That is right this moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a each day dose of what’s occurring on the planet of know-how.

A brand new tick-borne illness is killing cattle within the US

Within the spring of 2021, Cynthia and John Grano, who personal a cattle operation in Culpeper County, Virginia, began noticing a few of their cows slowing down and appearing “spacey.” They figured the animals have been affected by a typical infectious illness that causes anemia in cattle. However their veterinarian had warned them that one other illness carried by a parasite was spreading quickly within the space.

After a 3rd cow died, the Granos determined to check its blood. Positive sufficient, the check got here again constructive for the illness: theileria. And with no therapy accessible, the cows saved dying.

Cattle house owners just like the Granos will not be alone. Livestock producers across the US are confronting this new and unfamiliar illness with out a lot info. Researchers nonetheless don’t understand how theileria will unfold, even because it rapidly spreads west throughout the nation. If states can’t get the illness below management, then nationwide manufacturing losses from sick cows might considerably injury each particular person operations and the whole {industry}. Learn the total story.

—Britta Lokting

Tremendous-hot salt could possibly be coming to a battery close to you

The world is constructing extra capability for renewables, particularly photo voltaic and wind energy that come and go together with the climate. However for renewables to make an actual distinction, we’d like higher choices for storing power. That’s the place batteries are available. And handily, there’s a wave of different chemistries slowly percolating into the rising power storage market.

A few of these new gamers might finally be cheaper (and in numerous methods, higher) than the industry-standard lithium-ion batteries. Among the many most promising is molten salt know-how, which Ambri, a Boston-area startup, is satisfied could possibly be as much as 50% cheaper over its lifetime than an equal lithium-ion system.

However, like its rivals experimenting with different types of power storage, Ambri is going through actual boundaries to adoption, with scaling presenting the principle, ever-present hurdle. Learn the total story.

—Casey Crownhart

Casey’s story is from The Spark, her weekly e-newsletter masking battery breakthroughs and different local weather information. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the web to seek out you right this moment’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.

1 What comes after Twitter?
Regardless of the reply, downloading knowledge and contacts is a great transfer. (NYT $)
+ It’s unlikely, nevertheless, that you just’ll be capable of save all the things. (Wired $)
+ A load of fired contractors aren’t planning on going quietly. (Bloomberg $)
+ One among its former knowledge scientists is extraordinarily fearful. (Remainder of World)
+ Twitter’s potential collapse might wipe out huge data of latest human historical past. (MIT Expertise Assessment)

2 The ripple results of FTX’s collapse
The crypto alternate’s poor practices are triggering fears concerning the {industry}’s future—and its staff are livid. (WSJ $)
+ Sam Bankman-Fried had an ill-advised chat with a journalist over Twitter. (Vox)
+ A category motion has been filed towards FTX within the US. (The Guardian)

3 The US’s bioweapon detection system is unreliable  
20 years after its introduction, it nonetheless prices $80 million a yr. (The Verge) 

4 Telehealth websites are riddled with knowledge trackers
They may reveal delicate habit info that’s ripe for abuse. (Wired $)

5 Activision Blizzard’s video games are being pulled offline in China
It’s been unable to strike a cope with its Chinese language distributor. (FT $)

6 Intel thinks it could catch deepfakes with 96% accuracy
By monitoring the “blood circulate” of video pixels to detect dwelling people. (VentureBeat)
+ A horrifying AI app swaps girls into porn movies with a click on. (MIT Expertise Assessment)

7 We’ve ignored concrete’s carbon footprint for too lengthy
It’s not as massive a polluter as transport or power, nevertheless it’s in pressing want of a greener overhaul. (Knowable Journal)
+ How Joe Biden bought away with passing the IRA. (The Atlantic $)
+ How hydrogen and electrical energy can clear up heavy {industry}. (MIT Expertise Assessment)

8 Lab-grown meat is fit for human consumption
The FDA has inexperienced lit lab-grown rooster—nevertheless it must cross different checks earlier than it may be offered. (NBC Information)
+ Will lab-grown meat attain our plates? (MIT Expertise Assessment)

9 Why NASA’s astronauts aren’t allowed to TikTok from area
Although their European counterparts are. (Vox) 
+ NASA’s Artemis 1 launch was an oddly muted affair. (The Atlantic $)
+ Right here’s all the things the mission is taking with it to the moon. (IEEE Spectrum)

10 We might hitch a trip on a flying taxi sooner or later
By the top of the last decade, apparently. Let’s see. (Economist $)

Quote of the day

“Eire actually guess the farm on the way forward for tech . . . nearly on the expense of all the things else.”

—Mark O’Connell, govt chair and founding father of OCO World, a commerce and funding targeted advisory agency, tells the Monetary Occasions why the tech sector’s mass job cuts will hit Eire significantly exhausting.

The massive story

Shiny LEDs might spell the top of darkish skies

August 2022

Scientists have recognized for years that mild air pollution is rising and may hurt each people and wildlife. In folks, elevated publicity to mild at evening disrupts sleep cycles and has been linked to most cancers and heart problems, whereas wildlife suffers from interruption to their reproductive patterns, elevated hazard and lack of stealth.

Astronomers, policymakers, and lighting professionals are all working to seek out methods to cut back mild air pollution. Lots of them advocate putting in light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, in out of doors fixtures similar to metropolis streetlights, primarily for his or her capacity to direct mild to a focused space. However the excessive preliminary funding and sturdiness of recent LEDs imply cities must get the transition proper the primary time or doubtlessly face many years of penalties. Learn the total story.

—Shel Evergreen

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.)

+ A luxurious practice journey appears like the proper strategy to unwind to me.
+ Nothing can substitute the enjoyment of choosing out an ideal learn from a bookstore.
+ It’s by no means too early to begin planning in your subsequent nice journey.
+ Olive oil? Good. Cake? Good. An olive oil cake?! GOOD!
+ The oldest recognized sentence written within the first alphabet is entertainingly home.