That is right this moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a every day dose of what’s happening on the planet of know-how.
Inside NASA’s bid to make spacecraft as small as potential
Because the Seventies, we’ve despatched a whole lot of large issues to Mars. However when NASA efficiently despatched twin Mars Dice One spacecraft, the scale of cereal packing containers, to the purple planet in November 2018, it was the primary time we’d ever despatched one thing so small.
Simply making it this far heralded a brand new age in house exploration. NASA and the group of planetary science researchers caught a glimpse of a future lengthy sought: a pathway to way more reasonably priced house exploration utilizing smaller, cheaper spacecraft.
There was a catch, although—one which NASA quickly needed to grapple with. Miniaturization can solely go to this point earlier than it involves a crashing halt in opposition to some very basic legal guidelines of physics. Learn the complete story.
—David W. Brown
This story is from our most up-to-date print subject of MIT Know-how Evaluation, which is all about society’s hardest issues, and the way we must always sort out them. For those who don’t subscribe already, enroll now to get future points after they land.
RSV is on the rise however preventative medicine are briefly provide
This yr we have been speculated to have extra instruments than ever earlier than to guard youngsters from RSV (quick for respiratory syncytial virus), together with a brand new shot that’s given preventively to infants and weak toddlers to guard them from the worst results of the virus.
However now—simply as charges of illness are rising—this drugs is briefly provide. The CDC issued an alert final week advising pediatricians to ration doses, reserving them for infants youthful than six months and people with underlying circumstances that place them at highest danger for extreme RSV.
The scenario is irritating to oldsters and pediatricians alike. However shouldn’t forecasting demand for this sort of preventative be comparatively simple? And why was there such a mismatch between provide and demand within the first place? Learn the complete story.
—Cassandra Willyard
This story first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Know-how Evaluation’s weekly biotech e-newsletter. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Thursday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you right this moment’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Sam Bankman-Fried has been discovered responsible on all seven fraud costs
However he’ll have to attend till March subsequent yr to seek out out his sentence. (Economist $)
+ The tech business has already moved on, although. (NYT $)
+ It’s unlikely that SBF would be the final of his variety. (The Atlantic $)
2 Meta’s open-source AI comes at a value
Simply because Llama 2 is publicly obtainable doesn’t imply it’s low-cost. (The Info $)
+ AI companies actually don’t need to pay for coaching information. (Insider $)
3 We shouldn’t get complacent about covid this winter
The actual fact vaccines are a lot more durable to get lately isn’t serving to. (The Atlantic $)
+ Who advantages most from the brand new covid vaccines? (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
4 The AI growth is lining Huge Tech’s pockets
The wealthy have gotten even richer due to their cloud investments. (WSJ $)
5 Surveillance tech is coming to a metropolis close to you
Metropolis councils are investing in Fusus AI programs, however not all residents are comfortable. (404 Media)
+ Marseille’s battle in opposition to the surveillance state. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
6 Zoonotic illnesses are a rising menace
Animal-to-human illnesses are forecast to kill many extra folks in future many years. (FT $)
+ Meet the scientist on the middle of the covid lab leak controversy. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
7 Overlook the leap second—it’s time for the leap minute
Technically, it may bridge the 2 methods we inform the time. However is the world prepared? (NYT $)
8 How on-line playing ensnared an entire technology of Africans
Its governments are ill-equipped to guard residents who’re changing into more and more addicted. (Bloomberg $)
+ How cell cash supercharged Kenya’s sports activities betting habit. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
9 Airbnb isn’t what it was
Its price is on the rise—and so are complaints. (Vox)
+ New York’s conflict in opposition to Airbnb has made it much more costly to go to. (The Atlantic $)
10 Everyone knows food regimen soda is dangerous for us 
Perhaps candy protein substitutes may supply a more healthy various. (Proto.Life)
Quote of the day
“The crypto business is perhaps new, the gamers like Sam Bankman-Fried could also be new, however this sort of fraud is as previous as time and we now have no persistence for it.”
— Damian Williams, the US legal professional who led the prosecution of disgraced crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried, has a solemn message for reporters outdoors the Manhattan courtroom, Reuters studies.
The massive story
Contained in the app Minnesota police used to gather information on journalists at protests
March 2022
Photojournalist J.D. Duggan was overlaying a protest in Minnesota in April 2021 when cops surrounded him and others, and instructed them to get on the bottom.
Officers sorted the press from the protesters, walked them to a parking zone, and commenced photographing them, one after the other. They instructed Duggan the images could be saved in an app.
An investigation by MIT Know-how Evaluation discovered the info was collected utilizing a device referred to as Intrepid Response, a straightforward method to nearly immediately de-anonymize protest attendees and preserve tabs on their actions. For some, the device’s use is a harmful step within the route of authoritarianism. Learn the complete story.
—Sam Richards & Tate Ryan-Mosley
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre instances. (Obtained any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Because of the wonders of AI, we’ve been blessed with one final Beatles music.
+ 65 years in the past right this moment, Laika the canine turned the primary canine in orbit! 
+ Working as a Disney animation mannequin seems to be completely exhausting.
+ The world’s most distant lighthouses is a good topic for a guide.
+ Historic England is on the hunt for ghost indicators—these superbly pale painted indicators promoting companies and merchandise of the previous.
