The Obtain: Twitter’s consumer exodus, and fixing bridges
That is at the moment’s version of The Download, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what’s happening on the earth of know-how.
Twitter might have misplaced greater than one million customers since Elon Musk took over
The information: Within the days since Elon Musk confirmed his buy of Twitter on October 27, tweeting “the chook is freed,” many Twitter customers have threatened to depart. However whereas folks usually fail to observe by on threats to give up Twitter, new information suggests {that a} vital variety of customers actually are abandoning the platform.
How they did it: The agency Bot Sentinel, which tracks habits on Twitter, believes that round 877,000 accounts had been deactivated and an additional 497,000 had been suspended between October 27 and November 1. That’s greater than double the standard quantity.
Why it issues: Anecdotal proof from social media suggests that folks upset with Elon Musk buying Twitter are following by and deciding to deactivate their accounts in protest. In the event that they proceed to take action en masse, that might come to be a major downside for the platform—and its new proprietor. Learn the complete story.
—Chris Stokel-Walker
Smartphone information from drivers might assist spot when bridges want pressing repairs
Smartphones might be used to observe the security of bridges way more shortly and cheaply than at the moment doable, offering engineers with information they’ll use to repair the constructions earlier than they turn out to be dangerously unstable.
Normally, bridges’ state of restore is monitored both by visible inspection for cracks and faults, or sensors amassing their vibration and motion information. However a brand new methodology developed by researchers at West Level Army Academy and different universities sidesteps the necessity for both by amassing accelerometer information from smartphones in vehicles as they drive over bridges. Learn the complete story.
—Tammy Xu
Right here’s how personalised mind stimulation might deal with despair
Sending a jolt of electrical energy by an individual’s mind can do exceptional issues. You solely have to look at the movies of individuals with Parkinson’s illness who’ve electrodes implanted of their brains. They’ll go from struggling to stroll to confidently striding throughout a room actually on the flick of a change.
We would be capable of use an identical method to carry our moods—one thing that might be life altering for folks with problems like despair. And we’re not simply speaking about normal mind zaps—the purpose is to create personalised units that observe your mind exercise and optimize it. Learn the complete story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
This story is from The Checkup, our new weekly e-newsletter masking all the things you could know that’s happening on the earth of healthcare and biotech. Sign up to obtain it in your inbox each Thursday.
EmTech 2022
This week, MIT Expertise Evaluate held our annual EmTech convention, our flagship occasion masking rising know-how and international tendencies.
Take a look at our liveblogs masking the 2 days of fascinating discussions with international changemakers, innovators, and business veterans, as we attempt to unpick what’s possible, believable, and doable with tomorrow’s breakthrough applied sciences.
Day one targeted on a few of the thrilling applied sciences promising to vary our lives, together with clear power and CRISPR, whereas the second day unpacked what the longer term holds for the web, augmented actuality, physique tech, and AI.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you at the moment’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Shadowy algorithms are calling the photographs in Washington, DC
And the overwhelming majority of residents don’t have a clue about them, or how they work. (Wired $)
+ How the pandemic bolstered China’s surveillance state. (Slate)
+ Marseille’s battle towards being spied upon. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
2 What Mark Zuckerberg has taught Elon Musk
The one fixed between the 2 firms? Sad staff. (NYT $)
+ L’Oréal has paused its promoting spend on Twitter. (FT $)
+ Musk is trying to spark a battle between Twitter factions. (Motherboard)
+ Right here’s why Twitter customers ought to, sadly, put together for the worst. (The Atlantic $)
3 Republican midterm candidates are pushing Cease the Steal lies
Simply because the narrative isn’t true doesn’t cease it from resonating. (Bloomberg $)
+ Swing voters are extra highly effective than ever. (NY Mag $)
4 What’s going to it take to manage house? 
One factor’s clear—it received’t be simple. (Vox)
5 World leaders should settle for that they’ve did not curb local weather change
The 1.5°C Paris settlement is not sufficient—we’d like motion, and quick. (Economist $)
+ Scientists are questioning the sector’s largest oversight group. (FT $)
+ We should basically rethink “net-zero” local weather plans. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
6 What it’s like inside a Chinese language covid detention heart
All-night lights, strict routines, and countless mud. (FT $)
+ Vietnam needs to steal China’s tech manufacturing crown. (Rest of World)
7 Social media wasn’t prepared for images of early pregnancies
However taking a look at them is important for sincere abortion conversations. (The Verge)
+ The cognitive dissonance of watching the top of Roe unfold on-line. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
8 Loving the conspiracy theorist in your life may be powerful
Treating them with compassion might help to bridge the divide. (The Atlantic $)
+ The way to discuss to conspiracy theorists—and nonetheless be variety. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
9 The heartbreak of a really fashionable breakup
Agonizing over whether or not to dam your ex on Instagram simply prolongs the ache. (The Guardian)
10 The way to mannequin the opposite planets we might name house 
The simulations are a part of the search to seek out alien life. (Quanta Magazine)
+ A brand new supply of high-energy cosmic neutrinos has been found. (New Scientist $)
Quote of the day
“We’re all working for the Trump White Home.”
—A disgruntled Twitter employee describes what it’s wish to work beneath the brand new Elon Musk regime to the Washington Post.
The large story
I requested my college students to show of their cell telephones and write about residing with out them
December 2019
Just a few years in the past, Ron Srigley, a author who teaches at Humber Faculty and Laurentian College, carried out an experiment in a philosophy class he was instructing. His college students had failed a take a look at moderately badly, and he had a hunch that their pervasive use of cell telephones and laptops at school was partly accountable.
He provided them further credit score if they’d give him their telephones for 9 days and write about residing with out them. Twelve college students—a couple of third of the category—took up the provide. What they wrote was exceptional, and remarkably constant. Learn the complete story.
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre instances. (Received any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ These stunning homes built into cliffs aren’t for the faint of coronary heart.
+ Weighing a baby emperor penguin is more difficult than you’d count on.
+ I do know Halloween is over, however these spooky stories are too good not
+ Hear me out: eels are cool.
to share.
+ It’s not simply you—loads of folks really feel nostalgic for locations they’ve by no means been.