MIT Technology Review

In this era of AI slop, the idea that generative AI tools like Midjourney and Runway could be used to make art can seem absurd: What possible artistic value is there to be found in the likes of Shrimp Jesus and Ballerina Cappuccina? But amid all the muck, there are people using AI tools with...

It is a yellow blob with no brain, yet some researchers believe a curious organism known as slime mold could help us build more resilient cities. Humans have been building cities for 6,000 years, but slime mold has been around for 600 million. The team behind a new startup called Mireta wants to translate the...

This week we had some terrifying news from the World Health Organization: Antibiotics are failing us. A growing number of bacterial infections aren't responding to these medicines-including common ones that affect the blood, gut, and urinary tract. Get infected with one of these bugs, and there's a fair chance antibiotics won't help. The scary truth...

Used in aviation, book and claim offers companies the ability to financially support the use of SAF even when it is not physically available at their locations. As companies that ship goods by air or provide air freight related services address a range of climate goals aiming to reduce emissions, the importance of sustainable aviation...

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. The race to make the perfect baby is creating an ethical mess An emerging field of science is seeking to use cell analysis to predict what kind of a person an embryo might...

You live in a house you designed and built yourself. You rely on the sun for power, heat your home with a woodstove, and farm your own fish and vegetables. The year is 2025. This is the life of Marcin Jakubowski, the 53-year-old founder of Open Source Ecology, an open collaborative of engineers, producers, and...

Consider, if you will, the translucent blob in the eye of a microscope: a human blastocyst, the biological specimen that emerges just five days or so after a fateful encounter between egg and sperm. This bundle of cells, about the size of a grain of sand pulled from a powdery white Caribbean beach, contains the...

Sucking carbon pollution out of the atmosphere is becoming a big business-companies are paying top dollar for technologies that can cancel out their own emissions. Today, nearly 70% of announced carbon removal contracts are for one technology: bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). Basically, the idea is to use trees or some other types...

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. Big Tech's big bet on a controversial carbon removal tactic Microsoft, JP MorganChase, and a tech company consortium that includes Alphabet, Meta, Shopify, and Stripe have all recently struck multimillion-dollar deals to pay...

Artificial intelligence has always promised speed, efficiency, and new ways of solving problems. But what's changed in the past few years is how quickly those promises are becoming reality. From oil and gas to retail, logistics to law, AI is no longer confined to pilot projects or speculative labs. It is being deployed in critical...

It's the 25th of June and I'm shivering in my lab-issued underwear in Fort Worth, Texas. Libby Cowgill, an anthropologist in a furry parka, has wheeled me and my cot into a metal-walled room set to 40 F. A loud fan pummels me from above and siphons the dregs of my body heat through the...

For years at Orchard Care Homes, a 23facility dementia-care chain in northern England, Cheryl Baird watched nurses fill out the Abbey Pain Scale, an observational methodology used to evaluate pain in those who can't communicate verbally. Baird, a former nurse who was then the facility's director of quality, describes it as a tickbox exercise where...

Over the last century, much of the US pulp and paper industry crowded into the southeastern corner of the nation, setting up mills amid sprawling timber forests to strip the fibers from juvenile loblolly, long leaf, and slash pine trees. Today, after the factories chip the softwood and digest it into pulp, the leftover lignin,...

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. How aging clocks can help us understand why we age-and if we can reverse it Wrinkles and gray hairs aside, it can be difficult to know how well-or poorly-someone's body is truly aging....

Be honest: Have you ever looked up someone from your childhood on social media with the sole intention of seeing how they've aged? One of my colleagues, who shall remain nameless, certainly has. He recently shared a photo of a former classmate. Can you believe we're the same age?" he asked, with a hint of...

From addictive algorithms to exploitative apps, data mining to misinformation, the internet today can be a hazardous place. Books by three influential figures-the intellect behind net neutrality," a former Meta executive, and the web's own inventor-propose radical approaches to fixing it. But are these luminaries the right people for the job? Though each shows conviction,...

Amid the turbulence of the wider global economy in recent years, the pharmaceuticals industry is weathering its own storms. The rising cost of raw materials and supply chain disruptions are squeezingmargins as pharma companies face intense pressure-including from countries like the US-to control drug costs. At the same time, a wave of expiring patents threatens...

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. An Earthling's guide to planet hunting The pendant on Rebecca Jensen-Clem's necklace is composed of 36 silver hexagons entwined in a honeycomb mosaic. At the Keck Observatory, in Hawaii, just as many segments...

The pendant on Rebecca Jensen-Clem's necklace is only about an inch wide, composed of 36 silver hexagons entwined in a honeycomb mosaic. At the Keck Observatory, in Hawaii, just as many segments make up a mirror that spans 33 feet, reflecting images of uncharted worlds for her to study. Jensen-Clem, an astronomer at the University...

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. How do our bodies remember? Like riding a bike" is shorthand for the remarkable way that our bodies remember how to move. Most of the time when we talk about muscle memory, we're...

MIT Technology ReviewExplains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what's coming next. You can readmore from the series here. Like riding a bike" is shorthand for the remarkable way that our bodies remember how to move. Most of the time when we talk about muscle memory, we're...

Attentive readers might have noticed my absence over the last couple of weeks. I've been trying to recover from a bout of illness. It got me thinking about the immune system, and how little I know about my own immune health. The vast array of cells, proteins, and biomolecules that works to defend us from...

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. How healthy am I? My immunome knows the score. Made up of 1.8 trillion cells and trillions more proteins, metabolites, mRNA, and other biomolecules, every person's immunome is different, and it is constantly...

On Monday, we published our 2025 edition of Climate Tech Companies to Watch. This marks the third time we've put the list together, and it's become one of my favorite projects to work on every year. In the journalism world, it's easy to get caught up in the latest news, whether it's a fundraising round,...

The story is a collaboration between MIT Technology Review and Aventine, a non-profit research foundation that creates and supports content about how technology and science are changing the way we live. It's not often you get a text about the robustness of your immune system, but that's what popped up on my phone last spring....

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. The Trump administration may cut funding for two major direct-air capture plants The US Department of Energy appears poised to terminate funding for a pair of large carbon-sucking factories that were originally set...

The US Department of Energy appears poised to terminate funding for a pair of large carbon-sucking factories that were originally set to receive more than $1 billion in government grants, according to a department-issued list of projects obtained by MIT Technology Review and circulating among federal agencies. One of the projects is the South Texas...

Kids have always played with and talked to stuffed animals. But now their toys can talk back, thanks to a wave of companies that are fitting children's playthings with chatbots and voice assistants. It's a trend that has particularly taken off in China: A recent report by the Shenzhen Toy Industry Association and JD.com predicts...

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 company is planning a lithium empire from the shores of the Great Salt Lake On a bright afternoon in August, the shore of Utah's Great Salt Lake looks like something out of...

Last week OpenAI released Sora, a TikTok-style app that presents an endless feed of exclusively AI-generated videos, each up to 10 seconds long. The app allows you to create a cameo" of yourself-a hyperrealistic avatar that mimics your appearance and voice-and insert other peoples' cameos into your own videos (depending on what permissions they set)....

BOX ELDER COUNTY, Utah - On a bright afternoon in August, the shore on the North Arm of the Great Salt Lake looks like something out of a science fiction film set in a scorching alien world. The desert sun is blinding as it reflects off the white salt that gathers and crunches underfoot like...

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. Introducing: 10 climate tech companies to watch Every year, the MIT Technology Review newsroom produces a list of some of the most promising climate tech firms on the planet. It's an exercise that...

HiNa Battery Technology is a trailblazer in developing and mass-producing batteries using sodium, a widely available element that can be extracted from sea salt. The startup's products-already powering small vehicles and energy storage plants in China-provide a valuable alternative to lithium-based batteries, made with materials mined and processed in just a few countries. Over the...

MIT Technology Review's reporters and editors faced a dilemma as we began to mull nominees for this year's list of Climate Tech Companies to Watch. How do you pick companies poised to succeed in a moment of such deep uncertainty, at a time when the new Trump administration is downplaying the dangers of climate change,...

Climate change will make it increasingly difficult to grow crops across many parts of the world. Pairwise is leveraging CRISPR gene editing to develop plants that can better withstand adverse conditions. Pairwise uses cutting-edge gene editing to produce crops that can withstand increasingly harsh climate conditions, helping to feed a growing population even as the...

Cement is one of the most used materials on the planet, and the industry emits billions of tons of greenhouse gasses annually. Cemvision wants to use waste materials and alternative fuels to help reduce climate pollution from cement production. Today, making cement requires crushing limestone and heating it to super high temperatures, usually by burning...

As Europe gradually phases out heavy-duty diesel trucks, Traton is gearing up production of its electric models. The company is also helping to install hundreds of public chargers to aid the growth of electric freight transport across Europe. Every day, trucks carry many millions of tons of cargo down roads and highways around the world....

More than 70% of the 200 million registered vehicles in India are two-wheelers. Ather Energy builds e-scooters for the rising middle class that could help commuters ditch highly-polluting, gas-guzzling models. While sales of Tesla or BYD cars drove electric vehicle adoption elsewhere in the world, two-wheelers have led the green energy transition in India. As...

Rare earth magnets are essential for clean energy, but only a tiny fraction of the metals inside them are ever recycled. Cyclic Materials aims to change that by opening one of the largest rare earth magnet recycling operations outside of China next year. By collecting a wide range of devices and recycling multiple metals, the...

People over Papers, a crowd-sourcing project that maps sightings of immigration agents, was taken offline yesterday by Padlet, the collaborative bulletin board platform on which it was built. It's just the latest ICE-tracking initiative to be pulled by tech platforms in the past few days. A Padlet customer service representative told Celeste, one of the...

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. Microsoft says AI can create zero day" threats in biology A team at Microsoft says it used artificial intelligence to discover a zero day" vulnerability in the biosecurity systems used to prevent the...

A team at Microsoft says it used artificial intelligence to discover a zero day" vulnerability in the biosecurity systems used to prevent the misuse of DNA. These screening systems are designed to stop people from purchasing genetic sequences that could be used to create deadly toxins or pathogens. But now researchers led by Microsoft's chief...

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. EV tax credits are dead in the US. Now what? Federal EV tax credits in the US officially came to an end yesterday. Those credits, expanded and extended in the 2022 Inflation Reduction...

On Wednesday, federal EV tax credits in the US officially came to an end. Those credits, expanded and extended in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, gave drivers up to $7,500 in credits toward the purchase of a new electric vehicle. They've been a major force in cutting the up-front costs of EVs, pushing more people...

In late 2023, a long-trusted virtualization staple became the biggest open question on the enterprise IT roadmap. Amid concerns of VMware licensing changes and steeper support costs, analysts noticed an exodus mentality. Forrester predicted that one in five large VMware customers would begin moving away from the platform in 2024. A subsequent Gartner community poll...

Every year, MIT Technology Review recognizes dozens of young researchers on our Innovators Under 35 list. We checked back in with recent honorees to seehow they're faring amid sweeping changesto science and technology policy within the US. Learn about the complex realities of what life has been like for those aiming to build their labs...

Talk of AI is inescapable. It's often the main topic of discussion at board and executive meetings, at corporate retreats, and in the media. A record 58% of S&P 500 companies mentioned AI in their second-quarter earnings calls, according to Goldman Sachs. But it's difficult to walk the talk. Just 5% of generative AI pilots...

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. OpenAI is huge in India. Its models are steeped in caste bias. Caste bias is rampant in OpenAI's products, including ChatGPT, according to an MIT Technology Review investigation. Though CEO Sam Altman boasted...