November 13, 2025

Google is still aiming for its “moonshot” 2030 energy goals

Last week, we hosted EmTech MIT, MIT Technology Review’s annual flagship conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Over the course of three days of main-stage sessions, I learned about innovations in AI, biotech, and robotics.  But as you might imagine, some of this climate reporter’s favorite moments came in the climate sessions. I was listening especially closely…

Technology

Europe is finally getting serious about commercial rockets

March 20, 2025
Europe is on the cusp of a new dawn in commercial space technology. As global political tensions intensify and relationships with the US become increasingly strained, several European companies are now planning to conduct their own launches in an attempt to reduce the continent’s reliance on American rockets. In the coming days, Isar Aerospace, a…

Roundtables: AI Chatbots Have Joined the Chat

March 20, 2025
Recorded on March 20, 2025 AI Chatbots Have Joined the Chat Speakers: Rachel Courtland, commissioning editor, Rhiannon Williams, news reporter, and Eileen Guo, features & investigations reporter. Chatbots are quickly changing how we connect to each other and ourselves. But are these changes for the better? How should they be monitored and regulated? Hear from MIT…

The Download: the future of energy, and chatting about chatbots

March 20, 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. 4 technologies that could power the future of energy Where can you find lasers, electric guitars, and racks full of novel batteries, all in the same giant room? This week, the answer was…

The elephant in the room for energy tech? Uncertainty.

March 20, 2025
At a conference dedicated to energy technology that I attended this week, I noticed an outward attitude of optimism and excitement. But it’s hard to miss the current of uncertainty just underneath.  The ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit, held this year just outside Washington, DC, gathers some of the most cutting-edge innovators working on everything from…

GM, Gatik, Torc team up with Nvidia to accelerate self-driving

March 19, 2025

NVIDIA’s GTC conference kicked off with a series of announcements highlighting its role in advancing autonomous driving technology. The chipmaker provides automakers and autonomous vehicle companies with a handful of Nvidia-branded tools to help power self-driving cars and create digital twins of factories. On Tuesday, companies including Torc, Gatik, and even General Motors announced plans […]

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4 technologies that could power the future of energy

March 19, 2025
Where can you find lasers, electric guitars, and racks full of novel batteries, all in the same giant room? This week, the answer was the 2025 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit just outside Washington, DC. Energy innovation can take many forms, and the variety in energy research was on display at the summit. ARPA-E, part of…

The Download: US aid disruptions, and imagining the future

March 19, 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. HIV could infect 1,400 infants every day because of US aid disruptions Around 1,400 infants are being infected by HIV every day as a result of the new US administration’s cuts to funding…

Powering the food industry with AI

March 19, 2025
There has never been a more pressing time for food producers to harness technology to tackle the sector’s tough mission. To produce ever more healthy and appealing food for a growing global population in a way that is resilient and affordable, all while minimizing waste and reducing the sector’s environmental impact. From farm to factory,…

Five benefits of a health tech accelerator program

March 18, 2025
In the ever-evolving world of health care, the role of technology is becoming increasingly crucial. From improving patient outcomes to streamlining administrative processes, digital technologies are changing the face of the industry. However, for startups developing health tech solutions, breaking into the market and scaling their products can be a challenging journey, requiring access to…

The Download: speaking to robots, and growing pharmaceutical mushrooms

March 18, 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. When you might start speaking to robots Last week, Google made a somewhat surprising announcement. It launched a version of its AI model, Gemini, that can do things not just in the digital…