This is today’s edition of Download, Our weekday newsletter provides daily coverage of what’s happening in the tech world.
DeepMind has predicted the structure of almost every protein known to science
News: DeepMind says its AlphaFold tool has successfully predicted the structure of nearly every protein known to science. Starting today, it makes its database of more than 200 million proteins available to anyone for free. It’s a big boost to the existing database of 1 million proteins that it released last year and includes structures for plants, bacteria, animals and many other organisms.
Why is it important: According to Demis Hassabis, founder and CEO of DeepMind, the expansive database opens up tremendous opportunities for AlphaFold to impact critical issues such as sustainability, fuel, unsafe food. disease and disease are forgotten. Scientists can use these findings to better understand diseases and to accelerate innovation in drug discovery and biology, he added. Read full story.
—Melissa Heikkilä
AI for protein folding represents such a huge step forward that it was selected as one of this year’s 10 Disruptive Technologies by MIT Technology Review. Read our story explained why is it so interestingand ours File by DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis, where he explains why this may be the company’s most enduring and important contribution to science.
Connecting the grid together will save many lives when severe weather worsens
Severe heat waves that set temperature records across the United States in recent days have strained the power system, threatening to shut out power in vulnerable parts of the country. While electricity will continue to run this summer, heavy use of energy-sucking air conditioners and intense heat have contributed to distribution problems and close calls.
It’s not likely to get better anytime soon. Some grid operators may find it difficult to meet peak demand in the summer, posing the risk of prolonged outages, a new report from the North American Electrical Reliability Corporation says. . The nation’s ancient and isolated networks are in dire need of upgrading.
One solution would be to more closely integrate the country’s regional networks, linking them together with more long-range transmission lines, allowing power to flow between regions to where it is needed more urgently. . However, it is a challenging task. Read full story.
— Temple of James
Things to read
I scoured the internet to find you today’s most interesting/important/scary/fascinating stories about tech.
1 Meta’s revenue drops for the first time
The cracks in Mark Zuckerberg’s turn to the metaverse are starting to show. (NYT $)
+ However, more and more people are logging into Facebook. (WP $)
+ Zuck says Meta is ‘competing very deeply, philosophically’ with Apple. (The Verge)
+ Discord is the natural home for users disillusioned by Instagram. (WSJ $)
+ Former Facebook and Bumble workers built their own ‘less toxic’ social network. (Protocol)
2 Senators Raised Children’s Online Safety Law
But others argue that such protections should apply to users of all ages. (WP $)
+ The three senators want deep links to the tech companies they’re up against. (NYT $)
3 A Greek politician was targeted by Israeli spyware
He filed a lawsuit to force Greek authorities to investigate who was behind the plot to attack. (NYT $)
+ Carine Kanimba claims the Rwandan government used Pegasus spyware to spy on her family. (Motherboard)
+ The hacking industry faces the end of an era. (MIT Technology Review)
Bitcoin Price Is Rising Again
After the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. (CNBC)
5 Take a journey through space 
This awesome guide will guide you through everything from alien planets to supermassive black holes. (New Scientist $)
+ Does the expansion of the universe mean that planets no longer orbit stars? (MIT Technology Review)
7 Your modern car is leaking your data
While a lot of information is anonymized, the risk of privacy breaches is real. (Tick)
8 Top Quality TVs With Bad CGI
Shows all its poorly rendered flaws. (Vulture $)
Is DALL-E’s work stolen?
While users can commercialize their AI creations, the model is trained on the work of others. (Engadget)
+ Attorneys can choose to represent the AI in future courtroom battles. (Slate)
+ OpenAI is ready to sell DALL-E to its first million customers. (MIT Technology Review)
10 What old dogs can teach us about our own brains
Just don’t try to teach them new tricks. (Magazine worth knowing)
Quote of the day
“This is not the Instagram we used to have.”
—Tatiana Bruening, who created a viral post calling on Instagram to stop trying to be TikTok, lamented the platform’s decision to pursue a Generation Z audience, she told The Wall Street Journal.
Big story
She risked everything to expose Facebook. Now she is telling her story.
July 2021
When Sophie Zhang went public with the explosive revelations of political manipulation she discovered during her time as a data scientist at Facebook, she provided concrete evidence to support what the researchers were saying. Critics have long said: that Facebook makes it easy to interfere in elections, and that unless such activity harms the company’s business interests, you can’t be bothered to troubleshoot.
By speaking out and avoiding anonymity, Zhang risked legal action from the company, harming her future career prospects, and possibly even retaliation from politicians she knew. exposed during this process. Her story reveals that it is indeed pure luck that we now know so much about how Facebook enables election interference globally and for regulators around the world who are consider how to rein in the company, this should be a wake-up call. Read full story.
—Karen Hao
We can still have good things
A place for comfort, fun and distraction during these strange times. (Any comments?Drop me a lineortweet ’em with me.)
+ Japanese artist Hiroshige is famous for his beautiful woodcuts, but these Tutorial pictures explaining how to make shadow puppets for kids specially.
+ Uh, Freya the walrus is a real shipwreck pest.
+ Awaken the Delicious Mediterranean recipes and imagine you’re cold in Rome.
+ This year’s Audubon Photography Award winners are majestic (thanks Peter!)
+ If you are a lover of long essays, you will girlie.
