A beam of energy hit the slab of rock, which quickly began to glow. Pieces cracked off, sparks ricocheted, and dust whirled around under a blast of air. From inside a modified trailer, I peeked through the window as a millimeter-wave drilling rig attached to an unassuming box truck melted a hole into a piece...

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 startup wants to use beams of energy to drill geothermal wells Geothermal startup Quaise certainly has an unconventional approach when it comes to destroying rocks: it uses a new form of drilling...