The Obtain: Twitter’s consumer exodus, and fixing bridges
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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 on the planet of expertise.
Twitter could have misplaced greater than 1,000,000 customers since Elon Musk took over
The information: Within the days since Elon Musk confirmed his buy of Twitter on October 27, tweeting “the hen is freed,” many Twitter customers have threatened to depart. However whereas folks usually fail to observe by way of on threats to stop Twitter, new knowledge suggests {that a} important variety of customers actually are abandoning the platform.
How they did it: The agency Bot Sentinel, which tracks conduct on Twitter, believes that round 877,000 accounts had been deactivated and an extra 497,000 had been suspended between October 27 and November 1. That’s greater than double the same old quantity.
Why it issues: Anecdotal proof from social media suggests that folks upset with Elon Musk buying Twitter are following by way of and deciding to deactivate their accounts in protest. In the event that they proceed to take action en masse, that would come to be a big downside for the platform—and its new proprietor. Learn the total story.
—Chris Stokel-Walker
Smartphone knowledge from drivers may assist spot when bridges want pressing repairs
Smartphones might be used to observe the security of bridges way more rapidly and cheaply than at present doable, offering engineers with knowledge they’ll use to repair the constructions earlier than they develop into dangerously unstable.
Normally, bridges’ state of restore is monitored both by way of visible inspection for cracks and faults, or sensors accumulating their vibration and motion knowledge. However a brand new methodology developed by researchers at West Level Navy Academy and different universities sidesteps the necessity for both by accumulating accelerometer knowledge from smartphones in vehicles as they drive over bridges. Learn the total story.
—Tammy Xu
Right here’s how customized mind stimulation may deal with despair
Sending a jolt of electrical energy by way of an individual’s mind can do exceptional issues. You solely have to look at the movies of individuals with Parkinson’s illness who’ve electrodes implanted of their brains. They will go from struggling to stroll to confidently striding throughout a room actually on the flick of a swap.
We would have the ability to use an identical strategy to elevate our moods—one thing that might be life altering for folks with problems like despair. And we’re not simply speaking about basic mind zaps—the aim is to create customized units that monitor your mind exercise and optimize it. Learn the total story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
This story is from The Checkup, our new weekly e-newsletter masking every thing that you must know that’s occurring on the planet of healthcare and biotech. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Thursday.
EmTech 2022
This week, MIT Expertise Overview held our annual EmTech convention, our flagship occasion masking rising expertise and world developments.
Take a look at our liveblogs masking the 2 days of fascinating discussions with world changemakers, innovators, and business veterans, as we attempt to unpick what’s possible, believable, and doable with tomorrow’s breakthrough applied sciences.
Day one targeted on a few of the thrilling applied sciences promising to alter our lives, together with clear power and CRISPR, whereas the second day unpacked what the long run holds for the web, augmented actuality, physique tech, and AI.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you in the present day’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Shadowy algorithms are calling the pictures in Washington, DC
And the overwhelming majority of residents don’t have a clue about them, or how they work. (Wired $)
+ How the pandemic bolstered China’s surveillance state. (Slate)
+ Marseille’s battle in opposition to being spied upon. (MIT Expertise Overview)
2 What Mark Zuckerberg has taught Elon Musk
The one fixed between the 2 firms? Sad employees. (NYT $)
+ L’Oréal has paused its promoting spend on Twitter. (FT $)
+ Musk is making an attempt to spark a warfare between Twitter factions. (Motherboard)
+ Right here’s why Twitter customers ought to, sadly, put together for the worst. (The Atlantic $)
3 Republican midterm candidates are pushing Cease the Steal lies
Simply because the narrative isn’t true doesn’t cease it from resonating. (Bloomberg $)
+ Swing voters are extra highly effective than ever. (NY Magazine $)
4 What is going to it take to control house? 
One factor’s clear—it gained’t be straightforward. (Vox)
5 World leaders should settle for that they’ve didn’t curb local weather change
The 1.5°C Paris settlement is not sufficient—we’d like motion, and quick. (Economist $)
+ Scientists are questioning the sector’s largest oversight group. (FT $)
+ We should essentially rethink “net-zero” local weather plans. (MIT Expertise Overview)
6 What it’s like inside a Chinese language covid detention middle
All-night lights, strict routines, and countless mud. (FT $)
+ Vietnam needs to steal China’s tech manufacturing crown. (Remainder of World)
7 Social media wasn’t prepared for pictures of early pregnancies
However taking a look at them is crucial for trustworthy abortion conversations. (The Verge)
+ The cognitive dissonance of watching the top of Roe unfold on-line. (MIT Expertise Overview)
8 Loving the conspiracy theorist in your life will be powerful
Treating them with compassion may help to bridge the divide. (The Atlantic $)
+ Easy methods to speak to conspiracy theorists—and nonetheless be type. (MIT Expertise Overview)
9 The heartbreak of a really fashionable breakup
Agonizing over whether or not to dam your ex on Instagram simply prolongs the ache. (The Guardian)
10 Easy methods to mannequin the opposite planets we may name residence 
The simulations are a part of the hunt to search out alien life. (Quanta Journal)
+ A brand new supply of high-energy cosmic neutrinos has been found. (New Scientist $)
Quote of the day
“We’re all working for the Trump White Home.”
—A disgruntled Twitter employee describes what it’s prefer to work below the brand new Elon Musk regime to the Washington Publish.
The massive story
I requested my college students to show of their cell telephones and write about residing with out them
December 2019
Just a few years in the past, Ron Srigley, a author who teaches at Humber School and Laurentian College, carried out an experiment in a philosophy class he was educating. His college students had failed a check relatively badly, and he had a hunch that their pervasive use of cell telephones and laptops at school was partly accountable.
He provided them further credit score if they’d give him their telephones for 9 days and write about residing with out them. Twelve college students—a few third of the category—took up the provide. What they wrote was exceptional, and remarkably constant. Learn the total story.
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre occasions. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ These stunning properties constructed into cliffs aren’t for the faint of coronary heart.
+ Weighing a child emperor penguin is tougher than you’d count on.
+ I do know Halloween is over, however these spooky tales are too good not
+ Hear me out: eels are cool.
to share.
+ It’s not simply you—loads of folks really feel nostalgic for locations they’ve by no means been.
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