation.

Weight-loss drugs: 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2024

One-third of United States grownups have weight problems, a condition that makes them more vulnerable to heart problem, diabetes, and cancer. There’s substantial hope that anti-obesity drugs– consisting of Wegovy and Mounjaro– might assist resolve this public health crisis.

While many were initially established to deal with type 2 diabetes, these medications assist individuals reduce weight by reducing their cravings when injected when a week in your home. Success stories are all over online.

These drugs aren’t best. Lots of clients should remain on the drugs for life to keep the weight off, and the long-lasting effects of these treatments stay unidentified. The treatments might enhance the health of millions of individuals. Check out the complete story

— Abdullahi Tsanni

Weight-loss drugs is among MIT Technology Review’s 10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2024. Take a look at the remainder of the list and elect the last 11th advancement— we’ll expose the winner in April.

+ We’ve never ever comprehended how appetite works. Scientists believe they’re getting closer to lastly figuring out how this fundamental drive functions. Take A Look At Adam Piore’s interesting story

What’s next for overseas wind

It’s a rough time for overseas wind power. Big groups of turbines set up along shorelines can harness the effective, constant winds that blow offshore, and can be a significant benefit to efforts to tidy up the electrical energy supply all over the world.

In current months, tasks around the world have actually been postponed or even canceled as expenses have actually escalated and supply chain disturbances have actually swelled. These problems might spell problem for efforts to cut the greenhouse-gas emissions that trigger environment modification.

The concern is whether existing difficulties are more like a speed bump or an indication that 2024 will see the market run the roadway. Here’s what’s next for overseas wind power

— Casey Crownhart

Completion of privacy online in China

Privacy online in China altered dramatically in 2015. Following lots of smaller sized choices that make publishing anonymously harder, the greatest blow can be found in October when all social networks platforms in China required that users with big followings show their legal names.

The federal government and the platforms argue that the brand-new guideline can assist avoid online harassment and false information. Their argument easily disregards what privacy– a right that has actually existed considering that the development of the web– has actually managed individuals online.

There’s no doubt that the intro of the obligatory real-name guideline will probably result in more rigorous and extensive limitations for everybody. Maybe the only twinkle of hope is that users all over China have actually not quit, and are still discovering workarounds to remain confidential. Check out the complete story

— Zeyi Yang

This story is from China Report, our weekly newsletter providing you the within track on all things occurring in China. Register to get it in your inbox every Tuesday.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the web to discover you today’s most fun/important/scary/ interesting stories about innovation.

1 The SEC’s X account was hacked to promote bitcoin
X stated the SEC stopped working to establish two-factor authentication to effectively protect its account. (CoinDesk
+ The crypto market’s festivity at the news was brief lived. (NYT $)
+ Those in the understand might have made a significant make money from the fraud. (WP $)

2 This AI device can utilize your apps for you
Do not call the Rabbit R1 a smart device replacement–. (The Verge
+ As typical, CES is packed with unusual and fantastic items. (WP $)

3 A DeepMind spinoff wishes to cut in half drug discovery times
Presently, it uses up to a years and near $3 billion to find and establish a brand-new drug. (FEET $)
+ AI is thinking up drugs that nobody has actually ever seen. Now we’ve got to see if they work. (MIT Technology Review

4 This United States chip innovation is sustaining China’s file encryption aspirations


Washington is not sure how– or if– they must try to restrict its usage. (NYT $)
+ Resourceful Chinese companies are repurposing Nvidia chips to prevent export blocks. (FEET $)
+ These easy style guidelines might turn the chip market on its head. (MIT Technology Review

5 There’s installing proof to recommend your state of mind is connected to your gut health
Overlook microorganisms at your own hazard. (Knowable Magazine
+ The hunter-gatherer groups at the heart of a microbiome gold rush. (MIT Technology Review

6 Hollywood’s stars union has actually struck an AI voiceover offer
And authorization is at its heart. (Bloomberg $)
+ Deepfake advertisements including unwitting celebs are swarming on YouTube. (404 Media
+ How Meta and AI business hired striking stars to train AI. (MIT Technology Review

7 Robotics laboratories throughout the world are collaborating to produce a robotic brain
Robotics require great deals of information to train on. Why not work together? (IEEE Spectrum

8 We can’t settle on how concerned we need to have to do with ultra-processed food
Creating a much better method to specify what is and isn’t ultra-processed would be a great location to begin. (WSJ $)

9 Quora is where the smart web goes to pass away
It turns out there is such a thing as a dumb concern. (The Atlantic $)

10 Would you let an algorithm forecast for how long you’re going to live?
It’s difficult to be sure of anything however death, taxes– and AI buzz. (FEET $)

Quote of the day

“There’s so much f ** king competitors.”

— Joe Forzano, a jobless software application engineer, discusses to Motherboard how extremely hard it is to land a brand-new engineering gig in the age of AI.

The huge story

The very first children developed with a sperm-injecting robotic have actually been born

April 2023

Last spring, a group of engineers set out to check the sperm-injecting robotic they ‘d created. Entirely, the robotic was utilized to fertilize more than a lots eggs.

The outcome of the treatments, state the scientists, was healthy embryos– and now 2 infant women, who they declare are the very first individuals born after fertilization by a “robotic.”

The start-up behind the robotic, Overture Life, states its gadget is a preliminary action towards automating IVF, and possibly making the treatment more economical and even more typical than it is today. MIT Technology Review has actually determined a half-dozen start-ups with comparable objectives. Some have roots in university labs concentrating on miniaturized lab-on-a-chip innovation.

Completely automating the procedure will be far from simple. Check out the complete story

— Antonio Regalado

We can still have good things

A location for convenience, enjoyable and diversion in these strange times. (Got any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me)

+ The device brochures of yesteryear are actually rather something.
+ I would not rely on these exceptionally out-of-date amusing ideas— no fantastic visitors and no chips !?
+ Everything you can anticipate in Tinseltown this yearstarring slimmer spending plans and Jenna Ortega.
+ Aspen Gay Ski Week noises entirely wild in the very best possible method
+ The most current star to sign up with the Minecraft motion picture? Mr Jack Black

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