July 29, 2025

The Download: how to store energy underground, and what you may not know about Trump’s AI Action Plan

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. This startup wants to use the Earth as a massive battery Texas-based startup Quidnet Energy just completed a test showing it can store energy for up to six months by pumping water underground.…

Technology

How some bacteria are cleaning up our messy water supply

March 1, 2024
This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here. The diabetes medication metformin has been touted as a miracle drug. Not only does it keep diabetes in check, but it can reduce inflammation, curb cancer,…

Why shiny, high-tech solutions won’t solve one of Africa’s worst crises

March 1, 2024
Hainikoye hits Accept and a young woman greets him in Hausa, a gravelly language spoken across West Africa’s Sahel region. She has three new cows, and wants to know: Does he have advice on getting them through the lean season? Hainikoye—a twentysomething agronomist who has “followed animals,” as Sahelians refer to herding, since he first…

A leaky database spilled 2FA codes for the world’s tech giants

February 29, 2024

A technology company that routes millions of SMS text messages across the world has secured an exposed database that was spilling one-time security codes that may have granted users’ access to their Facebook, Google and TikTok accounts. The Asian technology and internet company YX International manufactures cellular networking equipment and provides SMS text message routing […]

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The Download: quantum squeezing, and a game-building AI model

February 29, 2024
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. How scientists are using quantum squeezing to push the limits of their sensors When two black holes spiral inward and collide, they shake the very fabric of space, producing ripples in space-time that…

Google DeepMind’s new generative model makes Super Mario-like games from scratch

February 29, 2024
OpenAI’s recent reveal of its stunning generative model Sora pushed the envelope of what’s possible with text-to-video. Now Google DeepMind brings us text-to-video games. The new model, called Genie, can take a short description, a hand-drawn sketch or a photo and turn it into a playable video game in the style of classic 2D platformers…

Why concerns over the sustainability of carbon removal are growing

February 29, 2024
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. There’s a looming problem in the carbon removal space. By one count, nearly 800 companies around the world are exploring a wide variety of methods for drawing planet-warming greenhouse gas out of…

Generative AI: Differentiating disruptors from the disrupted

February 29, 2024
Generative AI, though still an emergent technology, has been in the headlines since OpenAI’s ChatGPT sparked a global frenzy in 2023. The technology has rapidly advanced far beyond its early, human-like capacity to enhance chat functions. It shows extensive promise across a range of use cases, including content creation, translation, image processing, and code writing.…

How scientists are using quantum squeezing to push the limits of their sensors

February 29, 2024
When two black holes spiral inward and collide, they shake the very fabric of space, producing ripples in space-time that can travel for hundreds of millions of light-years. Since 2015, scientists have been observing these so-called gravitational waves to help them study fundamental questions about the cosmos, including the origin of heavy elements such as…

Roundtables: An Inside Look at the 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2024

February 28, 2024
Recorded on January 16, 2024 SKIP TO 2:00 FOR START OF SESSION An Inside Look at the 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2024 Speakers: Amy Nordrum, Executive editor of operations, Rachel Courtland, Commissioning editor, and Abby Ivory-Ganja, Senior engagement editor Every year for the past 20+ years, MIT Technology Review has selected a list of the breakthrough…

Anamorph’s generative technology reorders scenes to create unlimited versions of one film

February 28, 2024

Anamorph, a new filmmaking and technology company, announced its launch today. The startup, founded by filmmaker Gary Hustwit and digital artist Brendan Dawes, wants to reshape the cinematic experience with its proprietary generative technology that can create films that are different every time they’re shown. Anamorph revealed its innovative technology at the 2024 Sundance Film […]

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