TLDR 2022-05-10

Google IO preview 📱, Uber hiring cut 🚗, reviving extinct species 🦣

📱
Big Tech & Startups

Google I/O 2022 preview: What to expect from this year's event (4 minute read)

Google I/O 2022 starts on May 11. This article speculates on what Google might be announcing at the event. It is likely that Google will make announcements about Android 13, Wear OS 3, the Pixel Watch, Smart Home, the Pixel 6a, and Google Pay. Google will probably not mention the Pixel 7 or Project Iris at the event. While the Pixel Watch may be talked about at the event, it will likely be a pre-announcement similar to how the Pixel 6 series was introduced last year.

Can't afford an Xbox Series X? You won't need one when the Xbox Streaming Stick launches (3 minute read)

Microsoft plans to release an Xbox Streaming Stick sometime in the next 12 months. The device will allow gamers to stream Xbox Game Pass titles to a TV without having to buy a console. Samsung has partnered with Microsoft to create a bespoke Xbox Cloud Gaming app for Samsung TVs. Microsoft's Xbox Everywhere project aims to expand the reach of the company's gaming portfolio and extend its Xbox Cloud Gaming platform to new devices.
🚀
Science & Futuristic Technology

'An army of robots' and zero human workers will build a dam in China (4 minute read)

China is building a dam project on the Tibetan Plateau using artificial intelligence and unmanned machinery. It will build the dam using a similar process to 3D printing. The dam will be capable of producing nearly five billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year once it is completed in 2024. Some jobs will still be handled by humans due to task complexity. Construction robots can help offset the decline of manual labor caused by low birth rates.

Brilliant Planet plans cheap, gigaton-scale carbon capture using algae (4 minute read)

Brilliant Planet is a company that has a carbon capture and sequestration model that can scale up to billions of tons per year. The method involves pumping seawater into low-cost coastal desert land and then using the pools of seawater to grow algae. It could potentially capture two billion tons of carbon per year, about 5.5% of humanity's annual global carbon emissions. The company is aiming for a cost of around $50-$100 per ton, which is significantly cheaper than other current options.
💻
Programming, Design & Data Science

Eleventy (Website)

Eleventy is a simple static site generator. It can transform a directory of templates of varying types into HTML. Eleventy works with HTML, Markdown, JavaScript, Liquid, Nunjucks, Handlebars, Mustache, EJS, Haml, and Pug. Examples of sites built with Eleventy are available.

Scapy (GitHub Repo)

Scapy is a Python-based interactive packet manipulation program and library. It can forge or decode packets from a wide range of protocols, match requests and replies, and send, capture, read, or store requests using pcap files. Scapy can handle most standard tasks like scanning, tracerouting, probing, unit tests, and more.
🎁
Miscellaneous

Uber CEO tells staff company will cut down on costs, treat hiring as a 'privilege' (6 minute read)

Uber is cutting back on spending and will focus on becoming a leaner business. The company will slash spending on marketing and incentives and treat hiring as a privilege. It will be deliberate about when and where to hire staff and be more strict about costs across the board. Uber will focus on achieving profitability on a free cash flow basis.

Why ‘De-Extinction’ Is Impossible, But Could Work Anyway (7 minute read)

De-extinction is not possible as even slight alterations in gene order can have significant effects. Even with 100% of an animal's genetic code, scientists can only create organisms with the same gene order and chromosome count as its living relatives. While de-extinction may be impossible, it is possible to create functional equivalents through breeding or gene insertion. This can be used to introduce species back into environments to benefit ecosystems.
Get the most important tech, science, & coding news in a free daily email. Read by +1,250,000 software engineers and tech workers.
Join 1,250,000 readers for