On the right road

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today. Airbus recall impacts multiple airlines, Black Friday sales were flat to last year, there’s more than dust in the Martian sky, and do you think you can identify AI generated music?  👀

Let’s get into it!

Airbus announced one of the largest recalls in aviation history late last week after a software issue was detected that threatened the safety of A320-series aircraft. It affected 6,000 planes, all of which were ordered to immediately land or stay on the ground until the software update could be uploaded.

The recall affected hundreds of thousands of travellers worldwide, and came at perhaps the worst time of the year in terms of its impact on American travel for Thanksgiving.

Over 200 planes in American Airlines’ fleet were affected, according to the airline, but had received the necessary updates by Saturday.

“As of 12 p.m. CT, no aircraft were left to be updated of the 209 impacted,” the company said. “American expects no further operational impact related to the Emergency Airworthiness Directive and looks forward to the remaining days of the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, especially Sunday, our most-traveled day.”

Other U.S. airlines were impacted, but not nearly as much as American. United Airlines said just six of its planes required the update, and Delta announced 50 had been fixed.

The issue was detected after a JetBlue flight on Oct. 30 experienced an “uncommanded and limited pitch down event,” in which its pilots lost control temporarily and the plane rapidly lost altitude, causing several injuries before pilots regained control.

According to Adobe Analytics, American shoppers spent $11.8 billion online on Black Friday, up 9.1% compared to last year. Overall spending for the retail holiday was up 4.1%.

However, because the spending rise didn’t account for inflation, real growth was rather flat.

“We have 3% inflation, so maybe (the 4.1% increase in spending) is a real increase of just 1% or so, which is not that much of an increase,” Rick Newman, writer of the Pinpoint Press, told CNN.

On top of that, the gains that were made were due largely to spending by higher-income households, while lower-income earners spent less.

These spending patterns are the hallmark of a K-shaped economy, in which one curve moves up and to the right, while another moves down and to the right, creating what looks like a “K” on a graph.

“The story of the economy right now is it’s a bifurcated economy. If you’re lucky enough to own stocks and own a home, you’re part of the upper slant of that cave, that K-shaped economy…you’re going to be comfortable spending a fair amount of money this year,” Newman said, while noting mostly the opposite for those earning less.

“I think those people are going to be pinching pennies this holiday season,” he said, adding that they will be more frugal with gift purchases and necessities. Heating bills, for instance, are higher because of natural gas prices going up. And grocery prices are on the rise, while rent hikes outpace income growth, he noted.

Avian influenza (colloquially referred to as bird flu) has several strains, one of which is concerning health officials and causing some to warn that if it mutates to allow for transmission between humans, it could lead to a pandemic worse than COVID-19.

“What we fear is the virus adapting to mammals, and particularly to humans, becoming capable of human-to-human transmission, and that virus would be a pandemic virus,” Marie-Anne Rameix-Welti, medical director at the Institut Pasteur’s respiratory infections centre, told Reuters.

The main concerns are two-fold; first off, humans have antibodies against H1- and H3-type seasonal flu viruses, but don’t have any against the H5 bird flu currently making its way from birds to mammals. Secondly, while COVID was mostly only lethal for already-vulnerable individuals, avian influenza can kill otherwise healthy individuals.

While there isn’t currently any imminent threat of a bird flu pandemic, the potential adaptability of the virus to mammals—and humans specifically—is keeping health officials around the world on alert.

“We need to be prepared to respond early enough. The pandemic risk is a possibility. But in terms of probability, it’s still very low,” said Gregorio Torres, head of the Science Department at the World Organization for Animal Health

Mars’ atmosphere is a desolate desert and the red planet isn’t necessarily easy on the eyes from ground level. But it’s still a planet that humans have eyes on, and understanding its climate is fundamental for any future exploration.

 A recent study revealed that there’s lightning on Mars, thanks to the SuperCam microphone mounted on NASA’s Perseverance rover. The device landed in 2021 and has been collecting sound recordings of the Martian surface since.

28 hours of sounds were recorded over nearly four Earth years (two Martian years), and radio interference with the same acoustic signature as lightning was picked 55 times, most of which were recorded simultaneously with strong winds in the area.

Unlike Earth’s lightning, the discharges detected on Mars might be the result of dust particles rubbing together as they pick up speed when rising from the ground into the cooler thinner air.

Whereas Earth’s lightning is “wet” as result of water and ice particles generating electricity in clouds, Mars’ lightning could be “dry”—the result of dust and a potential threat to NASA rovers and (maybe one day) astronauts.

“A better understanding of these discharges will help to protect future explorers (robots or astronauts) from their effects,” the researchers wrote.

Last week, Stake reported on the iHeartRadio commitment to exclusively employee human DJs and play human-written and -recorded music on its radio stations.

The decision was made around the same time a survey was conducted by Deezer-Ipsos, in which 9,000 participants were asked their thoughts on the rapidly-encroaching presence of AI-generated music on streaming platforms and radio.

A staggering 97% of the 9,000 participants had trouble distinguishing between AI-generated and human-recorded music. 73% said they would support labelling or calling out songs that have been generated by large language models rather than composed by people. 71% were surprised that they couldn’t make the distinction on their own.

Deezer revealed 50,000 AI-generated songs are uploaded on its platform every day, an astonishing 18% rise in just six months.

Despite accepting such submissions, Deezer has taken steps to regulate the advancement of AI music, including adding tags to label songs that are AI-generated, and preventing them from being included in recommended playlists.

"We believe strongly that creativity is generated by human beings, and they should be protected," Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier told Reuters.

December ’83, oh what a month

Welcome to a new week and a new month, Staker! Here’s to kicking it off with a look back at December 1983.

We’ve got a set of 10 random questions that will take you back 40 years ago this month, with today’s trivia! Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 Amazon eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified on Tuesday afternoon. Keep an eye on your inbox and don’t forget to check your spam folder!*