China just reported its largest one-day increase in covid cases to date

What’s happening elsewhere: Meanwhile, Europe also seems to be starting a new covid wave, with cases tap in countries across the continent. In the United Kingdom, have fallen on almost 50% week-over-week and, worryingly, hospital admissions are up 17%. A combination of looser disability, declining immunity, and BA.2, a more transmissible omicron subvariant, is believed to be responsible for the increase in cases.

The must reads

I’ve scoured the internet to find the funniest/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology today.

1 Clearview Says Ukraine Is Using Its Facial Recognition AI To Identify Russian Soldiers
But is it accurate enough to rely on? †Reuters †
+ Kiev is under increasing fire. †AP †
+ Cheap drones are making a big dent in the Russian air strike. †NBC†
+ The UN chief says nuclear conflict remains a possibility. †axios†
+ Maps that follow the invasion. †NYT †
+ The war threatens hundreds of clinical trials in Ukraine† †wired †

2 A NASA spacewalk continues today despite international tensions
The cooperation in space between the US and Russia will continue for the time being. †WP †
+ Russia says it won’t leave an American astronaut stranded in space. †The edge†

3 Pfizer Says We Need A Fourth Covid Shot
Given that less than half of fully vaccinated people in the US have even received a third dose, this feels ambitious. †Ars Technica†

4 Will planting trees help or harm the planet?
It largely depends on how it’s done. †NYT †
+ The UN Climate Report highlights the dangers of natural solutions† †TR†

5 It’s Getting A Lot Harder To Be An Influencer In Russia
They see the whole livelihood disappear overnight as platforms are banned. †the guard†
+ Russia has kept its promise to ban Instagram, which had 80 million users there. †The edge†
+ The far right in the US is boosting Russian propaganda. †NBC†
+ Facebook says users can’t summon Putin’s death (but Russian soldiers are fair game.) †CNBC†
+ A website allows people to email Russians to tell them the truth about the war† †WSJ †
+ An employee of a Russian TV station interrupted a live broadcast with protest† †the guard†

6 Crypto Miners Must Flee Kazakhstan Just Months After Arriving
It looked like a safe haven after China’s ban went into effect. Now power cuts and government pressure are driving them out. †Rest of the world†

7 TikTok Gets Philosophical
And philosophy professors aren’t quite sure how to respond. †Slate †

8 TV is still too blinded by tech founders
New shows about Uber, Theranos, and WeWork eventually catch on. †Vox†
+ It would be good if they could focus more on the people affected by their dramatic turnout. †wired †
+ Tech companies have been rebranding lately. Do not buy it. †WSJ †

9 Astronomers keep finding black holes in unexpected places 🕳️
Dwarfs would not be able to handle objects of this size and mass. †Quanta†

10 Why We’re All Going To Goblin Mode
We have lived through two years of a pandemic and have now thoroughly embraced the comforts of depravity. †the guard†

—Anastasia Tischchenko, a 31-year-old woman fleeing Ukraine, tells the New York Times she and a friend used Tinder to find temporary shelter in Romania.

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these strange times. (Have any ideas? Message me or tweet them to me†

+ (Very!) High tea†
+ It looks like this giant tortoises have been mislabeled for a long time.
+ I have to watch Pixar’s new ones movieturns red.
+ Music critics from the New York Times talk about the songs they use when times get tough.
+ Does it really matter where Scotch malt whiskey is? made†
+ This ask on Reddit about translating board games for Ukrainian refugees gave me some hope for humanity today.