Terraton wants to be the McDonald’s of biochar
Terraton sees promise in biochar, but the technology has struggled to scale. The startup thinks a franchise model could be what unlocks biochar’s potential.
The Download: China’s dying EV batteries, and why AI doomers are doubling down
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. China figured out how to sell EVs. Now it has to bury their batteries. In the past decade, China has seen an EV boom, thanks in part to government support. Buying an electric…
Technology
The Download: introducing: the Security issue
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 Security issue It would be naïve to think we are going back to a world without AI. We’re not. But it’s only one of many urgent problems we need to address…
India is still working on sewer robots
When Jitender was a child in New Delhi, both his parents worked as manual scavengers—a job that involved clearing the city’s sewers of solid waste by hand. Now, he is among almost 200 contractors involved in the Delhi government’s effort to shift from this manual process to safer mechanical methods. Although it has been outlawed…
AI comes for the job market, security, and prosperity: The Debrief
When I picked up my daughter from summer camp, we settled in for an eight-hour drive through the Appalachian mountains, heading from North Carolina to her grandparents’ home in Kentucky. With little to no cell service for much of the drive, we enjoyed the rare opportunity to have a long, thoughtful conversation, uninterrupted by devices.…
Job titles of the future: Satellite streak astronomer
Earlier this year, the $800 million Vera Rubin Observatory commenced its decade-long quest to create an extremely detailed time-lapse movie of the universe. Rubin is capable of capturing many more stars than any other astronomical observatory ever built; it also sees many more satellites. Up to 40% of images captured by the observatory within its…
Reimagining sound and space
On a typical afternoon, MIT’s new Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building hums with life. On the fourth floor, a jazz combo works through a set in a rehearsal suite as engineers adjust microphone levels in a nearby control booth. Downstairs, the layered rhythms of Senegalese drumming pulse through a room built to absorb its…
Junior Peña, neutrino hunter
Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, Junior Peña learned to keep his eyes down and his schedule full. In his neighborhood, a glance could invite trouble, and many kids—including his older brother—were pulled into gang culture. He knew early on that he wanted something else. With his parents working long hours, he went to…
Infinite Threads
Textiles account for 5% of landfill space—and clothing made with polyester can take up to 200 years to decompose. Massachusetts tackled the problem by banning disposal of clothing and fabrics in 2022. And Infinite Threads, a spinoff of the Undergraduate Association Sustainability Committee, is addressing it by collecting lightly used clothing from the MIT community…
Designing better products with AI and sustainability
On a mission to reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing components, Siemens turned its attention to the design of a robot gripper. Making up just 2% of the robot, the impact of this hand-like device may seem inconsequential. But, reducing its weight by 90% and the number of constituent parts by 84% can save up to 3…
The Download: America’s drone brothers, and an upside of AI doomerism
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 these two brothers became go-to experts on America’s “mystery drone” invasion In 2024 alone, 350 known drone incursions were reported over a hundred different US military installations. A lack of coordination or…