The UAE’s Hope probe is about to arrive at Mars in a historic first

The fast-spreading coronavirus variant is turning up in US sewers 

Sponsored by Darktrace The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology Approaching Mars 02.09.21 Good morning! Today: the UAE's Hope probe is set to arrive at Mars today, and the fast-spreading coronavirus variant is turning up in sewers in Florida and California. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. The UAE’s Hope probe is about to arrive at Mars in a historic first   What’s happening: The United Arab Emirates is set to make its first attempt to get a spacecraft into Martian orbit today. It will be fighting the odds— fewer than half of all the spacecraft that have been sent to Mars have actually made it. If it succeeds, it will become the fifth space mission in the world to reach the Red Planet, after the Soviet Union, NASA, the ESA, and India.  What to look out for: It’s set to rendezvous with Mars today after a 27-minute thruster burn slows the spacecraft down by nearly 3,600 kilometers per hour, allowing it to fall into the Martian orbit safely. That thruster burn is set to occur at around 7:32 p.m. UAE time (10:32 a.m. US Eastern time), and we should know within an hour or so if it’s worked. Read the full story. —Neel V. Patel The fast-spreading coronavirus variant is turning up in US sewers The news: A hyper-transmissible form of the coronavirus that causes covid-19 has been found in US sewer systems in California and Florida, confirming its widening presence in the US. The so-called UK variant, first discovered in England in December, doesn’t seem to resist vaccines, but it does appear to spread more easily and has already taken over in countries including Israel, where it’s now responsible for 80% of cases. If it takes hold in the US, it could become the dominant form by March. What the data shows: Water drawn from sewer pipes in Altamonte Springs, near Orlando in Florida, found that 4% of those infected have the new variant, about four times the proportion found in early January. Only 611 cases of the UK variant have been confirmed in the US as a whole, but the true number of cases is certainly much larger. Flying blind: The US has less ability than some European countries to track variants of the virus because test swabs are not subjected to complete genomic sequencing as often. Wastewater offers a chance to monitor the variant more widely, and at lower expense. Read the full story. —Antonio Regalado 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.)   + How Parisian baguettes are made.   + Cats cuddle-walking.    + Catherine O'Hara on the joy of making hit comedy Schitt's Creek (a must-see, if you haven't already.)   + Africa's hit science show for kids is coming to the US.    + If you love books, you'll love this.   + No Mardi Gras? No problem. People in New Orleans are turning their homes into floats.   + You can't travel yet, but you can fantasize about it. (NYT $)   + Another newsletter with nice things. Sponsor Message Cyber Security is Now a Machine Fight AI is being used to create increasingly customized, targeted, and hard-to-detect cyber-attacks at scale.  Autonomous Cyber AI learns ‘normal’ for your organization and stops advanced threats in their tracks.  Learn more > The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 One in ten Americans have now been vaccinated against covid-19 Progress. (Axios)   + Here's the global picture of how vaccinations are going. (Bloomberg $)   + What could happen if you miss your second dose? (Gizmodo)   + How to talk to your vaccine-hesitant family members. (Vox)   + Facebook is finally banning all vaccine misinformation. (Recode)   + New variants may render herd immunity through vaccinations unachievable. (The Guardian)  2 A hacker tried to poison the water supply in Oldsmar, Florida This is really chilling. (Vice)   + They managed to get in through TeamViewer software. (Reuters)  3 These might be the best places for future Mars colonists to look for ice  We can't take much water with us, so this will be crucial intel for a human mission. (TR)   + Are there signs of life on Venus? We're still not sure. (NYT $)  4 Tesla has bought $1.5 billion in bitcoin Removing Elon Musk's ability to claim he cares about the climate crisis in one fell swoop. (CNBC)   + This is a reckless, destructive troll. (New Republic)  5 One-third of covid-19 survivors put on a ventilator have PTSD There aren't many things more traumatic than believing you are going to die. (The Guardian)   + We need to make sure survivors have access to psychological help. (TR)  6 Clubhouse has been blocked in China It was only a matter of time. (Quartz)   + A Clubhouse competitor is set to launch this year. (The Verge)  7 Tweeters need an etiquette manual Better to cultivate kindness than "gotcha" cleverness. (Wired $)   + Twitter is looking at subscription options. (Bloomberg $)  8 Black creators say their videos are still being suppressed on TikTok While the exact same content, posted by white people, goes stratospheric. (NBC)   + TikTok wants to be QVC for teens. (Gizmodo)  9 What we can learn from the brain's background noise 🧠 Neuroscientists believe it could hold new clues about sleep, aging, and much else. (Quanta)   10 What's your online aesthetic? Ask this Wiki 🤔 Chaotic academia, cottagecore, and forestpunk are just a few of the options. (The Atlantic) TOMORROW: Join us at Future Compute, and cut through the noise of the cloud and computing landscape.  Top executives from Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, IBM, and Microsoft will share their perspectives on how the convergence of 5G, AI, and IoT is creating new opportunities and what this means for how business gets done. Register now. Quote of the day "If you wanted to cast a villain who was going to be the Lex Luther of the internet, Rob Monster is about as good as it gets." —Rob Monster, a 53-year-old Dutch-American, jokes to NPR during an interview about his company Epik, which is helping to keep far-right websites online. Hurry, Future Compute is happening soon! Don't miss out. Purchase your ticket today. Top image credit: UAE SPACE AGENCY Please send Parisian baguettes 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

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