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- The top 25 stories curated by editors and fellow readers!

From the Editor's Desk

Inside Googles 7-Year Mission to Give AI a Robot Body - WIRED

It was early January 2016, and I had just joined Google X, Alphabet's
secret innovation lab. My job: help figure out what to do with the
employees and technology left over from nine robot companies that
Google had acquired. People were confused. Andy "the father of
Android" Rubin, who had previously been in charge, had suddenly left.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin kept trying to offer guidance and direction
during occasional flybys in their "spare time." Astro Teller, the head
of Google X, had agreed a few months earlier to bring all the robot
people into the lab, affectionately referred to as the moonshot
factory.

I signed up because Astro had convinced me that Google Xâor simply X,
as we would come to call itâwould be different from other corporate
innovation labs. The founders were committed to thinking exceptionally
big, and they had the so-called "patient capital" to make things
happen. After a career of starting and selling several tech companies,
this felt right to me. X seemed like the kind of thing that Google
ought to be doing. I knew from firsthand experience how hard it was to
build a company that, in Steve Jobs' famous words, could put a dent in
the universe, and I believed that Google was the right place to make
certain big bets. AI-powered robots, the ones that will live and work
alongside us one day, was one such audacious bet.

Continued here [[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]

_TradeBriefs: Newsletters for Decision-Makers!_

Work

Zelensky visited US to seek war boost. His most-important ally
shrugged. - WSJ [[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Zelensky touted his so-called “victory plan"—an effort to win more
weapons and security guarantees from the U.S. and its allies in order
to gain some leverage over Russia—in a flurry of meetings as he
shuttled between New York and Washington.

Work

Radioactive ion beam could target tumours more precisely - New
Scientist [[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
A PET scan of a mouse receiving radioactive ion beam treatment. The
edges of the tumour are marked with a red line and the red shading
shows where the highest radiation dose is absorbed.Giulio Lovatti
(LMU)















Work

East Coast Port Employers File Labor Complaint Against Union - Inc.com
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Employers negotiating a labor contract at U.S. East and Gulf Coast
ports on Thursday filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the
union, saying those leaders refuse to resume talks ahead of the
threatened Oct. 1 strike.

Work

A Better Way to Measure Social Impact - Harvard Business Review
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
All impact investors report the financial returns from their funds and
investments, and many provide metrics on intended social outcomes,
such as numbers of individuals served, or quality jobs created. But
investors do not supply metrics about their impacts on individuals and
families lives, and until they do, social impact reporting is unlikely
to approach the level of robustness associated with financial and
environmental reporting. The authors of this article describe how
Bayers Crop Science division has developed reliable stakeholder
reported measures of the social impact of its inclusive growth
projects based on an approach first pioneered in the healthcare
sector.














Work

AI and globalisation are shaking up software developers world - The
Economist [[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Two big shifts are under way in the world of software development.
Since the launch of Chatgpt in 2022, bosses have been falling over
themselves to try to find ways to use generative artificial
intelligence (AI) productively. Most efforts have so far yielded
little, but one exception is software programming. Surveys suggest
that developers around the world find generative ai so useful that
already about two-fifths of them use it.

Work

Ancient Egyptians Had Poor Posture at Work, Too - Discover Magazine
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Life as a scribe in Ancient Egypt took its toll on the body.
Researchers examining the bones of these ancient writers found them
riddled with arthritis and other work-related wear and tear, offering
fascinating insights into their lives. They detailed their findings in
a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.














Work

How Nord VPN has become Lithuanias tech darling - Fortune Europe
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Nord applied simple logic to help it grow: People rely on the internet
for everything, which means the need for online security will only
increase with time. Indeed, it didNord found a huge market among
privacy-hungry internet surfers.

Work

Hezbollahs role in the Israel-Hamas war, explained
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Islamist militant organization and
Lebanese political party, has been in conflict with Israel since its
founding decades ago. Now the death of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah,
in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday, threatens to take that conflict
to a new and even more destructive level.














Work

Hurricane Helene before and after photos reveal devastation left by
surge
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
After making landfall in Florida, where tidal storm surges battered
buildings, it then traveled north, hitting Georgia, South Carolina,
North Carolina and Tennessee, as well as impacting parts of Virginia,
West Virginia, Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky.

Work

At Home With the Internets TMI Queen
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily..]
The vibe in the West Hollywood mansion of Tana Mongeau, the influencer
wild child, is surprisingly wholesome. Its an early-September
afternoon, and the sun streams through big windows into her Nancy
Meyersesque kitchen, where she perches on a stool at a long marble
countertop. In the same open-concept room, her assistant, Paige
Camerlin, is quietly typing on her laptop on one end of a leather
sectional; on the other, Mongeaus boyfriend, Makoa, is curled up in a
hoodie reading a book. Its about cacao farmers in the early 1900s, he
tells me, and the industrialism of how that all took place. Mongeau
looks amused. That shows the difference between the two of us, she
says with the raspy voice of someone who stays in the club past last
call. I will be sitting there reading, like, a Pamela Anderson
autobiography. Despite the domestic tableau, Mongeau is still more
troublemaker than tradwife: Her nipples show through a white tank top,
her hair is dyed platinum blonde, and she constantly pulls from a
pale-pink nicotine vape.














Work

How Telegram became a hunting ground for criminalsand cops - WSJ
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
When federal agent Chris Janczewski was trying to strangle the flow of
money to an al Qaeda network in 2020, he first considered infiltrating
an invite-only forum or hunting for clues on the dark web.

Work

This $2.4 billion lithium mine is caught between Russia and the West -
WSJ [[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Russia is likely playing a major role in stoking opposition to the
project, the U.S. and Germany say, seeking to undermine the
development of what could be a key source of lithium for Europe’s
automakers.














Work

What to make of the Feds surprisingly aggressive rate cut - WSJ
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
The Fed’s decision on Sept. 18 to begin its easing cycle with a
large 50-basis-point rate cut was a bit of a dovish surprise to many
people—including me. But only a bit. In the days leading up to the
meeting, outside opinion was close to evenly divided between a
traditional 25-basis-point opener and an aggressive 50. The choice
looked close enough to a coin flip that neither outcome would have
been a big surprise to Fed watchers. I favored 50 basis points but
guessed that the more cautious committee would opt for 25.

Work

The stock market isnt all about AI anymore - WSJ
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Gone is the first half of 2024, when investors’ passion for
artificial intelligence drove the market skyward even as stubbornly
high inflation dashed hopes that the Federal Reserve would begin
cutting interest rates.














Work

Defense-tech startups need a new supplier: Anyone but China - WSJ
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
China is the dominant supplier of batteries, motors, sensors,
rare-earth materials and other key components needed by U.S. defense
companies. The industry’s outsize reliance on China for materials to
build everything from drones to ships and missiles has become an
untenable reality in Washington.

Work

Rare Diagnoses Change Peoples Perception of Medical Risk - Scientific
American [[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
As a graphics editor at Scientific American, I spend a lot of time
thinking about and visualizing dataincluding data on medical risks. So
when I got pregnant in 2018, I was prepared for things to be
complicated. Some of the most common issues loomed in my mind: for
example, as many as one in five known pregnancies ends in miscarriage,
and an estimated 13 percent of expectant people develop potentially
dangerous blood pressure disorders. When no such problems arose in my
pregnancy, I exhaled and concluded that I was lucky. I didnt consider
the sorts of diagnoses or events that affected less than, say, 1
percent of pregnancies. Those conditions, I reasoned, were rare.













Work

Americans are more reliant than ever on government aid - WSJ
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
That support is especially critical in economically stressed
communities throughout the U.S., many of which lean Republican and are
concentrated in swing states crucial in deciding the presidential
election. Neither party has much incentive to dial back the spending.

Work

An Ohio Businessman Faces Death Threats for Praising His Haitian
Workers
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Among them is Wilford Renvil, who has operated a mechanical press
since 2021. He fled Haiti, where he had a white-collar job at a
telecommunications company, after bandits took control of his town and
went on killing sprees. His attendance record at McGregor is perfect,
Mr. Renvil said, and he has befriended his American co-workers.

Work

Dockworkers Strike Could Begin Tuesday, With Talks at an Impasse
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
The I.L.A., which has 47,000 members, has not held a strike at all the
East and Gulf Coast ports since 1977. The union and the United States
Maritime Alliance, the employers’ negotiating group, are at
loggerheads over wages and benefits. The union is also resisting the
use of automated machinery at the ports.

Work

Facing a Big Test, Iran's 'Axis of Resistance' Flails
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Iran cobbled together the axis out of armed groups that shared
antipathy toward Israel and the United States but until then had been
fighting more local battles. The United States classifies most of them
as terrorist organizations.

Work

A Transformative Leader Steps Down in Mexico. What Will His Legacy Be?
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
On Tuesday, Mr. López Obrador will step down and hand the mantle to
his longtime protégée, Claudia Sheinbaum, a former mayor of Mexico
City. The landslide win in June by Ms. Sheinbaum — Mexico’s first
female president — was seen by many as a clear vote of confidence in
Mr. López Obrador and Morena, the party he founded in 2014. June’s
elections also gave Morena large legislative majorities unseen in
Mexico since the transition to democracy in 2000.

Work

Opinion | An Open Letter to Jimmy Carter, on His 100th Birthday
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
You are a child of the Jim Crow South who grew up on a farm at a time
when Black sharecroppers were hardly more than slaves. But even raised
in that world, you understood the injustice of it. “The time for
racial discrimination is over,” you said at your gubernatorial
inauguration in 1971. Your audience audibly gasped, but for the rest
of your political career, you worked to even the playing field for
Black Americans.

Work

Senior South Korean Police Officer Sentenced to 3 Years Over Crowd
Crush
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
On the evening of Oct. 29, 2022, thousands of young people packed into
Itaewon, a popular neighborhood for nightlife in Yongsan, to enjoy the
first post-pandemic, restriction-free Halloween weekend in Seoul.
Hundreds jammed into a narrow and sloping alleyway from both ends,
creating a deadly squeeze in the middle.

Work

Major CVS shareholder plans activist push, will meet with management,
sources say
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
CVS in August unveiled a new plan to cut $2 billion in expenses over
several years, which will involve streamlining its operations and
increasing the use of artificial intelligence, among other efforts.
The company is also wrapping up a three-year plan to close 900 of its
stores, with 851 locations closed as of August.

Work

Concerns over Gender Queer book dismissed by Australian
classifications board as anti-LGBTQ+, court hears
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
In the US, Gender Queer is one of the most challenged books in
libraries. Kobabe told the ABC in May that the US push to ban the book
had been frustrating and that the depiction of Plato’s Symposium had
been included as it was one of the few gay-themed texts Kobabe had
encountered in college.

Work

The WordPress vs. WP Engine drama, explained | TechCrunch
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was released from U.S. custody
on Friday after serving out his four-month sentence in a low-security
correctional facility. CZ’s sentence was the product of a…

Work

Carmaker Stellantis slashes forecasts as it faces industry slump and
Chinese competition
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
The company reported that first-half net profits were down 48%
compared with the same period last year. First-half sales in the
United States were down nearly 16%, even though overall new vehicle
sales rose 2.4%.

Work

Lost Lives and an Epic Crisis in North Carolina
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
More than 35 storm-related deaths were reported in the state as of
Sunday, part of Helene’s trail of destruction that began Thursday on
Florida’s Gulf Coast and tore through the Southeast, claiming more
than 90 lives. Gov. Roy Cooper called the crisis an “unprecedented
tragedy.”

Work

Jimmy Carter Approaches the Century Mark, Eclipsing His Presidential
Peers
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
“That’s Jimmy,” said Gerald Rafshoon, his White House
communications director and longtime friend. “It’s almost like his
whole life has been to go against the norm. Tell him he can’t do
something, just tell him that, and you’re bound to see the
determination.”

Work

Trump's Volunteers: 'Beautiful Ladies' From a Secretive Evangelical
Church
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
All are members of an evangelical charismatic Christian church in the
tiny town of Spindale (population 4,238) in western North Carolina.
The church, Word of Faith Fellowship, has for decades drawn
controversy over its cultish insularity and its treatment of children
and adults who have been judged by church leaders to be sinners.

Work

Harris Tries to Goad Trump Into Another Debate
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
The Harris campaign is spending more on television and digital
advertising in those three states than in Arizona and Nevada, and she
has traveled more extensively there. This week, she will again
campaign in all three blue wall states.

Work

After Harris Calls for a Crackdown on Fentanyl, Trump Twists Her
Position
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
A question asking if Ms. Harris supported the decriminalization at the
federal level of all drug possession for personal use appeared to be
checked “yes.” Ms. Harris wrote that it was “long past time that
we changed our outdated and discriminatory criminalization of
marijuana” and said that she favored treating drug addiction as a
public health issue, focusing on rehabilitation instead of
incarceration.

Work

A big U.S. port strike could shake the economy this week. Here's what
to know [[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
“Businesses are acting now to reroute shipments and secure their
container supply, or they risk being left stranded in a congested and
costly aftermath,” said Roeloffs, the Container xChange CEO, noting
that small traders “in particular’ may be squeezed.

Work

Michigan nuclear plant finalizes federal loan to support first reactor
restart in U.S. history
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Holtec plans to nearly double the capacity of Palisades in the 2030s
by building new designs called small modular reactors at the site.
These smaller reactors, which are prefabricated in several pieces,
promise to speed deployment of nuclear by reducing costs and making
plants simpler to operate.

Work

The 15 majors that college students are flocking to
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Applied mathematics is the fifteenth most popular college major.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics science
have a median annual salary of $100,000. The unemployment rate for
those who work in this field is 3% and about 52.8% of graduates hold
an advanced degree.

Work

California governor Gavin Newsom vetoes landmark AI safety bill
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Mr Wiener said the decision to veto the bill leaves AI companies with
"no binding restrictions from US policy makers, particularly given
Congress’s continuing paralysis around regulating the tech industry
in any meaningful way."

Work

UK to close last coal power station after 142 years
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Kayte O'Neill, the chief operating officer at the Energy System
Operator - the body overseeing the UK's electricity system - said:
"There is a whole load of innovation required to help us ensure the
stability of the grid. Keeping the lights on in a secure way."

Work

UK economy grew less than thought in spring
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics for the ONS, said: "Our
latest data show that household savings continue to increase and are
now at their highest rate since the Covid-19 lockdowns."

Work

House price growth at near two-year high, says Nationwide
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
The Nationwide survey only takes into account buyers with mortgages
and does not include those who purchase homes with cash or buy-to-let
deals. Cash buyers account for around a third of housing sales.

Work

Tata: Traditional steelmaking ends as Port Talbot blast furnace closes
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Prof Williams said the closure of Port Talbot's furnaces, and the
expected closure of the UK's last remaining blast furnaces in
Scunthorpe, signalled a major change in the country's industrial
history.

Work

McDonald's and supermarkets failed to spot slavery
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
It said it was “committed to tackling all forms of modern slavery”
and would “pursue gangs and employers with every lever at our
disposal while ensuring that victims are provided with the support
they need”.

Work

Minimum price of alcohol in Scotland rises by 30%
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Alison Douglas, chief executive of AFS, said her charity was calling
for an alcohol harm prevention levy on alcohol retailers, which she
said the Fraser of Allander Institute estimated could raise as much as
£57m a year to invest in alcohol treatment services.

Work

What is the energy price cap and how much are gas and electricity
bills going up? [[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Ofgem has outlined options to change standing charges and asked energy
suppliers, consumer groups and household bill payers to give their
views., external This consultation closed on 20 September.

Work

U.S. Ramps Up Hunt for Uranium to End Reliance on Russia
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Those twin pressures have helped lift uranium prices to their highest
levels in more than 15 years, according to the consulting firm
TradeTech, helping to resuscitate mining regions that entered a steep
decline toward the end of the Cold War.

Work

CNN Wades Back Into the Documentary Business
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Beginning this week, CNN Films returns with the first of three movies
it has acquired in partnership with other players. The company is also
reviving the arm that produces documentary series.

Work

Vintage Shopping Is Booming. Banana Republic and Others Get In on the
Action.
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
A varied industry, secondhand clothing stores consist of national
chains, small businesses and nonprofits across a range of price points
and styles. And while many shoppers like to get their retail therapy
fix online on sites like the RealReal and Etsy’s Depop, people
looking for the best deals in used goods or a rare vintage item often
prefer to see, feel or try on the pieces in person. That makes
brick-and-mortar stores essential to the resale business model,
vendors and industry experts say.

Work

Here's What to Know About the Looming Port Strike
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Cargo that could be affected by the strike includes everyday consumer
goods, like bananas, many of which come through a port in Delaware.
Just over half of imported apparel, footwear and accessories also come
through East Coast ports. Manufacturing parts and cars move through
these ports, too.

Work

Stocks in Japan Tumble After Party's Election of New Prime Minister
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Following a recent surge of inflation, the Bank of Japan has raised
interest rates twice this year. The bank’s governor, Kazuo Ueda, has
indicated he plans to continue increasing rates, though it is unclear
how quickly that might happen.

Work

U.S. Approves Billions in Aid to Restart Michigan Nuclear Plant
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
David Turk, the deputy secretary of energy, said he expected U.S.
electricity demand would grow by 15 percent over the next few years,
driven by an increase in electric vehicles, a boom in battery and
solar factories as well as a surge of new data centers for artificial
intelligence. That meant the nation needs new low-carbon sources of
power that could run 24/7 and complement wind and solar plants.

Work

Israel Strikes Houthis in Yemen, and Helene's Trail of Destruction
[[link removed]}&lead=419599&emailid=71866&nl=daily]
Plus, the plain-spoken poetry of Kris Kristofferson.

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