TLDR 2021-08-02

DoorDash cooks 👨‍🍳, foldable houses 🏠, time crystals 🔮

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Big Tech & Startups

Apple closing down internal Slack channels where employees debate remote work (3 minute read)

Many of Apple's employees have been fighting against the company's plans to require employees to work at least three days a week in the office. Employees were originally told to return to the office by early September, but this was delayed due to the increasing amount of coronavirus cases around the world. Apple has recently started banning internal Slack channels that aren't directly related to work to stop employees from discussing remote work options. The company has always had a policy to remove channels that aren't directly related to projects or part of official employee groups, but the policy wasn't always enforced.

DoorDash isn’t just delivering meals—it’s making them, too (3 minute read)

DoorDash is opening a temporary kitchen to make meals for six restaurants in San Jose, California. The food will be available for pick up and delivery. The trial will run until November. Ghost kitchens have allowed many restaurants to expand their footprint in a low-cost and flexible way. The business model has been successful in India and the UK. Using ghost kitchens will help DoorDash take a larger portion of restaurant sales. Food delivery companies are evolving as they try to expand with the hopes of reaching profitability one day.
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Science & Futuristic Technology

Eternal Change for No Energy: A Time Crystal Finally Made Real (12 minute read)

A time crystal is a phase of matter where an object cycles between states without consuming energy, similar to a perpetual motion machine. Researchers have been trying to create one ever since they were first described in 2015. A group of physicists from various universities, in collaboration with researchers at Google, have used Google's quantum computer to demonstrate a genuine time crystal. Quantum computers can simulate particles of any imaginable quantum system, so they are particularly suited for this task.

These Foldable Houses Cost $50k and Go Up In a Day (4 minute read)

Boxabl is a company that makes affordable foldable homes. The homes are made of steel, concrete, and EPS foam, and they are resistant to bugs, water, fire, wind, and mold. They are about the size of a studio apartment and come with items like the refrigerator, toilet, and sinks built-in. The homes can be hauled by a pickup truck or SUV and set up in less than a day. More than 1,000 people have already reserved a home at $49,500. Boxabl plans to open a new factory that will be able to produce 3,600 houses annually.
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Programming, Design & Data Science

Refactor (GitHub Repo)

Refactor is an AST-based source code refactoring framework. It uses a script rather than regex to replace patterns. Refactor is designed for small projects. CST-based solutions are recommended for full program transformations.

Sorbet (GitHub Repo)

Sorbet is a fast, powerful type checker for Ruby. It makes it easy to add to existing codebases with gradual types.
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Miscellaneous

London’s Crossrail Is a $21 Billion Test of Virtual Modeling (16 minute read)

Crossrail is currently the biggest engineering project in Europe. The network started construction in 2009 and fully opened in 2019. It carries an estimated 200 million passengers every year across its 40 stations. Crossrail was built using many technologies. The entire network was designed in a 3D virtual environment, which is used to help monitor every part of the network. Everything in the system was engineered to reduce energy use, improve safety, and streamline operations. This article details how Crossrail was built and explains some of the technology behind the network.

Scientists Discover Psychedelic-Like Drug That Doesn't Cause Hallucinations (3 minute read)

Scientists have discovered a psychedelic-like drug that can produce rapid, long-lasting antidepressant effects in mice without causing hallucinations. It acts on the same serotonin receptors in the brain as antipsychotic drugs and psychedelics. The drug produces antidepressant-like effects within 30 minutes, and its benefits last over a week. Far more research is required before the drug can be tested in humans, but this research could lead to safe and practical treatments at home.
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