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…

It’s never been easier to be a conspiracy theorist

October 30, 2025
The timing was eerie. On November 21, 1963, Richard Hofstadter delivered the annual Herbert Spencer Lecture at Oxford University. Hofstadter was a professor of American history at Columbia University who liked to use social psychology to explain political history, the better to defend liberalism from extremism on both sides. His new lecture was titled “The…

Can “The Simpsons” really predict the future?

October 30, 2025
According to internet listicles, the animated sitcom The Simpsons has predicted the future anywhere from 17 to 55 times.  “As you know, we’ve inherited quite a budget crunch from President Trump,” the newly sworn-in President Lisa Simpson declared way back in 2000, 17 years before the real estate mogul was inaugurated as the 45th leader…

How conspiracy theories infiltrated the doctor’s office

October 30, 2025
As anyone who has googled their symptoms and convinced themselves that they’ve got a brain tumor will attest, the internet makes it very easy to self-(mis)diagnose your health problems. And although social media and other digital forums can be a lifeline for some people looking for a diagnosis or community, when that information is wrong,…

Why it’s so hard to bust the weather control conspiracy theory

October 30, 2025
It was October 2024, and Hurricane Helene had just devastated the US Southeast. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia found an abstract target on which to pin the blame: “Yes they can control the weather,” she posted on X. “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”  There was no word…

Chatbots are surprisingly effective at debunking conspiracy theories

October 30, 2025
It’s become a truism that facts alone don’t change people’s minds. Perhaps nowhere is this more clear than when it comes to conspiracy theories: Many people believe that you can’t talk conspiracists out of their beliefs.  But that’s not necessarily true. It turns out that many conspiracy believers do respond to evidence and arguments—information that…

Digg founder Kevin Rose on the need for trusted social communities in the AI era

October 29, 2025
“The dead internet theory is real,” Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian told Digg founder Kevin Rose, referring to the idea that much of the internet isn’t human — it’s mostly bots. The two entrepreneurs have since teamed up to re-envision how to build a social community in this world where, very soon, it will be hard […]