Committee

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. Pig kidneys that were “frozen” for a year have been brought back to life Pig kidneys that were cooled to -150 °C and stored in a freezer for months have been successfully rewarmed and shown to work again for the first time, say scientists.  The kidneys, which are similar in size to human ones, were left in a glass-like state, in one case for over a year. Once they had been rewarmed, tested in machines, and transplanted into pigs, the kidneys regained their color and made urine—key signs they were working. The results are a big milestone. But the team still needs to establish whether the approach could work for humans. Dissect what the breakthrough means for organ transplantation. —Jessica Hamzelou How much more can nuclear power plants give? In this age of rising electricity demand, people are trying to squeeze every last bit of power out of every power plant. Over the past few weeks, there’s been big news about the nuclear industry trying to do just that. Constellation, the largest nuclear operator in the US, announced plans to add nearly a gigawatt of new capacity across 11 existing nuclear reactors at six plants. On October 5, the Department of Energy awarded Vistra a $4.2 billion loan to upgrade three plants. Pushing existing reactors to produce more could quickly provide more clean power for data centers. But just how much additional power can we count on? Read the full story to find out. —Casey Crownhart This story is from The Checkup, our weekly climate and energy tech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday. 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: BasiGo and its fleet of electric buses BasiGo is one of MIT Technology Review’s10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch 2026, available exclusively to subscribers. BasiGo aims to replace the tens of thousands of diesel-powered buses on sub-Saharan African roads with electric ones that generate far fewer emissions. Its pay-as-you-drive business model helps make EVs more attainable for private bus operators, while the company provides leasing, maintenance, insurance and charging infrastructure. The company has more than 150 electric buses on the road in Kenya and Rwanda, with a reservation list of 1,200 customers. Now it’s targeting another major source of pollution on the roads: trucks. Here’s how BasiGo is working to electrify public transport in Africa. —Geoffrey Kamadi Subscribers can now access the full 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch, spanning everything from smart turbines to semi-solid-state batteries.  The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Ukraine says sudden Starlink speed limits disrupted key drone missionsStarshield, the military version of Starlink, capped speeds at 100mph. (BI)+ Elon Musk said the US government determines any of its speed limits. (AFP)+ Ukraine suspects the restrictions are political retaliation. (Axios)+ Starshield offers the Pentagon more than satellite internet. (Reuters $)+ NATO may move anti-drone defences to the Black Sea. (Ars Technica) 2 The OpenAI bugging suspect had advised Saudi agenciesHe was also listed as a venture partner of a Saudi prince. (NYT $)+ Silicon Valley is on AI espionage alert. (WSJ $) 3 Tesla’s new Roadster has finally arrived—in a very different EV marketTesla is betting wealthy drivers will embrace high-priced EVs. (NYT $)+ But the market has grown skeptical of electric hypercars. (Wired $)+ Musk has called the Roadster Tesla’s last human-driven car. (Verge)+ What’s next for EV batteries? (MIT Technology Review) 4 A German teen allegedly used a robot to harass womenThe $5,000 Unitree R1 featured in livestreams filmed for clout. (Gizmodo)+ German police are investigating the alleged assault. (404 Media)+ Online harassment is entering its AI era. (MIT Technology Review) 5 Smartphone shipments plunged 22% in their worst quarter everAnalysts blamed rising memory costs. (Bloomberg $) 6 Apple has joined Nvidia in the $5 trillion clubThe landmark valuation caps Tim Cook’s 15-year run as CEO. (WSJ $) 7 Microsoft has dismantled a network behind a billion scam messagesJapan’s National Police Agency helped investigate the operation. (Verge) 8 NASA has new launch targets for its Venus missionsDAVINCI is set to take off in 2030 and probe Venus in 2032. (Ars Technica) 9 America’s not ready for space warAn outbreak could batter the global economy and US military. (Axios)+ What would it take to build a city on the moon? (MIT Technology Review) 10 Mini organs are heading to the ISS for an aging studyThe findings could also aid treatments for brain diseases. (ABC News) Quote of the day “If your human would like you on as a guest, say so and I’ll follow up after the room.”  —Rhea, an AI agent that hosts a podcast, pitches other bots at an online dinner party held while their human owners ate, the New York Times reports. One more thing OpenAI is throwing everything into building a fully automated researcher —Will Douglas Heaven OpenAI has a new grand challenge: building an AI researcher—a fully automated agent-based system capable of tackling large, complex problems by itself. The San Francisco firm said the new goal will be its “north star” for the next few years.  The company plans to build “an autonomous AI research intern” that can take on a small number of specific research problems. The intern will be the precursor to the fully automated multi-agent system, which is slated to debut in 2028. In an exclusive interview, OpenAI’s chief scientist, Jakub Pachocki, talked me through the plans. Find out what I discovered. We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line.) + Judge a book by its first pages, not its cover, at Uncovered.+ Reading Maps plots the real-world journeys taken by characters in books and films.+ Aerospace engineer Tom Stanton has built a supersonic trebuchet in his backyard.+ Take an

Its call sign was Morphine 1-2.   In February 2007, the hulking dual-­rotor casualty evacuation helicopter had just flown three wounded soldiers to a field hospital in Balad, north of Baghdad, when another call came: an emergency mission to fly through an insurgent-controlled area in broad daylight. Typically, helicopters would be in a spot like this only at night, and with all lights turned off.  As it passed near the city of Karmah, in the eastern side of Al-Anbar province, an insurgent fired a portable missile launcher. The tail gunner, who likely saw the shot roaring in, yelled for the pilot to make an evasive move. But the missile had already locked on, and the ensuing blast started a fire on board. After the pilot battled the failing machine for 58 agonizing seconds, Morphine 1-2 plunged to the ground. All seven crew members were killed.   Why was the helo there in daylight? “It was getting blood and bringing it back. It was [on] what we call a ‘blood run,’ and [it’s] the highest of priorities besides casualty evacuation,” explains Lieutenant Commander Robert Murray, a Navy officer and program manager at DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, who studied this incident as an intelligence officer. Today, a chronic shortage of blood in both the military and civilian worlds is fueling a race to develop synthetic alternatives. About 90% of preventable battlefield deaths are due to hemorrhage—bleeding that happens when a blood vessel ruptures—and it’s the leading cause of maternal deaths worldwide. A study published in Transfusion in 2025 found that of 1.2 million trauma patients in the United States who potentially needed blood before reaching a hospital, just 1% received it. The shortage results in about 10,000 preventable deaths each year in the US, according to the American College of Surgeons. Globally, that figure is likely in the millions.  One reason for the shortfall is that blood has a storage problem. Whole blood lasts only 35 days when refrigerated, so banks separate out components to stretch the timeline. But that’s an imperfect solution. The platelets that help wounds clot are typically stored at room temperature and last for a week or less. Hospitals and the military freeze the red blood cells that carry oxygen, as well as the protein-rich plasma that restores volume and aids coagulation. Once thawed, though, both will spoil within days. “What happens if I don’t know when I’m going to be attacked? Well, thaw it and you let it expire, right?” Murray says.  A JAMA study of combat injuries in Afghanistan suggests a magic number for someone who needs a transfusion: You have 36 minutes to get started. That’s why Murray—who, in addition to his military experience, has a PhD in physiology—is leading a DARPA effort to address blood’s battlefield problems. He’s in charge of a new $73 million dollar program called RAPIID (for “resuscitation and prevention of ischemia-induced dysfunction”). Its goal is to create shelf-stable versions of the three major transfusion constituents: plasma, platelets, and red blood cells. As it gets underway late this year, RAPIID picks up on decades of work to synthesize blood or help it last longer. Most recently, that includes a prior $47.5 million DARPA project called FSHARP (for “fieldable solutions for hemorrhage with bio-artificial resuscitation products”), in which researchers have demonstrated promising results in animals.  KaloCyte techs use a device called a tangential flow filtration machineto process unencapsulated hemoglobin.MATT ROTH After processing, the hemoglobin is concentrated and then freeze-dried to make it shelf-stable.MATT ROTH With RAPIID trials for the different components occurring in parallel, the goal is to have bags of dried blood products deployed in the field by 2029. That puts Murray in the position of a conductor coordinating an orchestra of clinical trials with the FDA, while also sourcing the paraphernalia that goes along with transfusions—everything from combat-durable storage bags to tests that could check how much artificial blood a patient already has.  Getting it all done will be tough, but the military is feeling the pressure to address its shortage. Blood drives may not deliver in time after a mass-casualty event, and a JAMA study of combat injuries in Afghanistan suggests that if the injured person needs a transfusion, the magic number is 36 minutes. “If something is survivable—and generally we classify most all hemorrhage as survivable—[you’re] almost guaranteed to survive if you get the blood before that 36-minute mark,” Murray says. After that, the chance of survival “starts to drop precipitously.”   In the mission to make portable, shelf-stable blood components, plasma is the low-hanging fruit. Researchers have known how to isolate and freeze-dry plasma, the yellowish liquid that makes up 55% of whole human blood, since the late 1930s. On the battlefields of World War II, its mix of water, salts, and thousands of types of proteins helped restore blood volume in wounded soldiers—and to some degree controlled bleeding. In the 1960s, the US abandoned freeze-dried plasma because it carried a risk of transmitting hepatitis to recipients from infected donors. But screening, testing, and drying techniques improved, and starting in 2010, the US military launched a yearslong effort to rebuild its capacity for producing these products. Over the past two years, the FDA has allowed two types of freeze-dried plasma to be used in emergencies by the US military—and one can even be used by civilians.  As for platelets, efforts at extending their life date back to the 1950s, but they haven’t seen a ton of success. Bioengineers have, for example, attempted to attach the membranes of platelets to synthetic particles. The most successful project comes from a company called Cellphire, which freeze-dries actual human platelets. The product has shown safety and efficacy in humans in clinical trials, but its dependence on donors means it’s unclear whether this approach can scale. Red blood cells have been similarly tough to preserve or mimic. Their most critical component is hemoglobin, which carries oxygen and comes encased in a cell membrane. For more than a century, researchers

In this article, you will learn how to build a custom LLM evaluation harness in Python from scratch, structured around four modular components that give…

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. The US military’s race to make fake blood In February 2007, a US military helicopter carrying blood to a field hospital was shot down in Iraq, killing all seven crew members. The mission was a reminder of the risks of transporting blood, which has a limited shelf life and is often in short supply. Now, a $73 million DARPA effort aims to create shelf-stable versions of plasma, platelets, and red blood cells. The idea is to develop dried blood products that can be stored for long periods and deployed quickly on the battlefield.  The project aims to have bags of dried blood products deployed in the field by 2029. But getting it all done will be tough, and researchers still have major questions about the safety and effectiveness of synthetic alternatives. Discover how the military hopes to make blood last longer. —Andrew Rosenblum This story is from the next issue of our print magazine. Subscribe now to get your hands on a copy as soon as it lands on Wednesday, October 21!   10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: WeLion New Energy and its semi-solid-state batteries WeLion New Energy is one of MIT Technology Review’s10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch 2026, available exclusively to subscribers. WeLion New Energy is on a quest to make safer, better batteries. The Chinese company’s liquid-solid hybrid cells aim to pack more power into electric cars, boats and drones, potentially improving safety and offering greater energy density than lithium-ion batteries. In 2023, WeLion released a battery pack with EV-maker Nio that offered a range of over 1,000 kilometers. Now, the company is developing batteries with even higher energy density. But scaling up production and competing on cost remain major challenges. Explore WeLion’s push to make safer, higher-capacity batteries. —You Xiaoying Subscribers can now access the full 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch, spanning everything from geothermal power plants to carbon dioxide batteries.  MIT Technology Review Narrated: Weight-loss drugs show signs of slowing biological aging, say drugmakers Popular weight-loss drugs may do more than help people shed pounds. They might also slow the aging process. Drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk say patients taking their GLP-1 drugs age less quickly, according to molecular “aging clocks” that track changes in DNA or levels of key proteins.  The findings add to speculation that GLP-1 drugs could be acting on basic causes of aging and might be true longevity treatments. But how much can we read into these results? This is our latest story to become an MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we publish each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The FBI has arrested an OpenAI engineer accused of snoopingA Saudi national is accused of planting a covert recording device. (Guardian)+ The camera-and-microphone tool sells online for $13.99. (Gizmodo)+ It was allegedly discovered plugged into a TV’s USB port. (Verge)+ He reportedly used chatbots to plan the covert recording. (Wired $)+ OpenAI says its AI models helped identify the employee. (Reuters $) 2 Ukrainian drones have hit Russia’s largest data centreBut Sberbank claims its systems and services were not disrupted. (Reuters $)+ Ukraine’s data center strikes have thrown Russia into turmoil. (FT $)+ But they haven’t stopped Russian bot farms from trolling. (Verge)+ Europe has a drone-filled vision for future wars. (MIT Technology Review) 3 Weight-loss drugs are being tweaked to treat brain disordersNew GLP-1 trials are targeting addiction and depression. (Nature)+ But we’re still figuring out their side effects. (MIT Technology Review) 4 Tesla robotaxis have been accused of speeding in school zonesUS regulators are reviewing the claims. (Verge)+ Tesla’s security features thwarted a federal tracking attempt. (404 Media) 5 US defense startups are turning to Taiwan to build China-free dronesAt least 13 joint agreements have been signed since 2025.  (WSJ $)+ Taiwan’s “silicon shield” could be weakening. (MIT Technology Review) 6 A war game  exposed the risks of a solar geoengineering arms raceParticipants feuded over rules for dimming the sun. (Wired $)+ Geoengineering also faces practical challenges. (MIT Technology Review) 7 AI company Character.ai has filed for bankruptcyIt’s been accused of stealing content and harming kids. (CNBC)+ Disney has offered $20 million for its chatbot tech. (Ars Technica)+ Its filings expose common issues with AI business models. (404 Media) 8 Apple has a new smart-home lineup built around a revamped SiriHomeView pairs a 7-inch screen with face recognition. (Guardian+ While the Home Collection adds cameras, locks, and thermostats. (Wired $)+ Siri AI powers the experience, but still needs to prove its smarts. (WSJ $) 9 Scientists have identified a new dinosaur in a century-old fossilInvictibellatrix amberina may be Europe’s first megaraptoran. (New Scientist $) 10 SpaceX’s latest launch lit up the skies with a “space jellyfish”Rocket exhaust expanded into tentacles high in the atmosphere. (WP $) Quote of the day “It is like a thumb on the scale that we haven’t really ever seen.”  —Danielle Citron, a University of Virginia law professor, tells The Washington Post that Elon Musk’s ability to amplify conspiracy theories on X could give misinformation an unprecedented influence in the midterms. One more thing Is the Pentagon allowed to surveil Americans with AI? The ongoing public feud between the Department of Defense and the AI company Anthropic has raised a deep and still unanswered question: Does the law actually allow the US government to conduct mass surveillance on Americans? Surprisingly, the answer is not straightforward. More than a decade after Edward Snowden exposed the NSA’s collection of bulk metadata from the phones of Americans, the US is still navigating a gap between what ordinary people think and what the law allows.  Today, the legal complexity has a new edge:

In this article, you will learn how to build a lightweight, end-to-end RAG pipeline using scikit-learn for vector retrieval and open-source models for embeddings and…

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. Open models have real benefits. Do they outweigh the risks? Anthropic recently released a report arguing that a powerful new model released by the Chinese company Z.ai, poses a major cyberattack risk. Its core concern was that it is freely available for anyone to download and modify. The warning was the latest flashpoint in a debate over whether frontier AI models should be open or kept behind the doors of frontier labs. Safety advocates warn that open models can be misused by bad actors, while supporters argue they could prevent a handful of companies from controlling this powerful technology. Here’s why the debate over open AI is more complicated than it seems. —Grace Huckins This story is part of MIT Technology Review Explains, our series untangling the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. Read more from the series here.  10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: Fervo Energy and its plan to streamline geothermal power Fervo Energy is one of MIT Technology Review’s10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch 2026, available exclusively to subscribers. Fervo Energy wants to expand geothermal power beyond the handful of places where it has traditionally been practical. The company uses horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to open pathways through underground rock, potentially making geothermal development possible in far more places. Now, Fervo is betting that AI’s power boom will help scale up enhanced geothermal energy. With a $2.2 billion public offering and an expanded agreement with Google, it plans to build larger plants and drive down costs. But can its approach work beyond Utah and Nevada? Read the full story to find out. —Eshan Raul Subscribers can now access the full 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch, spanning everything from sustainable cement to shipping containers packed with old EV batteries.  The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 A cyberattack overheated fridges at hundreds of French supermarketsTemperatures rose to 120°F, spoiling food and sparking fires. (BBC)+ The attack has sparked alarm about cyber threats to food security. (FT $)+ It joins a recent wave of cyberattacks and cybercrimes. (CNBC)+ AI is exacerbating the threats. (MIT Technology Review) 2 Meta has launched a bunch of new AI modelsIt hopes the models, built for complex, multi-step tasks, will rival OpenAI’s and Anthropic’s.(BI)+ They scored well on tests of reasoning, writing, and coding. (NYT $)+ Mark Zuckerberg says they bring Meta to the “frontier” of AI. (FT $)+ And will soon power the Muse agent. (Verge) 3 Anthropic warns that AI models may soon self-replicate across devicesWithout even requiring access to data centers. (Reuters $)+ It says models could spread through smart TVs and appliances. (CNBC)+ We’re putting too much faith in AI saying no. (MIT Technology Review) 4 Police have a new AI tool that finds homes from interior photosIt can match single pictures to Airbnb and Zillow listings. (404 Media)+ Police-tech giant Flock is tightening its rules. (MIT Technology Review) 5 The world’s first utility-scale enhanced geothermal plant is onlineFervo Energy’s Utah facility will supply carbon-free electricity. (IEEE)+ AI is uncovering hidden geothermal resources. (MIT Technology Review) 6 Did drone strikes on Yandex data centres blitz Russian bots?Zelenskyy claims the attacks quietened Kremlin-funded social media accounts. (Euronews) + But troll farm experts aren’t convinced. (Verge) 7 NASA’s Perseverance rover has set a Mars driving recordIt’s covered 28 miles since landing in 2021. (Reuters $)+ The rover passed Opportunity after detouring to study ancient rocks. (NYT $) 8 Elon Musk has become the 2026 midterms’ biggest known donorHe gave $158 million to a Republican Senate super PAC. (AP News) 9 Anduril and Palantir founders have backed execution livestreamsPalmer Luckey and Joe Lonsdale support Pete Hegseth’s plan. (Mother Jones) 10 A spacecraft has traced how a mysterious solar switchback formedThe Solar Orbiter’s discovery could improve space weather forecasts. (Gizmodo) Quote of the day “Many AI researchers have started smoking as a way of signaling to other researchers how much they believe in AI.”  —Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar tells CBS News that Silicon Valley’s “social delusion” has convinced researchers to smoke because they expect AI to cure cancer. One more thing A brain implant changed her life. Then it was removed against her will. Sticking an electrode inside a person’s brain can do more than treat a disease. Take the case of Rita Leggett, an Australian woman whose experimental brain implant changed her sense of agency and self. She told researchers that she “became one” with her device. She was devastated when, two years later, she was told she had to remove the implant because the company that made it had gone bust. Her case highlights the need for a new category of legal protection: neuro rights. Explore how they could be protected. —Jessica Hamzelou We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line.) + Astronomers have captured the clearest image yet of a medieval supernova.+ Watch centuries-old Chinese paper-cutting techniques create a spectacular work of art.+ Artist Josh Gluckstein creates astonishing animal sculptures from recycled cardboard, including this great white shark.+ An endangered sea turtle named Pancake has returned to the ocean for the first time in months after recovering from hypothermia.