The Download: a smoking “endgame” and a new Elizabeth Bear story

《下载》：烟草“终局”与伊丽莎白·贝尔的新故事

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. 这是今日份的《下载》，我们平日更新的简报，为您提供每日科技世界的动态。

The UK’s generational tobacco ban might not work. I’m supporting it anyway. —Jessica Hamzelou 英国的代际烟草禁令可能不会奏效。但我依然支持它。——Jessica Hamzelou

As the parent of two little girls, I often think about how their childhood is different from mine. The seven-year-old is learning about AI at school. The five-year-old is given internet-based homework every week. And they are both absolutely repulsed by the idea of smoking. That was not the prevailing sentiment when I was young. Smoking was a central part of our culture. 作为两个小女孩的母亲，我经常思考她们的童年与我的有何不同。七岁的大女儿在学校学习人工智能，五岁的小女儿每周都有基于互联网的家庭作业。她们两人都对吸烟这件事感到极其反感。在我年轻时，这并非主流情绪。那时，吸烟是我们文化的核心部分。

Which is why the UK’s recent passing of a generational sales ban on tobacco products feels like such a big deal. This is what’s described as an “endgame” approach. While many tobacco control strategies—such as taxation or gory imagery—aim to reduce consumption, policies like the UK’s are designed to eliminate it entirely. It’s a new approach, and no one knows whether it will work. But it’s an enticing prospect—and it’s starting to look a lot less radical. Find out why generational tobacco bans are gaining support. This story is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday. 正因如此，英国近期通过的针对烟草产品的代际销售禁令显得意义重大。这被称为一种“终局”策略。虽然许多烟草控制策略（如征税或展示恐怖图像）旨在减少消费，但像英国这样的政策旨在将其彻底根除。这是一种新方法，没人知道它是否会奏效。但这是一个诱人的前景，而且它看起来已不再那么激进。了解为何代际烟草禁令正获得支持。本文摘自我们的每周生物技术简报《The Checkup》。订阅即可在每周四收到邮件。

You do your own time —You do your own time is a short story by Elizabeth Bear, an award-winning speculative fiction author. 《You do your own time》——《You do your own time》是屡获殊荣的推想小说作家伊丽莎白·贝尔（Elizabeth Bear）创作的短篇小说。

There we were, a regular murderers’ row of librarians. Turning around in the nave of our library to greet the sound of footsteps, pistols leveled in case whoever was coming in didn’t respect sanctuary. I pulled down a solid-state drive full of biographies and case studies of people who had spent time—and sometimes their whole lives—in labor camps or chattelhood. It was illegal to possess, and the feds used smart agents to track down and obliterate any copies. Which was why we were sending one to the stars. 我们就在那儿，一群名副其实的“杀手级”图书管理员。我们在图书馆的中殿转身，迎接脚步声，手枪已上膛，以防来者不尊重这片避难所。我取下一块固态硬盘，里面装满了曾在劳改营或沦为奴隶的人们的传记和案例研究——有些人甚至在那里度过了一生。持有这些资料是违法的，联邦政府使用智能代理来追踪并销毁任何副本。这就是为什么我们要把一份副本送往星际。

What’s left behind when a name is erased from the system? No legacy, no memory—that is the point of media and narrative control. So that was our plan: to preserve it, for later generations, or just as a silent record of our existence. Read the rest of this short story in full. —Elizabeth Bear 当一个名字从系统中被抹去，还剩下什么？没有遗产，没有记忆——这就是媒体和叙事控制的目的。所以这就是我们的计划：为了后代保存它，或者仅仅作为我们存在过的无声记录。阅读这篇短篇小说的全文。——Elizabeth Bear

This story is from the latest edition of our magazine, which is all about engineering. Subscribe now to get a copy, plus all our other issues and a range of subscriber-only content. 本文摘自我们最新一期的杂志，该期主题为工程学。立即订阅即可获得副本，以及我们所有的其他期刊和一系列订阅者专享内容。

The must-reads

必读内容

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 我已梳理了互联网，为您找出今天最有趣/重要/可怕/迷人的科技故事。

An EU lawmaker investigating spyware was hacked by that spyware Citizen Lab found Pegasus spyware on Stelios Kouloglou’s phone. (Wired $)+ It said the EU “looks the other way” on spyware abuses. (Guardian)+ Meet the director of Citizen Lab. (MIT Technology Review) 一位调查间谍软件的欧盟议员被该软件黑入 公民实验室（Citizen Lab）在 Stelios Kouloglou 的手机上发现了 Pegasus 间谍软件。（Wired $）+ 报告称欧盟对间谍软件滥用行为“视而不见”。（Guardian）+ 认识公民实验室的主任。（MIT科技评论）
Anthropic is closing loopholes that allow Chinese access to Claude It’s targeting VPNs, relay services, and overseas accounts. (FT $)+ Users in China keep finding new workarounds. (Wired $) Anthropic 正在堵住允许中国用户访问 Claude 的漏洞 其目标是 VPN、中继服务和海外账户。（FT $）+ 中国用户不断寻找新的变通方法。（Wired $）
A Tesla driver has been charged with manslaughter after a fatal crash Court records show he was using automated driver-assistance. (WSJ $)+ Tesla sales have surged 25% after a rebound in Europe. (NYT $) 一名特斯拉司机在致命车祸后被控过失杀人 法庭记录显示他当时正在使用自动驾驶辅助系统。（WSJ $）+ 特斯拉在欧洲反弹后销量激增 25%。（NYT $）
Trump bought lots of tech stock the day he unveiled his AI Action Plan He acquired up to $5 million in stock from Amazon and others. (Engadget)+ His AI Action Plan was a distraction. (MIT Technology Review) 特朗普在公布其 AI 行动计划当天买入了大量科技股 他从亚马逊等公司购入了高达 500 万美元的股票。（Engadget）+ 他的 AI 行动计划只是一种干扰。（MIT科技评论）
Companies are throttling employees’ AI use because it’s too expensive They’re pleading with workers to use less powerful models. (404 Media)+ Tesla has capped their AI spending at $200 per week. (The Information $) 公司正在限制员工使用 AI，因为成本太高 他们恳求员工使用功能较弱的模型。（404 Media）+ 特斯拉已将 AI 支出限制在每周 200 美元。（The Information $）
The Energy Dept wants data centers on backup power in heat waves It wants them to free up power for AC. (NYT $)+ People near data centers are dreading heat wave pollution. (Politico $)+ No one wants a data center in their backyard. (MIT Technology Review) 能源部希望数据中心在热浪期间使用备用电源 目的是为空调腾出电力。（NYT $）+ 数据中心附近的居民担心热浪带来的污染。（Politico $）+ 没人希望自家后院有个数据中心。（MIT科技评论）
A Meta glasses feature just went from free to a subscription service “Conversation Focus” will now cost $19.99 per month. (BBC)+ The move heralds a new era of consumer tech subscriptions. (Wired $) Meta 眼镜的一项功能从免费变为订阅服务 “对话聚焦”（Conversation Focus）现在每月收费 19.99 美元。（BBC）+ 此举预示着消费科技订阅新时代的到来。（Wired $）
Random wobbles in time could solve gravity’s greatest mystery A new idea could reconcile gravity and quantum mechanics. (New Scientist $) 时间上的随机摆动可能解决引力最大的谜团 一个新观点可能调和引力和量子力学。（New Scientist $）
Peter Thiel claims the pope is “working for the Chinese Communists” By pushing for stricter AI rules that may benefit Chinese interests. (CNN)+ Pope Leo XIV said AI must be “disarmed” in his first major teaching. (BBC)+ His encyclical offered a template for steering AI. (MIT Technology Review) 彼得·蒂尔声称教皇正在“为中国共产党工作” 因为他推动更严格的 AI 规则，这可能有利于中国利益。（CNN）+ 教皇利奥十四世在其首次重要教导中表示 AI 必须被“解除武装”。（BBC）+ 他的通谕为引导 AI 提供了模板。（MIT科技评论）
Supersonic flight over land could finally be legal again Regulators want to lift a ban—so long as the planes are quiet. (Ars Technica) 陆上超音速飞行终于有望再次合法 监管机构希望解除禁令——前提是飞机必须足够安静。（Ars Technica）

Quote of the day

今日名言

“We don’t have robots that are nearly as good at understanding the physical world as a rat.” “我们还没有机器人能像老鼠那样擅长理解物理世界。”

—Yann LeCun, the founder of AMI Labs and Meta’s former chief AI scientist, tells the BBC that AI isn’t as smart as many think. ——Yann LeCun，AMI Labs 创始人、Meta 前首席 AI 科学家，告诉 BBC，AI 并不像许多人认为的那样聪明。

The Download: a smoking “endgame” and a new Elizabeth Bear story

The Download: a smoking “endgame” and a new Elizabeth Bear story

《下载》：烟草“终局”与伊丽莎白·贝尔的新故事

The must-reads

必读内容

Quote of the day

今日名言

One More Thing

更多内容