The lithium mine versus the wildflower

PLUS: The Efforts to Make Text-Based AI Less Racist and Terrible, and more

View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter subscriptions  06.17.21   FOUL MOUTHED | 6-MINUTE READ The Efforts to Make Text-Based AI Less Racist and Terrible BY KHARI JOHNSON Language models like GPT-3 can write poetry, but they often amplify negative stereotypes. Researchers are trying different approaches to address the problem.   IDEAS | 5-MINUTE READ On Microphones, Music, and Our Long Year of Screen Time BY VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN Pianist Glenn Gould proved long ago that an existence heavily mediated by technology is not nonexistence.   FUSE TRAVELER | 6-MINUTE READ Test Out Next-Gen Space Tech in Kerbal Space Program BY MEGHAN HERBST Sure, a real-life Epstein drive is still a few breakthroughs away. But the rocket-building game lets you pilot a fusion-propelled craft right now.   BACKCHANNEL | 22-MINUTE READ The Lithium Mine Versus the Wildflower BY GREGORY BARBER The deposit could power 400,000 clean-energy car batteries. There's just one roadblock: a rare, fragile species of buckwheat, which for a mine might mean extinction.   SPONSORED CONTENT Get a Free Security Camera And 24/7 Protection Most security companies send a technician to your home. SimpliSafe doesn't. Order online; set it up in 30 minutes. After that, you're protected 24/7. GET WIRED Stare the future right in the eye. Get 1 year of unlimited access to WIRED for less than $1 per month. Plus, get a free tote! Subscribe now.   VIDEOGAMES | 5-MINUTE READ The Best Games (and Trailers) From E3 BY WILL BEDINGFIELD, WIRED UK The annual gaming event was slightly subdued by the pandemic, but there were still big updates on Zelda, Halo, Far Cry, and more.   MESOBOT | 4-MINUTE READ A Clever Robot Spies on Creatures in the Ocean's 'Twilight Zone' BY MATT SIMON Mesobot looks like a giant AirPods case, but it's in fact a sophisticated machine that tracks animals making the most epic migration on Earth.   CAUSE FOR CONCERN | 3-MINUTE READ The Delta Variant and Low Vaccine Rates Could Spell Trouble BY BETH MOLE, ARS TECHNICA Vaccines are effective against the variant, but experts worry about states where fewer people are inoculated.   BOOKMARK IT | 1-MINUTE READ The Best Kindles to Take Your Library Anywhere BY JEFFREY VAN CAMP AND ADRIENNE SO Amazon has four different ebook readers. Here's how they stack up—and which may be right for you.     This e-mail was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or Manage your newsletter subscriptions   Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.