In the spring of 2021, Cynthia and John Grano, who own a cattle ranch in Culpeper County, Virginia, began noticing that some of their cows were slowing down and acting “awkward.” They believe the animals suffer from a common infectious disease that causes anemia in cattle. But their veterinarian warned them that another disease, carried by the parasite, was spreading rapidly in the area.
After the third cow died, Granos decided to do a blood test on it. Sure enough, the test came back positive for a disease: Theileria. Cows keep dying because there are no treatments available.
Cattle owners like Granos are not alone. Livestock producers across the United States are dealing with this new, unfamiliar disease without much information. Researchers still don’t know how Theileria will spread, even as it rapidly spreads west across the country. If states fail to control the disease, nationwide production losses from sick cattle could seriously damage individual businesses and the industry as a whole. Read the full text.
—Britta Lokting
Super-hot salt might get into you Batteries Nearby
The world is building more renewable energy capacity, especially weather-dependent solar and wind. But for renewable energy to really work, we need better storage options. This is where batteries come in. And, there is a wave of alternative chemistries that is slowly infiltrating the growing energy storage market.
Some of these new players may end up being cheaper (and in every way better) than industry-standard lithium-ion batteries. The most promising of these is molten-salt technology, which Ambri, a Boston-area startup, believes could cost 50 percent less over its lifetime than an equivalent lithium-ion system.
But, like its competitors experimenting with other forms of energy storage, Ambri faces real adoption hurdles, of which scaling is major and ever present obstacles. Read the full text.
—Casey Crownhart
Casey’s story comes from The Spark, her weekly newsletter covering battery breakthroughs and other climate news. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.
MUST READ
I combed the internet to find for you the most interesting/important/ Scary/fascinating story.
1 What’s After Tweeting? Regardless of the answer, downloading data to reach out to people is a smart move. (NYT $)+ However, it is unlikely that you will save everything. (Wired $)+ A bunch of fired contractors didn’t The plan goes quietly. (Bloomberg $)+ one of its former data scientists is very concerned .(REST OF WORLD)+ Twitter’s potential crash could wipe To extensively document recent human history. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Chain Reaction of FTX Crashes
Poor practices by cryptocurrency exchanges have raised concerns about the industry’s future – and its employees are outraged. (WSJ$)+ Sam Bankman-Fried had an ill-advised Twitter twitter with a reporter chat. (Vox)+ A class action lawsuit against FTX has been filed against us. (Guardian)
3 US bioweapons detection system is unreliable
20 years after launch and still costing $80 million a year. (The Verge)
4 telemedicine sites flooded with data trackers They may reveal sensitive addiction information that could be easily misused. (Wired$)
5 Activision Blizzard games are going offline in China
has been unable to reach an agreement with its Chinese distributor. (Financial Times)
6 Intel thinks it can catch deepfakes with 96% accuracy
detects live people by tracking the “blood flow” of video pixels. (VentureBeat)+ A Scary AI App Turns Women Into Porn With Just One Click video. (MIT Technology Review)
7 We’ve neglected the carbon footprint of concrete for far too long It’s not as big a polluter as traffic or energy, but it’s in dire need of a greener overhaul. (Knowable Magazine)+ How Joe Biden passed the IRA. (The Atlantic $)+ How hydrogen and electricity can clean up heavy industries. (MIT Technology Review)
8 Lab-grown meat is safe to eat🍗 FDA has approved lab-grown chicken — but It needs to pass other tests before it can be sold. (NBC News)+ Will lab-grown meat reach our plates? (MIT Technology Review)
9 Why NASA Astronauts Are Not Allowed To Use TikTok From Space 🪐 despite their European counterparts. (Vox) + NASA’s Artemis 1 launch was a strangely silent event. (The Atlantic $)+ This is where the quest brings everything to Moon. (IEEE Spectrum)
10 Someday we could ride in a flying car Taxi🚁
Quote Today
“Ireland is really betting farms on the future of technology . . . at the expense of almost everything else.”
—Mark O’Connell, Executive Chairman and Founder, OCO Global, a trade and investment-focused advisory firm Connell, told the Financial Times why mass job cuts in tech would hit Ireland particularly hard.
Big story
Bright LEDs can herald the end of dark skies
August 2022
For years, scientists have known that light pollution is increasing and harming humans and wildlife. In humans, increased nighttime light exposure disrupts sleep cycles and has been linked to cancer and cardiovascular disease, while in wild animals, reproductive patterns are disrupted, increased danger and reduced stealth.
Astronomers, policy makers and lighting experts are all trying to find ways to reduce light pollution. Many of them advocate light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in outdoor installations such as city streetlights, primarily because of their ability to direct light to targeted areas. But the high initial investment and durability of modern LEDs means cities need to get the transition right the first time or face decades-long consequences. Read the full text.
—Shel Evergreen
We can still have nice things
A place of comfort, fun and distraction in these strange times. (Thoughts? Drop me a line or tweet me.)
+ A luxury train ride is the perfect way for me to unwind. + Nothing can replace the joy of picking up a good book from the bookstore. + It’s never too early to start planning your next great adventure. + olive oil? OK cake? OK Olive oil cake? ! it is good! + The oldest known first letter to write the sentence is interesting.
