The newsletter also highlights the green-lighting of the first mission to study gravitational waves from space, Britain's interest in building cheaper nuclear power plants, and the potential impact of memes on the US Presidential race. It also discusses the potential of encoding AI rules in silicon to prevent disasters, the weight-loss drug frenzy sparked by one scientist, and the use of chatbots in screening dating matches. The newsletter ends with a discussion on how culture drives foul play on the internet and how new "upcode" can protect us.
Key takeaways:
- Wastewater sampling network developed during the pandemic could potentially be used as an early warning system for measles.
- Gretchen Daily, cofounder and faculty director of the Stanford Natural Capital Project, is working on quantifying the value of nature and determining the benefits of conservation and ecosystem restoration.
- Explicit AI deepfakes of Taylor Swift have overrun social media, originating from a single Telegram account.
- The European Space Agency has green-lit the first mission to study gravitational waves from space, with work set to begin in January.