The Download: AI benchmarks, and Spain’s grid blackout

It’s not casual being 1 of Silicon Valley’s favourite benchmarks. 

—Russell Brandom

Did star powerfulness origin Spain’s blackout?

At astir midday connected Monday, April 28, the lights went retired successful Spain. The grid blackout, which extended into parts of Portugal and France, affected tens of millions of people—flights were grounded, compartment networks went down, and businesses closed for the day.

Over a week later, officials inactive aren’t wholly definite what happened, but immoderate person suggested that renewables whitethorn person played a role, due to the fact that conscionable earlier the outage happened, upwind and star accounted for astir 70% of energy generation. Others, including Spanish authorities officials, importune that it’s excessively aboriginal to delegate blame.

It’ll instrumentality weeks to get the afloat report, but we bash cognize a fewer things astir what happened. Here are a fewer takeaways that could assistance our aboriginal grid. 

—Casey Crownhart

This nonfiction is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s play clime newsletter. To person it successful your inbox each Wednesday, sign up here.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.

1 The Trump medication volition repeal immoderate planetary spot curbs 
It’s drafting up caller rules that prioritize nonstop negotiations with assorted nations. (Bloomberg $)
+ The curbs person ever been leaky anyway. (Economist $)

2 India and Pakistan person accused each different of overnight drone attacks
The struggle betwixt the 2 countries is rapidly escalating. (The Guardian)
+ Pakistan claims to person changeable down 25 drones successful its airspace. (Reuters)
+ Mass-market subject drones person changed the mode wars are fought. (MIT Technology Review)

3 The FDA is funny successful utilizing AI for cause evaluation
And has met with OpenAI to perceive much astir however to bash it. (Wired $)
+ An AI-driven “factory of drugs” claims to person deed a large milestone. (MIT Technology Review)

4 The US is pushing nations facing its tariffs to follow Starlink
Government officials successful India and different countries person accelerated tracked approvals. (WP $)
+ India precocious announced caller rules for outer net providers. (Rest of World)

7 Students can’t wean themselves disconnected ChatGPT
And experts fearfulness that they’ll look into the workforce fundamentally illiterate. (NY Mag $)
+ Some educators judge that AI highlights however the ways we thatch request to change. (MIT Technology Review)

8 We don’t truly cognize however representation works 🧠
But these researchers are doing their champion to find out. (Quanta Magazine)

9 The immense bulk of the oversea depths are inactive unexplored
What lies beneath is simply a mystery. (New Scientist $)
+ Meet the divers trying to fig retired however heavy humans tin go. (MIT Technology Review)

10 Pet psychics are taking implicit TikTok 🔮
But does your furry person person thing to say?(NYT $)
+ Humans are inactive amended than AI astatine futuregazing—for now. (Vox)
+ How DeepSeek became a luck teller for China’s youth. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“It’s similar surviving successful hell.”

—Elizabeth Martorana, a Virginia resident, describes what it’s similar to unrecorded successful a improvement portion for Amazon, Microsoft, and Google information centers, Semafor reports.

One much thing

How Antarctica’s past of isolation is ending—thanks to Starlink

“This is 1 of the slightest visited places connected satellite Earth and I got to unfastened the door,” Matty Jordan, a operation specializer astatine New Zealand’s Scott Base successful Antarctica, wrote successful the caption to the video helium posted to Instagram and TikTok successful October 2023.

In the video, helium guides viewers done the hut, pointing retired wherever the men of Ernest Shackleton’s 1907 expedition lived and worked.

The video has racked up millions of views from each implicit the world. It’s besides benignant of a miracle: until precise recently, those who lived and worked connected Antarctic bases had nary anticipation of communicating truthful readily with the extracurricular world.

That’s starting to change, acknowledgment to Starlink, the outer constellation developed by Elon Musk’s institution SpaceX to work the satellite with high-speed broadband internet. Read the afloat story.

—Allegra Rosenberg

We tin inactive person bully things

A spot for comfort, amusive and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got immoderate ideas? Drop maine a line oregon skeet 'em astatine me.)

+ Does Boston inactive drink? Not successful the aforesaid mode it utilized to.
+ Where successful the US you should acceptable up campy to stargaze close now.
+ Wow: this New Zealand snail lays eggs from its neck. 🐌
+ Jurassic World Rebirth is coming: and it looks suitably bonkers.