The Economist 2023 02 04 Notes

Overview

The world this week | Politics & Business

Big, green and mean

Biden’s plan to remake the economy is ambitious, risky, confused and selfish — but it could help save the planet

In the past two years Congress has passed three bills, on infrastructure, semiconductor chips and greenery, that will make $2trn available to reshape the economy. Mr Biden is acting on many fronts, because the only way to build a majority in Congress was to bolt a Democratic desire to act on climate change onto hawkish worries about the threat from China and the need to deal with left-behind places in the American heartland. On its own, each of these concerns is valid. But in terms of policy, the goals will sometimes conflicts with the necessity to bind these concerns together. A giant plan that has so many disparate objectives does not simply succeed or fail. Its full consequences may not become clear for many years. The administration has an answer for its critics (to develop new technologies, build supply chains that less independent on China and drive down the cost of clean sources of energy). America also has significant advantages: a rich internal market, vast landscapes for solar and wind farm, pipelines for transporting hydrogen and reservoirs in which to store carbon. Its universities and venture capital make it a hub for green innovation. The country is already sucking in foreign investment to work alongside the subsidies. And the policies enjoys a degree of political consensus. To help the plan realize its good intentions, three things needs to happen: First, the effort going into boosting domestic industry needs to be matched by a sustained program of trade diplomacy. Second, subsidies should tilt towards technologies that are not yet commercially viable. Third, to build a new subsidized infrastructure, America needs reform of its permit laws. For better or worse, Mr Biden’s blueprint for remaking the economy will change America profoundly.

Latin American democracy | Dousing the fire

Peru is more divided and unstable than at any point since 1980s. It needs a fresh election

It began on December 7th when Pedro Castillo, then the president of Peru, abruptly announced on television that he was ordering the dissolution of Congress and a takeover of the judiciary. Congress impeached him for breaking the constitution and appointed Dina Boluarte in his stead. Two months of mayhem have followed in which dozens have died, many seemingly killed by the security forces. Protesters have blocked scores of roads, especially in the Ades. They have launched violent attacks on five airports. Numerous courthouses, prosecutors’ offices and police stations have been vandalized. The economic damage will take yeas to repair. What explains all this fury? Mr Castillo, rural schoolteacher and trade union leader of indigenous descent and no political experience, was narrowly elected in 2021 and misgoverned woefully. But a third of the country sympathize with him and his claim that the right and the Congress prevented him from governing. Many more abhor the Congress, whose members seem more interested in looking after themselves than in legislating for the general good. However, the protests are fuelled by more than spontaneous popular anger. Far-left groups, illegal miners and drug traffickers are orchestrating them so as to force through the Constituent Assembly, which will help win themselves absolute power…

Asian chipmakers | Silicon islands in the storm

America’s hoped-for Asian semiconductor pact faces steep odds

TSMC’s arrival in Kumamoto is one sign of boarder shifts in the semiconductor business across Asia. President Joe Biden’s administration has called for a “Chip 4 alliance” of America, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to co-ordinate chip policy in the hopes of reshaping supply chains. Yet America’s allies in Asia are all pursuing their own self-interested chip strategies, which are just as often in tension with each other as they are symbiotic. The semiconductor industry is no stranger to geopolitical wrestling. And Countries developed distinct chipmaking strengths. These days, America specialized in design while Taiwan dominates production of the high-end logic chips. South Korea focuses on memory chips. Japan has niches in optical sensors and the materials and kit needed to make semiconductors. China, which has poured money into its own chipmaking industry, has made most progress in lower-end logic chips. America has offered big subsidies to its domestic chip industry. South Korea has passed support measures for its industry. Similar dynamics are in play in Taiwan. Japan has also loosen its purse-strings. The vision of a “democratic semiconductor supply chain” is not implausible. But creating chip networks rather than fueling chip wars will require careful co-ordination within individual governments, between allied governments and across public and private sectors. None of the countries’ bureaucrats are well-equipped to handle the complexity of semiconductor supply chains. And America’s unilateral attacks on China have made it harder to foster a spirit of co-operation. In part, Asian chipmakers worry about losing market share in China. Other risks like a supply glut induced by parallel industrial policies and insufficiency of engineers also abound.

Artificial Intelligence | Battle of the labs

As the AI race heats up, ChatGPT is not the only game in town

Every so often a technology captures the world’s imagination. The latest example, judging by the chatter in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street, in corner offices, newsrooms and classrooms around the world, is ChatGPT. In five days after its unveiling in November the artificially intelligent chatbot, created by a start-up called OpenAI, drew 1m users. Microsoft, which has just invested $10bn in OpenAI, wants ChatGPT-like powers to infuse much of the software it sells. Some search giants reportedly plans to add a chatbot to their search engines. It is too early to say how much of the early hype is justified, however, rival labs — be they part of big tech firms, affiliated with them or run by independent start-ups — are engaged in an epic race for AI supremacy. Big corporations are not the only game in town. Start-ups such as Anthropic and Character AI have built their own ChatGPT challengers. Stability AI, a start-up that has a consortium of small firms, universities and non-profits to pool computing resources, has created a popular open-source model. But almost all recent breakthroughs in big AI globally have come from giant companies. Experts opinion varies on who is actually ahead on the merits. When it comes to the sort of AI that is all the rage thanks to ChatGPT, though, the big battle is between Microsoft and Alphabet. Comparing the AI models created by these two firms, neither emerged as clearly superior. The reason why, at least so far, no model enjoys an unassailable advantage is that AI knowledge diffuses quickly. Researchers from competing labs move between organizations, bringing expertise and experience with them.

Bartleby | Machine Learning

How do employees and customers feel about artificially intelligence?

Electronic | Pixels in your eye

Making VR displays more realistic

Pandemic prevention | Batting down spillovers

Habitat loss and climate change increase the risk of new diseases

Although scientists have not determined how covid-19 emerged, the leading theory is zoonotic spillover (transmission from animals). A recent study in Nature on bats finds that the risk of such spillovers is rising — though changes in human activity could return it to safer levels. The authors focus on the Hendra virus, which is excreted by bats and infects horses, then spread it to humans. The paper studied Hendra spillovers from fruit bats in subtropical eastern Australia, which have risen since 2006. It found that habitat loss combined with climate-induced food storages explained the increase. Bats, the only flying mammal, are potent vectors for zoonosis. Another paper in 2022 found that global warming, by forcing animals to change habitats, is expected to double the rate of first encounters (and thus potential viral spread) between mammals species. The impact of habitat loss appears reversible. The paper on Australia found that when eucalyptus trees (the bats live on their nectar) bloomed again, bats flocked back.

The world this week

Politics

mosque, synagogue, turnout
call for a peace process
carry out attacks
stage a “silent strike”
lead to a new spike in cases
in an attempt to reduce tensions
the worst incident of its kind
storm a Palestinian refugee camp [袭击; 难民营]
munitions factory [军工厂]
vote in parliamentary run-off elections
acts of torture
sth. run short
in connection with the murder
rampant corruption
deny all the allegations [否认所有指控]
emergency workers [紧急救援人员]
be either sacked or suspended from their jobs [辞职; 停职]
reckless driving
conduct a search
classified documents
step up their artillery bombardment
prepare for a fresh new offensive [进攻]
be lukewarm about

The Pakistan Taliban was blamed for the atrocity, though it denied involvement.

Foreign reserves are dwindling, causing a backlog of imports at ports as buyers scramble to find the necessary dollars to pay for goods.

Myanmar has been racked by violence since the coup, a resistance movement having sprung up to fight the army on multiple fronts.

Chinese health officials said the wave of covid-19 that has torn through China since December is “coming to an end”. [席卷]

Israel said its troops went in to foil a terrorist attack and arrest militants.

UN experts called for a probe into war crimes in Mali allegedly committed by security forces and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group.

The case had become bogged down amid death threats against local judges.

It alleges that Mr Cartes, a rich businessman, had used illicitly acquired wealth to expand his political and economic power.

The plan is a direct response to the huge subsidies doled out to green industry in America’s Inflation Reduction Act, which Europeans fears will drive green investment to the US.

Schools, public transport and fuel deliveries were all hit by strikes.

A mosque is a building where Muslims go to worship. 清真寺

A synagogue / ˈsɪnəˌɡɒɡ / is a building where Jewish people meet to worship or to study their religion. 犹太教堂

The turnout at an event is the number of people who go to it or take part in it. 参加人数

Munitions / mjuːˈnɪʃənz / are military equipment and supplies, especially bombs, shells, and guns. 军火

If you describe a person or their attitude as lukewarm, you mean that they are not showing much enthusiasm or interest. 不热情的; 不感兴趣的

f you stage an event or ceremony, you organize it and usually take part in it.

If there is a spike in the price, volume, or amount of something, the price, volume, or amount of it suddenly increases.

A run-off is an extra vote or contest which is held in order to decide the winner of an election or competition, because no-one has yet clearly won.

Something run short is spent or finished.

If you step up something, you increase it or increase its intensity.

Artillery / ɑːˈtɪlərɪ / consists of large, powerful guns that are transported on wheels and used by an army.

An atrocity / əˈtrɒsɪtɪ / is a very cruel, shocking action. 暴行

If something dwindles / ˈdwɪndəl /, it becomes smaller, weaker, or less in number. 缩小; 减少

A backlog is a number of things which have not yet been done but which need to be done. 积压待办的事务

If a number of people scramble for something, they compete energetically with each other for it. 争夺; 抢夺

If someone is racked by something such as illness or anxiety, it causes them great suffering or pain. 使痛苦 [usu passive]

If something springs up, it suddenly appears or begins to exist. 冒出; 涌出

If you foil someone’s plan or attempt to do something, for example, to commit a crime, you succeed in stopping them from doing what they want. 挫败 [journalism]

A bog is an area of land that is very wet and muddy. 沼泽

If you get bogged down in something, it prevents you from making progress or getting something done. 陷入停滞状态的

An illicit / ɪˈlɪsɪt / activity or substance is not allowed by law or the social customs of a country. 违法的; 不正当的

In a war, the front is a line where two opposing armies are facing each other.

A mercenary is a soldier who is paid to fight by a country or group that they do not belong to.

If you dole something out, you give a certain amount of it to each member of a group.

Business

conglomerate, mayonnaise [蛋黄酱]
set out a plan
under the strain
fall from grace
tackle a key concern
amid the war
stand down
amid last year’s dismal market rout [Recall: tech rout]
adverse risks [不良风险]
dampen fuel demand
trade deficit
non-stop trans-ocean flights [直达跨洋航班]
inaugural commercial flight

Still, Reality Labs, the division tasked with creating the metaverse, ran up another loss, of $4.3bn, taking its total loss for the year to $13.7bn.

It was the smallest increase since the Fed embarked on a course of tightening monetary policy last March.

Exports of Korean chips and other tech have shriveled while prices for imports of fuel and commodities have surged.

Intel’s chief executive and other senior managers are to take big pay cuts, after the chipmaker reported a surprise quarterly loss and plunging sales.

A conglomerate / kənˈglɒmərɪt / is a large business firm consisting of several different companies. 企业集团 [商业]

To fall from grace is to revert back to bad behavior after a period of good behavior. 堕落; 误入歧途; 失宠

Something that is dismal is bad in a sad or depressing way. 惨淡不良的

To dampen something such as someone’s enthusiasm or excitement means to make it less lively or intense. 抑制; 减少

A deficit is the amount by which something is less than what is required or expected, especially the amount by which the total money received is less than the total money spent. 亏损; 赤字

An inaugural / ɪnˈɔːɡjʊrəl / meeting or speech is the first meeting of a new organization or the first speech by the new leader of an organization or a country. 揭幕的; 就职的 [ADJ n]

If you set out a number of facts, beliefs, or arguments, you explain them in writing or speech in a clear, organized way.

If someone stands down, they resign from an important job or position, often in order to let someone else take their place.

If you embark on something new, difficult, or exciting, you start doing it. 开始从事

A course of action is an action or a series of actions that you can do in a particular situation. 做法

When something shrivels or when something shrivels it, it becomes dryer and smaller, often with lines in its surface, as a result of losing the water it contains. 使皱缩; 使枯萎; 皱缩; 枯萎

Leaders

Big, green and mean

byword, lobby, supersede, greenery
wind farm
solar fields
reshape the economy
bolster national security
blue-collar workers
take an epoch-making political gamble
act on so many fronts
infuriate allies
disparate objectives
green products such as wind turbines / green transition
pull off
be striped out of Mr Biden’s plans
drive down the cost of clean sources of energy
pipelines for transporting hydrogen
reservoirs in which to store carbon
suck in foreign investment

The trip ends by the water, the bright sun glinting off a *spanking-new* green-hydrogen plant.

On its own, each of these concerns is valid. But in terms of policy….

The infrastructure Act makes $1.2trn available over ten years for roads, bridges and cables for a new green grid.

With it comes a plethora of rules, from requirements that batteries be made in North America, to restrictions on tech imports and exports on grounds of national security.

And if other Western countries lose vital industries to America as they chase subsidies or duck import restrictions, then the alliances that underpin America’s security will suffer as a result.

Unemployment is at 3.5%, a 50-year low. More immigration could help fill vacancies, but it is restricted.

Its universities and venture capital make it a hub for green innovation.

And the policy enjoys a degree of political consensus.

One way to build a bloc in favour of a cheaper green transition would be to give foreign-made goods access to American subsidies.

Subsidies should tilt towards technologies that are not yet commercially viable, such as nuclear reactor and carbon capture and storage.

Public money spent reshoring the manufacturing of solar panels that could be produced more cheaply elsewhere will be wasted.

But be under no illusions, it is audacious to believe that the way to cope with three problems which are too hard to tackle separately is to deal with them all at once.

A byword is a word or phrase that people often use. 口头禅

If you lobby someone such as a member of a government or council, you try to persuade them that a particular law should be changed or that a particular thing should be done. 游说 [also NOUN 游说团体]

If something is superseded by something newer, it is replaced because it has become old-fashioned or unacceptable. 取代 [usu passive]

If you bolster something such as someone’s confidence or courage, you increase it. 增强

An epoch-making change or declaration is considered to be the extremely important because it is likely to have a significant effect on a particular period of time. 划时代的 [usu ADJ n]

If you say that something is happening on a particular front, you mean that it is happening with regard to a particular situation or field of activity. (某个)方面; 领域

Disparate things are clearly different from each other in quality or type. 迥然不同的 [正式]

If you pull off something very difficult, you succeed in achieving it. 做成 (某件难事)

Plants that make a place look attractive are referred to as greenery.

Blue-collar workers work in industry, doing physical work, rather than in offices.

If something or someone infuriates you, they make you extremely angry.

If something glints, it produces or reflects a quick flash of light. 闪光 [书面]

The sea glinted in the sun. 大海在阳光下波光粼粼

If you describe something as spanking new, spanking clean, or spanking white, you mean that it is very new, very clean, or very white. 非常 [非正式] [ADV adj]

A plethora / ˈplɛθərə / of something is a large amount of it, especially an amount of it that is greater than you need, want, or can cope with. 过剩 [正式]

Someone who is audacious / ɔːˈdeɪʃəs / takes risks in order to achieve something. 敢于冒险的; 大胆的 [鲁莽的]

A valid argument, comment, or idea is based on sensible reasoning, or it is important or serious enough to make it worth saying or doing.

If you duck into a place, you move there quickly, often in an attempt to avoid danger or to avoid being seen. You say that someone ducks a duty or responsibility when you disapprove of the fact that they avoid it.

If one thing underpins another, it helps the other thing to continue or succeed by supporting and strengthening it.

If there is a tilt towards a particular opinion or position, that opinion or position is favored or begins to be favored.

Latin American democracy | Dousing the fire

impeach, abhor, orchestrate
order the dissolution of Congress
takeover of the judiciary
in his stead
launch violent attacks on
indigenous descent [土著血统]
misgovern woefully
drug trafficker [(尤指毒品的) 违法买卖者]
irrevocable mistake [不可挽回的错误]
non-lethal methods

Two months of mayhem have followed in which dozens have died, many seemingly killed by the security forces.

Numerous courthouses, prosecutors’ offices and police stations have been vandalized.

Making things worse is that several foreign governments, notably those of Mexico, Colombia and Bolivia, support the insurrection against what they claim, speciously, was a “coup” against Mr Castillo.

The protests are fuelled by more than spontaneous popular anger.

It is a familiar tactic and a lamentable one: …

Disgracefully, some on the right are stalling to hang on to their lavish salaries, and the far left’s support for an election is contingent on securing a Constituent Assembly.

The constitution does need reform, but its pro-market economic chapter, which the left wants to overturn, has underpinned Peru’s rapid growth and poverty-reduction [减贫].

And the police should arrest, and courts imprison, the ringleaders behind the violence.

They reject the political pluralism that legislatures embody, because they implicit belief is that only the president has real democratic legitimacy [合法性].

In Latin America the enemies of democracy lurk at both extremes.

Dissolution is the act of breaking up officially an organization or institution, or of formally ending a parliament. (组织、议会等的) 解散 [正式]

If you do something in someone’s stead, you replace them and do it instead of them. 代替(某人)

You use descent to talk about a person’s family background, for example, their nationality or social status. 出身 [正式] [N-UNCOUNT]

If a decision, action, or change is irrevocable / ɪˈrɛvəkəbəl /, it cannot be changed or reversed. 不可改变的 [正式]

You can use woeful / ˈwəʊfəl / to emphasize that something is very bad or undesirable. [journalism]

A substance that is lethal can kill people or animals.

You use mayhem to refer to a situation that is not controlled or ordered, when people are behaving in a disorganized, confused, and often violent way. 混乱 [N-UNCOUNT]

If something such as a building or part of a building is vandalized by someone, it is damaged on purpose. 故意破坏

An insurrection is violent action that is taken by a large group of people against the rulers of their country, usually in order to remove them from office. 叛乱 [正式]

Something that is specious / ˈspiːʃəs / seems to exist or be true, but is not real or true. 似是而非的; 貌似真实的

If you describe something as lamentable, you mean that it is very unfortunate or disappointing. 令人扼腕的; 令人嘘唏的; 使人惋惜的

If you stall, you try to avoid doing something until later. 拖延

If you describe something as lavish, you mean that it is very elaborate and impressive and a lot of money has been spent on it. 盛大奢华的

The ringleaders in a quarrel, disturbance, or illegal activity are the people who started it and who cause most of the trouble. 罪魁祸首 [表不满]

Spontaneous acts are not planned or arranged, but are done because someone suddenly wants to do them.

If you say that something such as behaviour or a situation is disgraceful, you disapprove of it strongly, and feel that the person or people responsible should be ashamed of it.

If something is contingent on something else, the first thing depends on the second in order to happen or exist. 取决于…的; 由…决定的 [Recall: contingency plan]

To embody an idea or quality means to be a symbol or expression of that idea or quality.

If something such as a danger, doubt, or fear lurks somewhere, it exists but is not obvious or easily recognized.

Asia

Asian chipmakers | Silicon islands in the storm

scaffolding, cajoling, colloquially, bureaucrat,
entice chip firms to set up shop on its shores
in tension with
pour money into its chipmaking industry
head a chip strategy group
sign on to America’s export controls against China
get a united front [统一战线] [Recall: act on many fronts] [on the home / domestic front]
join the state-aid bandwagon
hike the tax credit for big firm’s investments to 15%
fabrication plant
assuage the anxiety
a plush ceremony
seed capital
joint venture
in the hopes of developing a base for R&D and production of leading-edge chips in Japan
unilateral attacks on
foster a spirit of co-operation
tech entrepreneur-cum-politician
liken America’s approach to
produce a supply glut [供应过剩]
intensify concerns about excess production [生产过剩]
the tail ends of the supply chain
build the next phase of the industry

Cranes tower over a bustling construction site on the edge of Kumamoto, a midsized city on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu.

White fences line the perimeter, dividing the rising steel structures from nearby cabbage and carrot fields.

Down the road stand nondescript complexes belonging to Sony and Tokyo Electron, two big Japanese semiconductor firms. In a couple of years, the new plant will begin churning out chips, primarily for use in cars. Japanese officials hope it will help jump-start the country’s once-mighty, now flagging chip industry.

Wary of Japanese power, America *rammed through a chip trade deal to the detriment of* the Japanese industry.

Japan has niches in optical sensors and the materials and kit needed to make semiconductors.

The amounts on offer are piddling so far: an 8% tax credit for large firms’ investments in domestic facilities.

Though its foreign investments do not involve its most advanced technology, they are causing consternation at home.

Taiwanese and South Korean chipmakers are locked in a fierce contest to produce next-generation chips. [陷入]

Differences over history poison relations between Japan and South Korea — and have spilled over into the chip trade in the past.

The Biden administration’s announcement of controls on chip exports to China last October caught many in Asia off-guard.

Japanese semiconductor firms generate 20-30% of their business there, and stand to lose about 70% of it as a result of America’s curbs.

Japan recalls a painful Chinese ban on exports of rare-earth metals occasioned by a row over the disputed Senkaku / Diaoyu islands in the early 2010s.

Of executives surveyed by KPMG, a consultancy, 65% thought the supply shortage that hit some chips recently would ease in 2023.

Many also fret that America’s curbs on China’s ambitions for high-end chips will only mean China focusing its resources on *legacy chips. Its successes in flooding the market to **corner* the production of solar panels and rare earths are troubling precedents.

Japan is meanwhile scrambling to train talent of its own.

If someone, especially a politician, jumps or climbs on the bandwagon, they become involved in an activity or movement because it is fashionable or likely to succeed and not because they are really interested in it. (尤指政客追赶的) 浪头 [表不满]

If something is fabricated from different materials or substances, it is made out of those materials or substances. 制造; 制作

If you assuage / əˈsweɪdʒ / an unpleasant feeling that someone has, you make them feel it less strongly. 缓解; 减轻 [文学性]

If you describe something as plush, you mean that it is very comfortable and expensive. 豪华舒适的

Seed capital is an amount of money that a new company needs to pay for the costs of producing a business plan so that they can raise further capital to develop the company. 种子资本 [商业]

A unilateral decision is made by only one of the groups, organizations, or countries that are involved in a particular situation, without the agreement of the others. 单方面的

-cum- is put between two nouns to form a noun referring to something or someone that is partly one thing and partly another. 兼; 和

If you liken one thing or person to another thing or person, you say that they are similar. 把…比作

To entice someone to go somewhere or to do something means to try to persuade them to go to that place or to do that thing.

If you set something up, you create or arrange it.

To hike prices, rates, taxes, or quantities means to increase them suddenly or by a large amount. [非正式]

A joint venture is a business or project in which two or more companies or individuals have invested, with the intention of working together.

The leading edge of a particular area of research or development is the area of it that seems most advanced or sophisticated.

If there is a glut of something, there is so much of it that it cannot all be sold or used. [usu sing, usu with supp]

A place that is bustling or bustling with people or activity is full of people who are very busy or lively. 熙熙攘攘的

If you describe something or someone as nondescript, you mean that their appearance is rather dull, and not at all interesting or attractive. 毫无特色的; 毫无兴趣的; 毫无吸引力的 [usu ADJ n]

If you flag or if your spirits flag, you begin to lose enthusiasm or energy. 松劲; 泄气; 疲乏

If you ram something somewhere, you push it there with great force. 猛推

If something happens to the detriment of something or to a person’s detriment / ˈdɛtrɪmənt /, it causes harm or damage to them. 有损于 [正式] [oppo. without detriment to]

A niche in the market is a specific area of marketing which has its own particular requirements, customers, and products. (有自己特定的需求、目标顾客和产品的) 小众市场; 缝隙市场; 利基市场; 商机

Piddling means small or unimportant. 微不足道的; 无关紧要的 [非正式] [usu ADJ n]

A tax credit is an amount of money on which you do not have to pay tax. 免税额度 [商业]

Consternation / ˌkɒnstəˈneɪʃən / is a feeling of anxiety or fear. 恐慌 [正式]

If someone is caught off-guard, they are not expecting a surprise or danger that suddenly occurs. 没有提防的; 措手不及的

If you stand to gain something, you are likely to gain it. If you stand to lose something, you are likely to lose it. 有可能 (获得、失去)

A row is a serious disagreement between people or organizations. 严重分歧; 纠纷 [非正式]

Legacy computer software or hardware has been replaced by something more recent. (软件或硬件) 已过时但因使用范围广而难以替代的

If a company or place corners an area of trade, they gain control over it so that no one else can have any success in that area. 垄断 [商业]

To jumpstart a system or process that has stopped working or progressing means to do something that will make it start working quickly or effectively.

To churn out something means to produce large quantities of it very quickly. [非正式]

If something hits a person, place, or thing, it affects them very badly. [journalism]

If a number of people scramble for something, they compete energetically with each other for it. 争夺; 抢夺

Business

Artificial Intelligence | Battle of the labs

assemble [Recall: assembly lines], consortium
scientific advances [Recall: technologic advances]
yield practical products
photovoltaic cell
pool computing resources
make waves recently when… [掀起波澜]
computer-science egghead
notoriously difficult board game
long-standing challenge
spice up [spice things up]
enjoy an unassailable advantage
make their defection to the private sector
building block
give its rivals a leg-up [扶某人上马; 助一臂之力]
top AI boffin
revenue streams
early-mover advantage [Recall: first-mover]
poach experts from rivals
regulatory scrutiny [监管审查]

These rivals labs — be they part of big tech firms, affiliated with them or run by independent start-ups — are engaged in an epic race for AI supremacy.

Science remained important to innovation, but it became the dominion of not-for-profit universities.

Expert opinion varies on who is actually ahead on the merits.

Meta’s “Diplomacy” player, Cicero, gets kudos for its use of strategic reasoning and deception against human opponents.

Neither AI emerged as clearly superior. [这两种人工智能都显露出明显优越。]

When we fed the two AIs another ten questions, LAMDA again outperformed by two points. But when given a second chance ChatGPT tied.

The labs may not remain neck-and-neck for ever.

A consortium is a group of people or firms who have agreed to co-operate with each other. (若干人或公司组成的) 财团; 联合企业

A photovoltaic / ˌfəʊtəʊvɒlˈteɪɪk / cell or panel is a device that uses sunlight to cause a chemical reaction which produces electricity. 光电的 [技术]

If you think someone is more interested in ideas and theories than in practical actions you can say they are an egghead. 书呆子 [非正式]

If you spice something that you say or do, you add excitement or interest to it. 给…增加趣味

Spice up means the same as spice. 给…增加趣味 (同)(spice)

If you describe something or someone as unassailable / ˌʌnəˈseɪləbəl /, you mean that nothing can alter, destroy, or challenge them. 不可改变的; 攻不破的; 不容置疑的

If you defect, you leave your country, political party, or other group, and join an opposing country, party, or group. 背叛

A boffin is a scientist, especially one who is doing research. 尤指从事研究工作的科学家; 科技工作者

If an organization poaches members or customers from another organization, they secretly or dishonestly persuade them to join them or become their customers. (通过不正当的手段或秘密) 挖走 (其他组织的成员或顾客)

If a group of people or organizations pool their money, knowledge, or equipment, they share it or put it together so that it can be used for a particular purpose.

If an organization is affiliated with another larger organization, it is officially connected with the larger organization or is a member of it. 附属的 [正式]

Dominion is control or authority. 控制; 统治权; 支配权

If you judge something or someone on merit or on their merits, your judgment is based on what you notice when you consider them, rather than on things that you know about them from other sources. 根据事物本身的情况(来评价)

Kudos is admiration or recognition that someone or something gets as a result of a particular action or achievement. 荣誉; 认可

If a fact or result emerges from a period of thought, discussion, or investigation, it becomes known as a result of it. 显露 (事实、结果)

If two people tie in a competition or game or if they tie with each other, they have the same number of points or the same degree of success. (在竞赛或比赛中) 打成平局

A and B are neck and neck, they are close or just even in a race or comparison or competition. 不分上下; 并驾齐驱

If someone or something has supremacy over another person or thing, they are better.

Bartleby | Machine Learning

fathom, credential
luxury brands
allocate stock to stores
a burgeoning area of research

If you ask something of ChatGPT, an artificial-intelligence (AI) tool that is all the rage, the responses you get back are almost instantaneous, utterly certain and often wrong.

Workers turned out to be likelier to overrule models they could understand because they were, mistakenly, sure of their own intuitions.

Everyone gave less credit to producers when they were told they had been helped. but this effect was more pronounced for work that involved human assistants.

If you cannot fathom something, you are unable to understand it, although you think carefully about it. 理解 [no cont, oft with brd-neg]

\Someone’s credentials are their previous achievements, training, and general background, which indicate that they are qualified to do something. (表明某人有资格做某事的) 资历

If something burgeons / ˈbɜːdʒən /, it grows or develops rapidly. 迅速生长 [文学性]

Something that is instantaneous / ˌɪnstənˈteɪnɪəs / happens immediately and very quickly. 即刻的

You use utterly to emphasize that something is very great in extent, degree, or amount. 完全地; 彻底地 [强调]

If someone in authority overrules a person or their decision, they officially decide that the decision is incorrect or not valid. 否决

Something that is pronounced is very noticeable. 明显的

When something is popular and fashionable, you can say that it is the rage or all the rage.

Your intuition or your intuitions are unexplained feelings that something is true even when you have no evidence or proof of it.

Science & technology

Electronic | Pixels in your eye

don a set of VR goggles
light-emitting diode
view up close
optical illusions
go about things differently

The lenses distort the image on the screen so that it appears to be in three dimensions. And various sensors in the goggles track the position of the user’s head, to co-ordinate that with what is being viewed.

You could have a completely immersive experience and wouldn’t be able to distinguish virtual from reality.

If you don clothing, you put it on. 穿上(衣服) [书面]

A diode is a semiconductor device containing one p-n junction, used in circuits for converting alternating current to direct current 二极管 (More formal name semiconductor diode)

The way you go about a task or problem is the way you approach it and deal with it. 处理

If something you can see or hear is distorted or distorts, its appearance or sound is changed so that it seems unclear.

If you coordinate an activity, you organize the various people and things involved in it.

Graphic detail

Pandemic prevention | Batting down spillovers

death toll from covid
last for brief spells of food scarcity
potent vectors for zoonosis

Although scientists have not determined how covid-19 emerged, the leading theory is zoonotic spillover (transmission from animals).

This is also excreted by bats and infects horses, which spread it to humans.

It found that habitat loss combined with climate-induced food storages explained the increase.

This leads bats to form smaller roosts and eat inferior food, weakening them and probably causing them to excrete more pathogens.

Instead of hunting for nectar, bats now spend long periods in roosts near humans.

When eucalyptus trees bloomed again, bats flocked back.

A spell of a particular type of weather or a particular activity is a short period of time during which this type of weather or activity occurs. (某种活动、天气等的)一段短暂时间，一阵

A vector is an insect or other organism that causes a disease by carrying a germ or parasite from one person or animal to another. 传播疾病的媒介昆虫，带菌生物

Zoonosis refers to any infection or disease that is transmitted to man from lower vertebrates 动物传染给人的疾病 [pathol]

When a person or animal excretes waste matter from their body, they get rid of it in faeces, urine, or sweat. 排泄; 分泌 [正式]

A roost is a place where birds or bats rest or sleep. 栖息处

A pathogen is any organism that can cause disease in a person, animal, or plant. 病原体 [技术]

Nectar / ˈnɛktə / is a sweet liquid produced by flowers, which bees and other insects collect. 花蜜

A eucalyptus / ˌjuːkəˈlɪptəs / is an evergreen tree, originally from Australia, that is grown to provide wood, gum, and an oil that is used in medicines. 桉树 [oft N n]