This is at present’s version of The Download, our weekday publication that gives a every day dose of what’s occurring on the planet of know-how.

How tradition drives foul play on the web, and the way new “upcode” can shield us

From Bored Apes and Fancy Bears, to Shiba Inu cash, self-­replicating viruses, and whales, the web is crawling with fraud, hacks, and scams. 

And whereas new applied sciences come and go, they alter little about the truth that on-line unlawful operations exist as a result of some individuals are prepared to behave illegally, and others fall for the tales they inform. 

Ultimately, on-line crime is a human story. Three new books provide explanations into why it occurs, why it really works, and the way we will shield ourselves from falling for such schemes—regardless of how convincing they’re. Read the full story.

—Rebecca Ackermann

Rebecca’s story is from the brand new print problem of MIT Technology Review, which is all about ethics. If you don’t subscribe already, sign up.

The tough ethics of mind implants and knowledgeable consent 

We’re making main leaps when it comes to serving to individuals who’ve misplaced their capacity to talk to regain their voices. Earlier this week, two new papers described how brain-computer interfaces efficiently translated alerts from the brains of two research contributors into speech due to mind implants.

Both of the ladies can talk with out an implant. The first, Pat Bennett, who has ALS, often known as Lou Gehrig’s illness, makes use of a pc to kind. The second, Ann Johnson, who misplaced her voice as the results of a brain-stem stroke that left her paralyzed, makes use of an eye-tracking machine to pick out letters on a pc display screen. 

That capacity to speak is what gave them the facility to consent to take part in these trials. But how does consent work when communication is tougher? Read the full story.

—Cassandra Willyard

This story first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech publication. Sign up to obtain it in your inbox each Thursday.

Why salt marshes might assist save Venice

Venice, Italy, is affected by a mixture of subsidence—town’s foundations slowly sinking into the mud on which they’re constructed—and rising sea ranges. In the worst-case state of affairs, it might disappear underwater by the yr 2100.

Scientists more and more see the sinking metropolis as a laboratory for environmental options. They’re investigating whether or not synthetic mudflats within the Venetian lagoon may be turned again into the marshes that when thrived on this space and turn into a functioning a part of the lagoon ecosystem once more, which in flip, would assist to safeguard the way forward for town itself. Read the full story.

—Catherine Bennett

The must-reads

I’ve combed the web to search out you at present’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.

1 Teachers ought to assume that each one their college students are utilizing AI
If ChatGPT can be utilized, it is going to be used, is the brand new rule of thumb. (NYT $)
+ Teachers and educators are limbering up for a difficult tutorial yr. (Wired $)+ ChatGPT goes to alter training, not destroy it. (MIT Technology Review)

2 Miami has appointed its personal chief warmth officer
Jane Gilbert is the primary particular person on the planet to carry the place. (MIT Technology Review)

3 The stunning complexity of the US radio spectrum
Color coding and visualizing the nation’s radio frequencies is a major endeavor. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Donald Trump has returned to Twitter
He broke his two-year silence to share an imposing mug shot. (Politico)

5 When pure disasters strike, social media isn’t serving to anymore
Facebook and Twitter have turned their backs on information. That’s making it a lot tougher to get very important data to residents at risk. (WP $)
+ More than 1,000 individuals are nonetheless lacking in Maui. (NY Mag $)
+ How AI can truly be useful in catastrophe response. (MIT Technology Review)

6 News organizations are pushing again in opposition to ChatGPT
They look like blocking OpenAI’s net crawler from scraping their net pages. (The Guardian)+ Open supply AI isn’t all it’s cracked as much as be. (Wired $)
+ Wikipedia is doing simply nice within the age of AI, thanks. (Slate $)
+ We are hurtling towards a glitchy, spammy, scammy, AI-powered web. (MIT Technology Review)

7 The Amazon is beginning to launch its carbon
Worryingly, elements of it are releasing extra carbon than it absorbs. (Nature)
+ Tropical bushes can’t photosynthesize on this warmth. (Motherboard)

8 Eating plastic is a novel solution to do away with it 
In principle, microbes and bugs might sooner or later assist us to interrupt down robust polymers. (Knowable Magazine)
+ How chemists are tackling the plastics drawback. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Beauty filters aren’t at all times about deception 💄
Sometimes, they’re about whimsy and easy enjoyable. (Wired $)
+ Hyper-realistic magnificence filters are right here to remain. (MIT Technology Review)

10 It might get messy on the moon 🌕
Space junk? No thanks. (Vox)

Quote of the day

“How do you ever truly understand the impact that you can have on someone’s life, you know?”

—Charli D’Amelio, one of many web’s best-known faces and TikTok’s breakout star, will get philosophical whereas contemplating her impact on her followers’ lives, she tells Bloomberg.

The huge story

Inside Australia’s plan to outlive larger, badder bushfires

April 2019

Australia’s colonial historical past is dotted with fires so monumental they’ve their very own names. The worst, Black Saturday, struck the state of Victoria on February 7, 2009. Fifteen separate fires scorched the state over simply two days, killing 173 individuals.

While Australia is infamous for spectacular blazes, it truly ranks under the United States, Indonesia, Canada, Portugal, and Spain in the case of the financial injury attributable to wildfires over the previous century.

That’s as a result of whereas different nations argue about one of the best ways to deal with the problem, the horrors of Black Saturday led Australia to drastically change its response—one of many greatest of which was additionally some of the fundamental: taking one other have a look at the way in which hearth threat is rated. Read the full story.

—Bianca Nogrady

We can nonetheless have good issues

A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre occasions. (Got any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)

+ How to make strawberry ice cream at house.
+ I’d prefer to be, beneath the ocean, testing this actual life octopus’s garden.
+ Wisconsin’s rap scene isn’t simply surviving—it’s thriving.
+ One in every color? No thanks.
+ It’s probably the most great time of the yr: London Zoo’s annual animal weigh-in!