Twitter locked Trump’s account. Insiders say it needs to go further.

Covid-19 immunity likely lasts for years

The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology Chaos in the Capitol 01.07.21 Good morning! Phew, there's a lot to catch you up on today. Tech platforms have suspended Trump's accounts due to his role in whipping up yesterday's occupation of the Capitol, vaccine scams are inevitable without better leadership, and finally, some good news... it's possible that covid-19 immunity might last for years. If you enjoy The Download, why not get your friends to sign up. Twitter locked Trump’s account. Insiders say it needs to go further.   What’s happened: As a mob of right-wing extremists occupied the US Capitol building yesterday, President Trump’s Twitter account was locked (it is set to restore access imminently, the Washington Post reports.) He had posted that the election “was stolen from us,” repeating a lie he has promoted for months. It is an escalation of Twitter’s running conflict with the president throughout 2020 as he spread conspiracy theories about the election and covid-19.  Facebook and Instagram followed suit shortly after, removing his ability to post to those platforms for 24 hours. However: As a world leader, Trump has benefited from policies that provide exceptions to normal enforcement measures owing to the inherent newsworthiness of his messages or the public interest in them. But experts—including current and former Twitter insiders—say that the events at the Capitol should be more than enough evidence to demonstrate why labels and individual takedowns no longer go far enough. Laura Gómez, a former Twitter employee who has repeatedly called for CEO Jack Dorsey to suspend Trump’s account (and who recently warned that the president was attempting a coup using the site), says that simply taking the video down is “like putting a Band-Aid on an arm that’s been blown off.” Read the full story. —Abby Ohlheiser and Eileen Guo Covid-19 immunity likely lasts for years The news: Covid-19 patients who recovered from the disease still have robust immunity from the coronavirus eight months after infection, according to a new study. The study, published January 6 in Science, examined blood samples from 185 men and women who had recovered from covid-19—most from a mild infection, although 7% were hospitalized. The researchers found that antibodies in the body declined moderately after eight months, although levels varied wildly between individuals. But T-cell numbers declined only modestly, and B-cell numbers held steady and sometimes inexplicably grew. Why it matters: The result is an encouraging sign that the authors interpret to mean immunity to the virus probably lasts for many years, and it should alleviate fears that the covid-19 vaccine would require repeated booster shots to protect against the disease and finally get the pandemic under control. Read the full story. —Neel V. Patel Without leadership on the vaccine rollout, scams are inevitable What’s happened: To say the first few weeks of vaccine delivery in the US have been turbulent would be an understatement. States have found themselves struggling with underdeveloped logistics that have caused problems in delivery and made rollout slower than promised. And the supply chain has come under attack. In one case a pharmacist in Wisconsin managed to sabotage 500 vaccines, apparently driven by his belief in apocalyptic conspiracy theories. The problem: It has become increasingly clear that many hospitals, pharmacies, and other facilities that received vaccine deliveries are on their own: forced to oversee the logistics themselves, organize appointments with patients, and monitor follow-ups. Under pressure, they have started to make hasty or uninformed decisions, or turn to services that weren’t built for such critical purposes, like Eventbrite. The use of third-party websites creates the perfect opportunity for a low-tech supply chain attack. What’s needed: Counties should not be left to deal with this issue ad hoc. The incoming administration promises to deliver 100 million shots during its first 100 days—but to do that, it will have to address misinformation as well all the other issues. Read the full story by Joan Donovan, research director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard. 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.)   + Immerse yourself in the soothing sounds of Ireland’s coast.   + A few doggedly cheerful people in England are simply not willing to take their Christmas decorations down.    + Let’s take a virtual trip to the Columbian port city of Cartagena. (NYT $)   + Monkey-faced orchids are a thing! And they smell lovely, too.    + Comfy, slouchy, Kurt Cobain-style cardigans are all the rage in the work from home era. (WSJ $) The top ten must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The coup attempt was organized openly online The internet is far from solely to blame, but we need to stop pretending like online spaces aren’t real life. (The Atlantic)   + How the rest of the world reacted. (NYT $)   + The insurrectionists seem to be in the grip of a mass delusion. (The Atlantic)   + The origins of QAnon. (Bellingcat)   + There wasn’t just unrest in Washington DC. (US News)  2 The case for a Nobel Prize for vaccine distribution 💉 This is a highly complex, mammoth task. (Wired $)   + The EU has approved the Moderna vaccine. (NYT $)  3 What the Democrat Senate win means for tech Antitrust enforcement and new regulations are on their way. (Protocol)   + Georgia’s runoff may have saved net neutrality. (The Verge)  4 Infections in the UK are totally out of control But is it down to the new variant, or households mixing over Christmas? (Wired UK)   + It now has more infections per capita than any other country in the world. (The Independent)   + The country recorded over 1,000 deaths yesterday. (The Guardian)   + Hospitals in London are forecast to be overwhelmed within two weeks. (HSJ)   + Healthcare workers say they are on the brink of burnout. (BBC)   5 The year deepfakes went mainstream And gave us some much-needed laughs. (TR)   6 WhatsApp is about to start sharing more data with Facebook  Couldn’t possibly be anything to do with making it harder to break up. (Ars Technica)   7 How the Russian hackers got in to US systems It seems they may have piggybacked on a tool developed by Czech company JetBrains. (NYT $)   8 We’re all gamers now 🎮 More than half of US adults turned to video games in the last year. (The Verge)   9 How to digitize your old photos and tapes 📼 If you’ve got a little more time on your hands than usual, preserving happy memories is a great way to spend it. (WSJ $)   10 Turns out the soon-to-be youngest member of Congress is a nerd 🤓 One of us, one of us. (NBC) We want to hear from you: the global AI agenda 2021.  In just 10-minutes, you can help MIT Technology Review understand how enterprises are using big data and AI to recover from covid-19. This survey also explores how businesses are reevaluating data privacy and citizen consent to AI practices. Your response is anonymous and would be greatly appreciated. You can download last year's Global AI Agenda here for free. Take the survey now. Quote of the day “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” —A tweet posted by President Trump on December 19, surfaced by the New York Times. Top image credit: AP | JULIO CORTEZ Please send monkey-faced orchids 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 Intelligent computing Join us virtually | February 10-11, 2021 Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142 Subscription Information Want to change how you receive these emails? You can *update your preferences or *unsubscribe from this list.  This email was sent to Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog   *the blog owner has deleted the hyperlink intentionally