Friday, November 8, 2024

The Obtain: herbicide-resistant weeds, and an octopus-inspired adhesive

That is in the present day’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what’s happening on the earth of know-how.

The weeds are profitable

For the reason that Nineteen Eighties, increasingly vegetation have advanced to turn into proof against 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 instances can wipe out complete fields.

At worst, it will probably 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 totally different herbicides and 21 of the 31 recognized “modes of motion,” which implies the particular biochemical goal or pathway a chemical is designed to disrupt.

Agriculture must embrace a variety of weed management practices. However that’s a lot simpler mentioned than achieved. Learn the total story.

—Douglas Major

This piece is from the subsequent print concern of MIT Know-how Evaluation, which delves into the extraordinary world of meals. In the event you don’t already, subscribe to obtain future copies as soon as they land.

All the pieces comes again to local weather tech. Right here’s what to look at for subsequent.

Local weather know-how by no means stands nonetheless. From vitality and transportation to agriculture and coverage, there’s at all times a brand new growth to get your head round.

Casey Crownhart, our senior local weather reporter, has been excited about the place local weather tech will go subsequent. Try her predictions for the long run.

This story is from The Spark, our weekly local weather and vitality e-newsletter. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday.

This octopus-inspired adhesive can keep on with absolutely anything

What’s new: A brand new adhesive know-how pays homage to considered one of 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 device that manipulates a wide selection of objects. It might assist enhance underwater building strategies or discover utility in on a regular basis units like an assistive glove. Learn the total story.

—Jenna Ahart

Roundtable: Producing climate-friendly meals

Our meals programs account for a serious chunk of worldwide greenhouse-gas emissions, however some companies are trying to develop options that might assist deal with the local weather impacts of agriculture. That features two firms on the recently-announced 2024 record of MIT Know-how Evaluation’s 15 Local weather Tech Corporations to Watch. Pivot Bio is inventing new fertilizers, and Rumin8 is working to sort out emissions from cattle.  

Be part of MIT Know-how Evaluation senior editor James Temple and senior reporter Casey Crownhart in the present day at 12pm ET in the present day for a subscriber-exclusive Roundtable diving into the way forward for meals and the local weather with particular visitors 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 seek out you in the present day’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.

1 The following Hurricane Milton may very well be even worse 
Excessive storms are getting extra highly effective, and international warming isn’t serving to. (NY Magazine $)
+ Hurricane disinformation is rife—and extremely harmful. (The Atlantic $)
+ You’ll want to examine credible sources for the newest updates. (Vox)

2 Tesla is getting ready to unveil its Cybercab robotaxi
The corporate is getting 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 Evaluation)

3 Russia has banned Discord
Regardless that its army depends on its chat operate to speak on the battlefield. (WP $)
+ It’s the newest in an extended 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 all the pieces 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)
+ Nonetheless, not all of us need to use chatbots on a regular basis. (NYT $)+ Overlook chat. AI that may hear, see, and click on is already right here. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)

6 Nigeria is trying to sanction Starlink
For almost doubling its month-to-month subscription price with out warning. (Bloomberg $)

7 Rise of the wood skyscrapers
It may very well be a viable high-rise different to metal and concrete. (Knowable Journal)
+ The hidden local weather value of all the pieces round us. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)

8 Preserve an eye fixed out for porch pirates
Opportunistic thieves are stealing packages containing AT&T telephones throughout the US. (WSJ $)

9 Self-hypnosis apps are rising in recognition
Simply don’t deal with them as replacements for precise medication. (FT $)

10 The Europa Clipper mission is genuinely thrilling 🚀
Nevertheless it very almost didn’t occur. (Ars Technica)
+ House startups are attracting main curiosity from buyers proper now. (Reuters)
+ NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is ready to search for life-friendly circumstances round Jupiter. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)

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, provides a frank evaluation of 2024’s hurricane season to the Atlantic.

The large story

How environmental DNA is giving scientists a brand new strategy to perceive our world

February 2024

Environmental DNA is a comparatively cheap, widespread, probably automated strategy to observe the range and distribution of life.

Not like earlier strategies, which might establish DNA from, say, a single organism, the strategy additionally collects the swirling cloud of different genetic materials that surrounds it. It might function a surveillance device, 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 surroundings 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 provides an exhilarating — and probably chilling — strategy to acquire 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. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)

+ Get your day without work to the very best begin with this lovely mole.
+ At 81, Martin Scorsese has no plans to retire any time quickly.
+ I need to keep at each single considered one of these unimaginable surf accommodations.
+ Wait, if milk is white, why is cheese yellow?! 🧀



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