Biden’s first steps as president

China's surging private space industry is out to challenge the US 

Sponsored by Dassault Systèmes The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology Time for action 01.21.21 Morning! A lot happened in the past 24 hours and we're ready to bring you up to speed on all of it. Today: Biden's first executive orders focus on covid and climate change, and China hopes its commercial space industry will one day rival the US's. Get your pals to sign up here to get The Download every day. Biden’s first steps as president     What’s happening: A flurry of executive orders is expected to take place over the next few days from the new US president as he takes residence in the White House. Here are the highlights of those he has signed so far: The “100 day mask challenge”. It’s part recommendation, part requirement: it requires people to wear masks on all federal property. The wording also attempts to turn masking into a public challenge, calling for all Americans to stick to wearing masks for the next 100 days.  Rejoining the Paris climate accords. It will officially take a few more weeks, and doesn’t create any new binding climate policies in itself, but it sets a new tone on climate change, an issue Biden has pledged to make a centerpiece of his presidency. Canceling Keystone. Biden also issued a sweeping executive order on climate change which revoked the construction permit for the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline, which would transport crude oil from Canada to Illinois. Federal covid response. Following up on the recent announcement of a proposed $1.9 trillion covid relief and action plan, the president signed an order that will shift around some key positions within the federal government that will be crucial to the new administration’s pandemic response. Rejoining the WHO. In the middle of a global pandemic, Trump began the process of formally withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization. Biden’s first-day order will halt that process. And this is just a selection of some of the orders Biden has already signed. Read about the rest of them. China’s surging private space industry is out to challenge the US The rivalry between the US and China is the 21st-century's biggest space race. China is set to build a new space station later this year and will likely attempt to send its taikonauts to the moon before the decade ends. This year it sent a robot to Mars and brought back moon rocks to Earth for the first time in its history. But these big-picture projects represent just one aspect of the country’s space ambitions.  Increasingly, the focus is now on spinning up a homegrown commercial space industry as well. The nation's private space business is less focused on prestige and glory. Rather, it is more concerned with reducing the cost of spaceflight, increasing China’s international influence—and making money.  And it’s moving fast. Read the full story. —Neel V. Patel We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + Amanda Gorman's inauguration poem was stunning.   + A stoat on a trampoline.    + The White House is getting pets again.   + Why are people so drawn to jigsaws right now?   + If you have a vegetable glut, consider making polpette.   + Bernie Sanders dressed warmly for the inauguration and the internet is having a field day with the memes. You can even make your own.    + Look, we all know working from bed is sub-optimal, but if you need to, make sure you do it right.    + Little fluffs playing in the snow. Sponsor Message Leveraging collective intelligence and AI to benefit society A solar-powered autonomous drone scans for forest fires. A surgeon first operates on a digital heart before she picks up a scalpel. A global community bands together to print personal protection equipment to fight a pandemic.   “The future is now,” says Frédéric Vacher, head of innovation at Dassault Systèmes.   And all of this is possible with cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and a virtual 3D design shop, or as Dassault calls it, the 3DEXPERIENCE innovation Lab.   Learn more here. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The first (kinda) virtual inauguration Yes, it happened in-person. But more than ever before, the real action was online. (Wired $)   2 This is where covid-19 is headed It could be reduced to seasonal outbreaks or it could become uncommon, even rare. (Wired UK)   + Talking may spread covid-19 as much as coughing. (The Guardian)   + Iraqis have convinced themselves they've reached herd immunity. They haven't. (NYT $)   + How the new variant sent the UK into crisis. (New Yorker $)   + Studies suggest that covid-19 immunity lasts. (Ars Technica)   + If you’re offered a vaccine, take it. (NYT $)  3 Twitter locked the US Chinese embassy's account It said a tweet about Uighur women violated company policy against dehumanization. (Reuters)   + China just sanctioned Mike Pompeo and two dozen other outgoing Trump officials. (The Hill)   + Russia has asked TikTok to stop promoting protest videos to minors. (Reuters)  4 InSight’s heat probe has failed on Mars. Is the mission a failure? In a word, no. Here's why. (TR)   5 Some Trump backers are getting hit with one-star online reviews 👎 A few of us seem to need to be reacquainted with the concept of taking the moral high ground. (WP $)   6 It's still very easy to find political misinformation online Don't get the bunting out for Big Tech just yet. (Recode)   + Google has suspended a small social network for promoting violence. (WSJ $)  7 Inside the rise of the Proud Boys Trump may be gone, but they're still with us. (The Guardian)   + Many of them are starting to turn on Trump. (NYT $)   + This site published every face from Parler's Capitol riot videos. (Wired $)   + Many QAnon followers are losing hope. (NBC)  8 Bye bye, Ajit Pai 👋 It's fair to say the outgoing FCC Commissioner was… not universally loved by the industry. (Slate)   9 Some people still love MP3 players 🎧 Ah, the good old days when we used to own music. (The Verge)   10 Have we already been visited by aliens? 🛸 I mean, no, but it's fun to imagine the possibilities. (New Yorker $) Discover the latest opportunities cloud computing and AI have to offer at our upcoming events: Future Compute and EmTech Digital. Get five days of essential sessions, master classes, and industry networking, that you can't get anywhere else. Save $200 when you register for both events using this link. Quote of the day “Wake up. We’ve been had.” —A QAnon chat room participant tells others he's abandoned his belief after the prophecies failed to come to fruition, the New York Times reports. Top image credit: AP PHOTO/EVAN VUCCI Please send Bernie Sanders memes to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up for free Don't settle for half the story. Subscribe to MIT Technology Review for access to subscriber-only content and more.   Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142   Want to change how you receive these emails? You can *update your preferences or *unsubscribe from this list.  Subscription Information This email was sent to Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog   *the blog owner has deleted the hyperlink intentionally