This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology.
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. On a December evening in 1959, the physicist Richard Feynman gave a lecture called “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom.” There is no physical law stopping us from writing the entireEncyclopædia Britannicaon the head of a pin, he argued. We simply had not built the tools yet. He was right, and for decades, computing took us into that space almost for free, as transistors repeatedly halved in size. But that easy descent has now stalled. Today, the industry is increasingly turning to brute force, building ever-bigger data centers to boost performance. Yet the laws of physics leave plenty of room for improvement. Here’s how researchers are exploring ways to unlock the next leap in computing. Thisstoryis from the latest edition of our print magazine:The Impossible issue.Subscribe now to read it in full. It’s also part ofMIT Technology Review Explains, our series exploring the ideas shaping technology.Read more from the series. How much do you know about permafrost? Maybe, like me, you’ve been aware that this layer of frozen soil is thawing, that it’s important in the global puzzle of climate change … and that’s about the extent of it. The great news for both of us is that my colleague James Temple just helicoptered into Alaska’s forests to report onthe fires threatening permafrostand their complicatedpotential climate effects. Here are three things I took away from his reporting. This storyis from The Spark, our weekly climate tech newsletter.Sign upto receive it in your inbox every Wednesday. Can AI design new life forms? In 2025, Stanford University PhD studentSamuel Kingoffered a preliminary answer by using a generative AI model to propose genetic blueprints for microscopic viruses. It isn’t yet an example of AI-generated life, but that could be next. In our latest Roundtables conversation,MIT Technology Reviewsenior AI reporter James O’Donnell spoke with King about his work, being named one of ourInnovators Under 35, and new ways of seeing biology.Subscribers can now watch a full recording of the event. Want to join the next conversation?Subscribe to MIT Technology Reviewfor exclusive access to all our Roundtables. I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 AI has uncovered a decade-old flaw threatening much of the webIt found flaws in PHP, the code behind most websites. (Reuters)+Unvetted AI agents are also accessing US bank accounts.(Axios)+ Barclays says AI is allowing the bank to cut 5,000 jobs.(Guardian)+ AI is making online crimes easier.(MIT Technology Review) 3 The Pentagon has cleared the DHS to test a heat ray weaponIt could be used for crowd control at the southern US border. (CNN)+ It uses invisible energy beams to produce a burning sensation.(Axios) 4 A startup says AI-designed viruses have treated their first patientThe experimental treatment targets drug-resistant E. coli. (NYT) 6 Meta faces a )+ Until the company remade its stock structure to help him pay it.(NYT) —SpaceX investor Ross Gerbertells CNNthat Elon Musk’s decision to restrict Ukraine’s Starlink access has made the service a liability for every other government that relies on it. Scott Shambaugh didn’t think twice when he denied an AI agent’s request to contribute to matplotlib, a software library he helps manage. Then things got weird. In the middle of the night, Shambaugh opened his email to discover the agent had retaliated with a blog post. Titled “Gatekeeping in Open Source: The Scott Shambaugh Story,” the post accused him of rejecting the code out of a fear of being supplanted by AI. “He tried to protect his little fiefdom,” the agent wrote. “It’s insecurity, plain and simple.” Shambaugh isn't alone in facing misbehaving agents—and they’re unlikely to stop at harassment.Read the full story. A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas?Drop me a line.) +These tiny experimentscould work better than big life goals.+ You can now fly around the world in Google Earth’sbrowser-based flight simulator.+ A blind dressage horse is winning competitions after adopting an extraordinaryform of equine “braille.”+ Leave a book, take a book, and discover reading spots nearby in thisonline community of over 37,000 neighborhood libraries, Plus: 22 nations have called for a new global body to oversee AI. Plus: Meta will pay up to $18 billion to settle a landmark child-safety case. Plus: OpenAI has released 377 new math findings, further rattling the field. Plus: Musk’s new Pentagon role has raised conflict-of-interest fears. Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.