What’s Possible: 14th April, 2022

We hope you enjoy this week's hand-picked selection of important and interesting stories from the frontiers of tech.

‍DALL-E 2, the future of AI research, and OpenAI’s business model

Artificial intelligence research lab OpenAI made headlines again, this time with DALL-E 2, a machine learning model that can generate stunning images from text descriptions. DALL-E 2 builds on the success of its predecessor DALL-E and improves the quality and resolution of the output images thanks to advanced deep learning techniques. (read)

These images (from the DALL-E 2 blog post) are generated from the description “An astronaut riding a horse.” One of the descriptions ends with “as a pencil drawing” and the other “in photorealistic style.”

Exploring the quantum triad: Quantum sensing

Quantum sensors are the next frontier of sensing, as they can unlock innovation in frontier applications like brain-computer interfaces and precise position, navigation, and timing. (read)

‍We’ve Never Seen a Carbon-Removal Plan Like This Before

The world’s biggest tech companies are getting serious about carbon removal, the still-nascent technology wherein humanity can pull heat-trapping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Yesterday, an alliance of prominent Silicon Valley companies—including Google, Meta, Shopify, and the payment company Stripe—announced that it is purchasing $925 million in carbon removal over the next eight years. In a world awash in overhyped corporate climate commitments, this is actually a big deal. (read)

Atoms, Institutions, Blockchains

Josh Stark of Ethereum Foundation lays out a new mental model — Atoms, Institutions, and Blockchains — a set of building materials that, used together in aggregate, make a stronger whole. (read) (thread)

Josh Stark @0xstark

0. Atoms, Institutions, BlockchainsThis is my answer to why crypto matters, what problem blockchains solve, and how Ethereum can change the world.

stark.mirror.xyzAtoms, Institutions, BlockchainsWhat do we want our civilization to be made of?

2:00 PM ∙ Apr 13, 2022206Likes41Retweets

Reputation DAO capital raising lures prominent backers

A group of Australian developers has created a reputation service for decentralised finance (DeFi) by linking data sources used in the traditional financial system to lending protocols on blockchains, a move that promises to reduce the amount of collateral required to borrow. (read)

Interesting adjacencies

• Zapier: The $5B unbundling opportunity (link)
• Anything World: 3 Simple Marketing Mistakes Indie Game Developers Should Avoid Before Launch Day (link)
• Immutable X: A Guide to NFT Platform Security (read)
• Psilocybin spurs brain activity in patients with depression, small study shows (read)
• 26 Questions interview with PrePO Founder, Xavier Ekkel (watch)

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