That is at present’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a each day dose of what’s occurring on the earth of expertise.
What’s subsequent for batteries
Yearly the world runs an increasing number of on batteries. Electrical autos handed 10% of world automobile gross sales in 2022, and so they’re on monitor to achieve 30% by the tip of this decade.
The transition from gas-powered automobiles to EVs would require plenty of batteries—and higher and cheaper ones at that. Most EVs at present are powered by lithium-ion batteries, a decades-old expertise that tutorial labs and corporations alike are searching for to make extra environment friendly and much more inexpensive.
Within the midst of the hovering demand for EVs and renewable energy, and an explosion in battery improvement, one factor is definite: batteries will play a key position within the transition to renewable vitality. Right here’s what to anticipate in 2023. Learn the total story.
—Casey Crownhart
Chinese language chips will preserve powering your on a regular basis life
The worldwide semiconductor trade is in a state of flux. The US began to take steps to freeze China out of the trade in 2022, pushing the sector to diversify from the Chinese language provide chain and construct factories elsewhere.
However whereas the US authorities’s punitive restrictions will begin to chunk over the subsequent few months, and the excessive finish of China’s chip trade is prone to endure, the nation might take an even bigger position in manufacturing older-generation chips which are nonetheless extensively utilized in on a regular basis life. Learn the total story.
—Zeyi Yang
Zeyi’s story is from China Report, his weekly e-newsletter supplying you with the within monitor on all issues about China. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Tuesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you at present’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 China is livid at different international locations’ covid journey restrictions
Beijing claims the covid testing necessities “lack scientific foundation.” (The Guardian)
+ AI isn’t superb at detecting covid. (New Scientist $)
2 Sam Bankman-Fried has pleaded not responsible to all costs
He’ll face trial in October. (CoinDesk)
+ It’s potential he’ll attempt to strike a plea cope with prosecutors. (Economist $)
3 Microsoft needs to combine ChatGPT into Bing
It hopes to chip away at Google’s search dominance. (The Info $)
+ How correct its solutions will probably be remains to be up for debate. (Bloomberg $)
+ A brand new app claims to detect whether or not essays have been written utilizing ChatGPT. (Insider $)
+ The way to spot AI-generated textual content. (MIT Expertise Overview)
4 US pharmacies can promote abortion drugs for the primary time
Whereas a prescription remains to be required, it’ll considerably broaden entry to medicated abortions. (BBC)
+ The place to get abortion drugs and use them. (MIT Expertise Overview)
5 Political adverts are returning to Twitter
The U-turn comes months after advertisers began leaving of their droves. (Politico)
+ Covid misinformation spiked on Twitter after NFL participant Damar Hamlin collapsed. (WP $)
6 Ethereum is getting greener
It gained’t remedy crypto’s environmental footprint completely, although. (Motherboard)
+ Taiwan isn’t frightened concerning the crypto crash. (Remainder of World)
7 Instagram is paying musicians a fortune to soundtrack its Reels
It’s low-effort, high-reward. (New Yorker $)
+ However it’s largely getting harder on the market for on-line creators. (The Info $)
8 Amazon in Pakistan is overrun with scammers
The fraudsters are concocting more and more elaborate schemes to trick victims. (Remainder of World)
9 These low-cost TVs come at a worth 
As soon as a staple of the American dwelling, they’re not the standing image they was. (The Atlantic $)
10 Don’t maintain a vacation get together within the metaverse 
Your colleagues are unlikely to wish to be a part of, sadly. (Wired $)
Quote of the day
“I can odor the stench of crime.”
—An unnamed buyer criticizes crypto trade FTX in a criticism filed with the FTC, Gizmodo studies.
The massive story
April 2021
City expertise tasks have lengthy sought to handle the town. The newest, “good metropolis” tasks, have a lot in frequent with earlier iterations. Repeatedly, these initiatives promise novel “options” to city “issues.”
After a decade of pilot tasks and flashy demonstrations, although, it’s nonetheless not clear whether or not good metropolis applied sciences can really remedy and even mitigate the challenges cities face. What is evident, nonetheless, is that expertise corporations are more and more taking up administrative and infrastructure tasks that governments have lengthy fulfilled.
If good cities are to keep away from exacerbating city inequalities, now we have to take an extended, onerous have a look at how cities have fared up to now. Learn the total story.
—Jennifer Clark
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre instances. (Bought any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Did you hear the one concerning the nun and the monk who fell in love and acquired married? No, actually!
+ The Centenarians of Oklahoma sound completely fabulous.
+ An English seaside city canceled its New 12 months fireworks—to guard a visiting walrus.
+ A great deal of us will set ourselves studying targets this yr, however not all of us will stick with them.
+ Aww. Rats deride pleasure from watching fellow rodents getting tickled. 
