That is as we speak’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a every day dose of what’s occurring on the planet of know-how.
The weeds are successful
Because the Nineteen Eighties, increasingly crops have advanced to turn out to be resistant to the biochemical mechanisms that herbicides leverage to kill them. This herbicidal resistance threatens to lower yields—out-of-control weeds can scale back them by 50% or extra, and excessive circumstances can wipe out complete fields.
At worst, it may possibly even drive farmers out of enterprise. It’s the agricultural equal of antibiotic resistance, and it retains getting worse. Weeds have advanced resistance to 168 completely different herbicides and 21 of the 31 identified “modes of motion,” which implies the particular biochemical goal or pathway a chemical is designed to disrupt.
Agriculture must embrace a range of weed management practices. However that’s a lot simpler stated than finished. Learn the total story.
—Douglas Major
This piece is from the subsequent print concern of MIT Know-how Overview, which delves into the strange world of meals. In case you don’t already, subscribe to obtain future copies as soon as they land.
The whole lot comes again to local weather tech. Right here’s what to observe for subsequent.
Local weather know-how by no means stands nonetheless. From vitality and transportation to agriculture and coverage, there’s all the time a brand new improvement to get your head round.
Casey Crownhart, our senior local weather reporter, has been occupied with the place local weather tech will go subsequent. Take a look at her predictions for the long run.
This story is from The Spark, our weekly local weather and vitality publication. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday.
This octopus-inspired adhesive can follow absolutely anything
What’s new: A brand new adhesive know-how pays homage to one among nature’s strongest sources of suction: an octopus tentacle.
What’s it? Researchers replicated an octopus’s sturdy grip and managed launch to create a software that manipulates a big selection of objects. It might assist enhance underwater development strategies or discover software in on a regular basis gadgets like an assistive glove. Learn the total story.
—Jenna Ahart
Roundtable: Producing climate-friendly meals
Our meals programs account for a serious chunk of world greenhouse-gas emissions, however some companies are trying to develop options that would assist deal with the local weather impacts of agriculture. That features two firms on the recently-announced 2024 checklist of MIT Know-how Overview’s 15 Local weather Tech Corporations to Watch. Pivot Bio is inventing new fertilizers, and Rumin8 is working to deal with emissions from cattle.
Be a part of MIT Know-how Overview senior editor James Temple and senior reporter Casey Crownhart as we speak at 12pm ET as we speak for a subscriber-exclusive Roundtable diving into the way forward for meals and the local weather with particular friends Karsten Temme, chief innovation officer and co-founder of Pivot Bio, and Matt Callahan, co-founder and counsel of Rumin8. Register right here.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you as we speak’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 The subsequent Hurricane Milton may very well be even worse
Excessive storms are getting extra highly effective, and world warming isn’t serving to. (NY Magazine $)
+ Hurricane disinformation is rife—and extremely harmful. (The Atlantic $)
+ You should definitely verify credible sources for the most recent updates. (Vox)
2 Tesla is making ready to unveil its Cybercab robotaxi
The corporate is coming into a crowded and extremely aggressive market. (Wired $)
+ It’s time for Elon Musk to ship on his long-discussed guarantees. (The Verge)
+ What’s subsequent for robotaxis in 2024. (MIT Know-how Overview)
3 Russia has banned Discord
Regardless that its army depends on its chat perform to speak on the battlefield. (WP $)
+ It’s the most recent in a protracted line of US platforms to be restricted in Russia. (Vice)
4 What the James Webb House Telescope tells us about cosmic historical past
That includes every little thing from historical galaxies to colossal black holes. (Quanta Journal)
5 Meta’s new AI chatbot has lastly launched within the UK
Regulatory points prevented it from launched similtaneously the US. (The Guardian)
+ Nevertheless, not all of us need to use chatbots on a regular basis. (NYT $)+ Neglect chat. AI that may hear, see, and click on is already right here. (MIT Know-how Overview)
6 Nigeria is trying to sanction Starlink
For almost doubling its month-to-month subscription fee with out warning. (Bloomberg $)
7 Rise of the picket skyscrapers
It may very well be a viable high-rise various to metal and concrete. (Knowable Journal)
+ The hidden local weather value of every little thing round us. (MIT Know-how Overview)
8 Hold a watch out for porch pirates
Opportunistic thieves are stealing packages containing AT&T telephones throughout the US. (WSJ $)
9 Self-hypnosis apps are rising in reputation
Simply don’t deal with them as replacements for precise drugs. (FT $)
10 The Europa Clipper mission is genuinely thrilling 
However it very almost didn’t occur. (Ars Technica)
+ House startups are attracting main curiosity from traders proper now. (Reuters)
+ NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is about to search for life-friendly circumstances round Jupiter. (MIT Know-how Overview)
Quote of the day
“It has been a catastrophic yr.”
—Brian McNoldy, a senior analysis scientist on the College of Miami who focuses on tropical cyclone analysis, gives a frank evaluation of 2024’s hurricane season to the Atlantic.
How environmental DNA is giving scientists a brand new strategy to perceive our world
Environmental DNA is a comparatively cheap, widespread, doubtlessly automated strategy to observe the range and distribution of life.
Not like earlier strategies, which might determine DNA from, say, a single organism, the strategy additionally collects the swirling cloud of different genetic materials that surrounds it. It could actually function a surveillance software, providing researchers a method of detecting the seemingly undetectable.
By sampling eDNA, or mixtures of genetic materials in water, soil, ice cores, cotton swabs, or virtually any atmosphere possible, even skinny air, it’s now attainable to seek for a selected organism or assemble a snapshot of all of the organisms in a given place.
It gives an exhilarating — and doubtlessly chilling — strategy to gather details about organisms, together with people, as they go about their on a regular basis enterprise. Learn the total story.
—Peter Andrey Smith
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Bought any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Get your time off to the absolute best begin with this lovable mole.
+ At 81, Martin Scorsese has no plans to retire any time quickly.
+ I need to keep at each single one among these unbelievable surf accommodations.
+ Wait, if milk is white, why is cheese yellow?! 