TechSlice 2023-11-06

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BIG TECH & STARTUPS

What even is Grok, anyway? (2 minute read)

Elon Musk's xAI is introducing an AI assistant named Grok to Twitter, which Musk claims is among the best available; however, Grok's ability to intuitively understand is still unproven. The name "Grok" has a sci-fi origin from Robert Heinlein's novel and represents deep understanding, suggesting the AI aims to comprehensively grasp information from the internet and interactions with people.

Epic v. Google (11 minute read)

Epic Games is taking Google to court in an antitrust lawsuit, claiming that Google's practices have created an illegal monopoly on Android app distribution and in-app payment processing. The outcome of this case could impact the future of Google's app store, potentially breaking up its alleged monopoly and changing its payment methods. Epic has a history of legal disputes with Apple over similar issues, with a lawsuit against Apple already having been resolved.

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SCIENCE & FUTURISTIC TECHNOLOGY

How generative AI could help accelerate biomedical research (8 minute read)

Generative AI, such as ChatGPT and others, holds potential for analyzing biological data, enabling the modeling of biological systems and facilitating hypothesis generation, particularly in drug development. These systems can help automate routine coding tasks and documentation in software development. While they have the potential to speed up research and data analysis, concerns exist about their accuracy, occasional inaccuracy, and potential misuse, particularly in generating false or misleading information. It's important to use them as tools to aid and complement human expertise rather than replacing critical thinking and fact-checking.

Seeing the unseen: How butterflies can help scientists detect cancer (5 minute read)

Researchers have developed an imaging sensor inspired by butterflies that can see into the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum, which is normally invisible to human eyes. By combining perovskite nanocrystals and silicon photodiodes, the sensor can capture and differentiate between various UV wavelengths, making it capable of distinguishing cancer cells from healthy cells based on their spectral signatures with 99% confidence. This technology has promising applications in healthcare, including aiding in surgery to ensure clear margins during tumor removal, and it also offers opportunities for biologists to study UV-sensitive species and underwater environments.

The 'safe' threshold for global warming will be passed in just 6 years (3 minute read)

Global carbon emissions are on track to exceed safe limits by 2030, with only six years left to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst effects of climate change, according to a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The research shows that if emissions continue at the current rate, global temperatures will reach 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels before the end of the decade, far exceeding the goals of the Paris Agreement. The study emphasizes the urgency of reducing emissions rapidly to prevent further climate warming.

Fasting-Mimicking Diet Drives Antitumor Immunity against Colorectal Cancer (46 minute read)

Fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) shows promise as an affordable and safe way to enhance antitumor immunity by regulating metabolism. This study demonstrates that FMD reduces IgA+ B cells within colorectal tumors, activating antitumor immunity and tumor regression in mice. Mechanistically, FMD promotes fatty acid oxidation (FAO), inhibiting IgA class switching, and offers potential as a treatment for colorectal cancer, with IgA+ B cell levels and FAO-related markers serving as potential efficacy indicators.

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PROGRAMMING, DESIGN & DATA SCIENCE

formbricks (2 minute read)

Formbricks is a tool for creating in-product micro-surveys to collect valuable user insights and improve your product's user experience, featuring a no-code editor, templates, user targeting, team collaboration, and integration options. It offers both a hosted cloud version with a free plan and a self-hosted open-source version available under the AGPLv3 license.

3 Different Ways to Center A Div in CSS (6 minute read)

Centering elements in CSS can be achieved in several ways. You can horizontally center an element by setting its margin to auto. For both horizontal and vertical centering, flexbox with justify-content and align-items properties can be used. To center an element irrespective of its size, the position and transform properties come in handy, allowing for flexible centering regardless of element dimensions. These methods offer diverse solutions for achieving element alignment in web design.

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MISCELLANEOUS

It’s almost showtime for SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket (3 minute read)

SpaceX aims for the second flight test of its Super Heavy rocket and Starship in mid-November, awaiting regulatory approval after the first test in April provided valuable data but did not reach orbit. The initial launch had engine ignition issues and caused damage to the launch site, leading to significant rebuilding efforts, including a water sound suppression system. The upcoming flight test features a "hot staging" technique for higher payload capacity and aims to demonstrate the capabilities of the Super Heavy rocket and Starship without recovery plans for the stages.

Meet Dream Chaser, Sierra Space’s New Spacecraft That Lands On A Runway (2 minute read)

Sierra Space's Dream Chaser, resembling a mini Space Shuttle, is now an active spacecraft set for low-Earth orbit missions, initially focusing on cargo delivery to the ISS under a NASA contract. The DC-100, named Tenacity, is the first vehicle in line and will undergo pre-flight testing in 2023, with its maiden ISS mission slated for early 2024. The spacecraft is reusable up to 15 times, and Sierra Space also plans a crewed version, the DC-200, for potential astronaut transportation.

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QUICK LINKS

Thousands of people are uninstalling ad blockers after YouTube's big crackdown (2 minute read)

YouTube's crackdown on ad blockers has led to thousands of users uninstalling these products, with one company, AdGuard, reporting over 11,000 daily uninstalls, causing ad blocking companies to see decreased usage and prompting users to switch to other browsers.

iOS 17.2 Coming Later This Year With These 10 New Features for iPhone (3 minute read)

iOS 17.2, expected in December, brings a new Journal app for reflection, a Translate option for the Action button on iPhone 15 Pro, Home Screen widgets for Weather and Clock apps, Collaborative Playlists in Apple Music, and Contact Key Verification for secure iMessage conversations, among other features.

Apple’s New M3 Macs Discounted Just Days After Launch (2 minute read)

Apple's new M3 Macs, which were launched recently with high price tags, are already on sale at Adorama with discounts of up to $200 for Adorama VIP members, raising questions about Apple's pricing strategy and the need for more competitive specs in its offerings to compete with Windows laptops and desktops.

Why the future of food is ‘invisible innovation’ (7 minute read)

The food industry is undergoing transformation, driven by the need for sustainability, but it also focuses on regenerative practices and addressing issues like food waste, nutrition, and plastic usage, with startups like Mimica, Trazable, Mimic Seafood, and MOA Foodtech contributing to these efforts, while the focus is on making innovations more natural and less strange.

Apple called Android a ‘massive tracking device’ before the iPhone’s privacy push (2 minute read)

An internal presentation from Apple during a Google antitrust trial highlights the company's push for "Competing on Privacy" by emphasizing its better handling of data privacy compared to Android, reflecting Apple's approach to privacy protection in contrast to Android's tracking practices.

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