October 30, 2025

The Download: Introducing: the new conspiracy age

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. Introducing: the new conspiracy age Everything is a conspiracy theory now. Conspiracists are all over the White House, turning fringe ideas into dangerous policy. America’s institutions are crumbling under the weight of deep…

Technology

I tried OpenAI’s new Atlas browser but I still don’t know what it’s for

October 27, 2025
OpenAI rolled out a new web browser last week called Atlas. It comes with ChatGPT built in, along with an agent, so that you can browse, get direct answers, and have automated tasks performed on your behalf all at the same time.  I’ve spent the past several days tinkering with Atlas. I’ve used it to…

Stand Up for Research, Innovation, and Education

October 24, 2025
Right now, MIT alumni and friends are voicing their support for: America’s scientific and technological leadership Merit-based admissions and affordable education Advances that increase US health, security, and prosperity Our community is standing up for MIT and its mission to serve the nation and the world. And we need you to join us at this…

The Download: carbon removal’s future, and measuring pain using an app

October 24, 2025
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. What’s next for carbon removal? After years of growth that spawned hundreds of startups, the nascent carbon removal sector appears to be facing a reckoning. Running Tide, a promising aquaculture company, shut down…

An AI app to measure pain is here

October 24, 2025
How are you feeling? I’m genuinely interested in the well-being of all my treasured Checkup readers, of course. But this week I’ve also been wondering how science and technology can help answer that question—especially when it comes to pain. In the latest issue of MIT Technology Review magazine, Deena Mousa describes how an AI-powered smartphone app…

What’s next for carbon removal?

October 24, 2025
MIT Technology Review’s What’s Next series looks across industries, trends, and technologies to give you a first look at the future. You can read the rest of them here. In the early 2020s, a little-known aquaculture company in Portland, Maine, snagged more than $50 million by pitching a plan to harness nature to fight back…

Redefining data engineering in the age of AI

October 23, 2025
As organizations weave AI into more of their operations, senior executives are realizing data engineers hold a central role in bringing these initiatives to life. After all, AI only delivers when you have large amounts of reliable and well-managed, high-quality data. Indeed, this report finds that data engineers play a pivotal role in their organizations…

What a massive thermal battery means for energy storage

October 23, 2025
Rondo Energy just turned what it says is the world’s largest thermal battery, an energy storage system that can take in electricity and provide a consistent source of heat. The company announced last week that its first full-scale system is operational, with 100 megawatt-hours of capacity. The thermal battery is powered by an off-grid solar…

This startup is about to conduct the biggest real-world test of aluminum as a zero-carbon fuel

October 23, 2025
The crushed-up soda can disappears in a cloud of steam and—though it’s not visible—hydrogen gas. “I can just keep this reaction going by adding more water,” says Peter Godart, squirting some into the steaming beaker. “This is room-temperature water, and it’s immediately boiling. Doing this on your stove would be slower than this.”  Godart is…

GM to introduce eyes-off, hands-off driving system in 2028 

October 22, 2025
GM said Cruise’s technology stack, including its AI models trained on five million driverless miles and simulation framework, feed directly into the automaker’s next-generation driver assistance and autonomy programs.