TLDR 2022-03-14

New MacBooks with the M2 chip are coming later this year. The next-generation MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro are expected to have M2 versions. The M2 will feature a powerful 10-core GPU and replace the current entry-level M1. It will likely not be better than the high-end M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra processors. There are no set release dates yet for the machines, but they will likely be introduced in June at WWDC and released later in the year.

Moderna has announced plans to develop mRNA vaccines against 15 different pathogens. mRNA vaccines are essentially plug and play, so scientists can add in codes specific to the virus they hope to protect against without having to develop and manufacture an entirely new formula. They are also easy to scale in production at a relatively low cost, making it possible to screen multiple vaccine candidates with low resources. Moderna will prioritize viruses classified as persistent global health threats. It aims to have all 15 vaccines in clinical trials by 2025.

Scientists at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have developed modular robotic cubes that use embedded electromagnets to move called ElectroVoxels. The cubes have wires embedded into their edges and can attract or repel each other depending on their configuration. They can be programmed and easily and cheaply manufactured. The ElectroVoxels could be used effectively in space as reconfigurable robots or to help build temporary structures. Pictures of the ElectroVoxels are available in the article.

UK-based Tokamak Energy has broken a world record in nuclear fusion by achieving a plasma temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius, the threshold required for commercial fusion energy. It achieved the milestone in only 5 years at the cost of less than £50 million. The company will now upgrade the tokamak to test other new fusion technologies. Its research will inform the design of a fusion power plant estimated to start operation in the early 2030s.

HUBFS is a file system for GitHub and Git. It represents git repositories and their contents as regular directories and editable files that can be accessed by any application. HUBFS works in Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Nickel is a language for generating static configuration files to be fed into another system. It can be used to generate complex configurations for apps, machines, whole infrastructures, or build systems.

Companies often give raises that are lower than the rate of inflation, despite employees receiving excellent performance ratings. This can cause employee dissatisfaction, especially when they realize that they can get paid more by switching jobs. This HackerNews thread discusses annual raises, what people usually get and expect, why companies might not consider inflation when calculating raises, job-hopping, and more. Many times budgets and other factors restrict managers' abilities to give higher raises and the salary may still be acceptable without a significant raise.

Meta is cutting the free laundry and dry-cleaning services at its offices. It will also begin serving dinner after the last shuttle departs campus, meaning that employees will have to choose between a free meal or a free ride home. Meta will be increasing annual employee wellness stipends from $700 to $3,000 per year to account for the changes.