That is in the present day’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what’s occurring in the world of know-how.
Inside NASA’s bid to make spacecraft as small as potential
Since the 1970s, we’ve despatched quite a lot of huge issues to Mars. However when NASA efficiently despatched twin Mars Dice One spacecraft, the dimension of cereal packing containers, to the pink planet in November 2018, it was the first time we’d ever despatched one thing so small.
Simply making it this far heralded a brand new age in area exploration. NASA and the neighborhood of planetary science researchers caught a glimpse of a future lengthy sought: a pathway to way more reasonably priced area exploration utilizing smaller, cheaper spacecraft.
There was a catch, although—one which NASA quickly needed to grapple with. Miniaturization can solely go thus far earlier than it involves a crashing halt in opposition to some very elementary legal guidelines of physics. Learn the full story.
—David W. Brown
This story is from our most up-to-date print difficulty of MIT Know-how Overview, which is all about society’s hardest issues, and how we must always deal with them. In the event you don’t subscribe already, join now to get future points once they land.
RSV is on the rise however preventative medicine are in brief provide
This 12 months we have been speculated to have extra instruments than ever earlier than to guard children 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 medication is in brief provide. The CDC issued an alert final week advising pediatricians to ration doses, reserving them for infants youthful than six months and these with underlying situations that place them at highest danger for extreme RSV.
The state of affairs 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 in the first place? Learn the full story.
—Cassandra Willyard
This story first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Know-how Overview’s weekly biotech e-newsletter. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Thursday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you in the present day’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Sam Bankman-Fried has been discovered responsible on all seven fraud expenses
However he’ll have to attend till March subsequent 12 months to seek out out his sentence. (Economist $)
+ The tech trade has already moved on, although. (NYT $)
+ It’s unlikely that SBF shall be the final of his sort. (The Atlantic $)
2 Meta’s open-source AI comes at a worth
Simply because Llama 2 is publicly out there doesn’t imply it’s low-cost. (The Info $)
+ AI corporations actually don’t wish to pay for coaching knowledge. (Insider $)
three We shouldn’t get complacent about covid this winter
The truth vaccines are a lot more durable to get nowadays isn’t serving to. (The Atlantic $)
+ Who advantages most from the new covid vaccines? (MIT Know-how Overview)
4 The AI growth is lining Large Tech’s pockets
The wealthy have gotten even richer because of their cloud investments. (WSJ $)
5 Surveillance tech is coming to a metropolis close to you
Metropolis councils are investing in Fusus AI techniques, however not all residents are completely satisfied. (404 Media)
+ Marseille’s battle in opposition to the surveillance state. (MIT Know-how Overview)
6 Zoonotic ailments are a rising menace
Animal-to-human ailments are forecast to kill many extra individuals in future a long time. (FT $)
+ Meet the scientist at the heart of the covid lab leak controversy. (MIT Know-how Overview)
7 Neglect the leap second—it’s time for the leap minute
Technically, it might bridge the two methods we inform the time. However is the world prepared? (NYT $)
eight How on-line playing ensnared a complete era of Africans
Its governments are ill-equipped to guard residents who’re changing into more and more addicted. (Bloomberg $)
+ How cellular cash supercharged Kenya’s sports activities betting dependancy. (MIT Know-how Overview)
9 Airbnb isn’t what it was
Its value 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 eating regimen soda is unhealthy for us 
Perhaps candy protein substitutes might supply a more healthy different. (Proto.Life)
Quote of the day
“The crypto trade could be new, the gamers like Sam Bankman-Fried could also be new, however this sort of fraud is as previous as time and we’ve got no endurance for it.”
— Damian Williams, the US lawyer who led the prosecution of disgraced crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried, has a solemn message for reporters outdoors the Manhattan courtroom, Reuters stories.
The huge story
Inside the app Minnesota police used to gather knowledge on journalists at protests
March 2022
Photojournalist J.D. Duggan was protecting a protest in Minnesota in April 2021 when cops surrounded him and others, and informed them to get on the floor.
Officers sorted the press from the protesters, walked them to a parking zone, and started photographing them, one after the other. They informed Duggan the images could be saved in an app.
An investigation by MIT Know-how Overview discovered the knowledge was collected utilizing a instrument known as Intrepid Response, a straightforward approach to nearly immediately de-anonymize protest attendees and preserve tabs on their actions. For some, the instrument’s use is a harmful step in the route of authoritarianism. Learn the full story.
—Sam Richards & Tate Ryan-Mosley
We will 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.)
+ Due to the wonders of AI, we’ve been blessed with one final Beatles music.
+ 65 years in the past in the present day, Laika the canine turned the first canine in orbit! 
+ Working as a Disney animation mannequin appears 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.