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That is as we speak’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a each day dose of what’s occurring on the planet of expertise
A short, bizarre historical past of brainwashing
On a spring day in 1959, warfare correspondent Edward Hunter testified earlier than a US Senate subcommittee investigating “the impact of Purple China Communes on the USA.”
Hunter mentioned a brand new idea to the American public: a supposedly scientific system for altering folks’s minds, even making them love issues they as soon as hated.
A lot of it was baseless, however Hunter’s sensational tales nonetheless turned an necessary a part of the disinformation and pseudoscience that fueled a “mind-control race” through the Chilly Battle. US officers ready themselves for a psychic warfare with the Soviet Union and China by spending hundreds of thousands of {dollars} on analysis into manipulating the human mind.
However whereas the science by no means precisely panned out, residual beliefs fostered by this weird battle proceed to play a task in ideological and scientific debates to this present day. Learn the complete story.
—Annalee Newitz
This US startup makes an important chip materials and is taking over a Japanese big
It may be dizzying to attempt to perceive all of the advanced elements of a single pc chip: layers of microscopic elements linked to at least one one other by way of highways of copper wires.
Zooming in additional, there’s one specific sort of insulating materials positioned between the chip and the construction beneath it; this materials, known as dielectric movie, is produced in sheets as skinny as white blood cells.
For 30 years, a single Japanese firm known as Ajinomoto has made billions producing this specific movie. Opponents have struggled to outdo them, and as we speak Ajinomoto’s merchandise are utilized in all the pieces from laptops to knowledge facilities.
Now, a startup based mostly in Berkeley, California, is embarking on a herculean effort to dethrone Ajinomoto and convey this small slice of the chipmaking provide chain again to the US. However success is much from assured. Learn the complete story.
—James O’Donnell
The trouble to make a breakthrough most cancers remedy cheaper
CAR-T therapies, created by engineering a affected person’s personal cells to struggle most cancers, are sometimes reserved for individuals who have exhausted different therapy choices. However final week, the FDA permitted Carvykti, a CAR-T product for a number of myeloma, as a second-line remedy. Which means persons are eligible to obtain Carvykti after their first relapse.
Whereas this implies some a number of myeloma sufferers within the US will now get earlier entry to CAR-T, the overwhelming majority of sufferers across the globe nonetheless received’t get CAR-T in any respect. These therapies are costly—half 1,000,000 {dollars} in some circumstances. However have they got to be? Learn the complete story.
—Cassandra Willyard
This story is from The Checkup, our weekly well being and biotech publication. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Thursday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you as we speak’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Humane’s AI Pin struggles with essentially the most fundamental duties
Which implies it’s severely unlikely to switch a smartphone any time quickly. (NYT $)
+ The machine must nail the basics earlier than it may be genuinely helpful. (The Verge)
+ It appears to have a fairly extreme overheating drawback, too. (WP $)
2 China is pushing American chipmakers out of its telecoms techniques
It’s assured its locally-produced chips are ample replacements. (WSJ $)
+ How ASML took over the chipmaking chessboard. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
3 OpenAI has reportedly fired two researchers for leaking
However for leaking what, we have no idea. (The Info $)
+ Now we all know what OpenAI’s superalignment crew has been as much as. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
4 Repairing your iPhone is perhaps about to get cheaper
In the end, Apple has permitted used elements to repair units. (WP $)
+ However the coverage solely applies to the iPhone 15. (NYT $)
+ The announcement coincides with Colorado contemplating a right-to-repair invoice. (404 Media)
5 AI knowledge facilities have a severe overheating drawback
A Japanese ceramics firm thinks it has the reply. (FT $)
6 We could possibly be nearing a turning level for geothermal vitality
Tapping into the techniques is pricey and sophisticated. However new initiatives are making headway. (Knowable Journal)
+ Underground thermal vitality networks have gotten essential to the US’s vitality future. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
7 The US Area Drive is making ready for the primary navy train in orbit
Wherein a spacecraft will chase down a satellite tv for pc, earlier than swapping roles. (Ars Technica)
+ An exploding star launched the brightest-ever burst of sunshine in 2022. (BBC)
+ The primary-ever mission to drag a lifeless rocket out of house has simply begun. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
8 You shouldn’t depend on TikTok for tax recommendation
You nearly undoubtedly can’t declare your pet as a piece expense. (The Guardian)
+ You most likely shouldn’t belief digital influencers both. (The Info $)
9 San Francisco’s Metro system nonetheless runs on floppy discs 
And it nonetheless works simply high-quality—for now. (Wired $)
10 Dyson’s AR app highlights all of the dusty spots you’ve missed
For those who suppose your private home is clear, suppose once more. (The Verge)
Quote of the day
“Murphy’s legislation states that ‘something that may go unsuitable will go unsuitable.’ That just about sums up my first three days with Humane’s Ai Pin.”
—Journalist Raymond Wong expresses his frustration at making an attempt to get Humane’s Ai Pin, a tool touted as the way forward for cell computing, to do just about something, Inverse stories.
The massive story
Inside NASA’s bid to make spacecraft as small as attainable
October 2023
Because the Seventies, we’ve despatched a variety of large issues to Mars. However when NASA efficiently despatched twin Mars Dice One spacecraft, the dimensions of cereal bins, to the pink 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 neighborhood of planetary science researchers caught a glimpse of a future lengthy sought: a pathway to rather more reasonably priced house exploration utilizing smaller, cheaper spacecraft. Learn the complete story.
—David W. Brown
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ In cute information: a science instructor hosted dozens of his former pupils after he promised them they’d watch the eclipse collectively all the way in which again in 1978.
+ Congratulations to Set off, a information canine who fathered so many information puppies (greater than 300!), he’s been given the nickname the Dogfather.
+ We’re all getting older, so we could as nicely embrace it.
+ These hyraxes love tea a lot, they might turn into honorary UK residents. 
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