The Download: introducing the Engineering 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 Engineering issue

We can’t fix everything, but we can be ambitious. We can take on the challenge of making the world better through human ingenuity. That’s what the new Engineering issue of MIT Technology Review is all about. 

Sometimes the challenges we face are giant, like tunneling beneath the seafloor. Some exist at the nanoscale, as with a new ASML machine powering the future of chipmaking. Others represent problems at a planetary scale and in truly unknown territory, like replicating a volcano’s mechanism to cool the Earth on purpose.

These incredible engineering stories show we can come together to get to work and, when the smoke clears, find we’ve made real progress. Subscribe now to read all of them—and more—in the full print issue.

Stripe, Anthropic, and OpenAI are backing an effort to stop respiratory infections

The common cold comes for us all—often more than once a year. And there is no way to prevent it. The best you can do is take vitamin C and stay away from people with the sniffles.

Now, the payment company Stripe is funding a new $500-million nonprofit aiming to prevent both the common cold and the flu. Its eventual goal is to get rid of respiratory viruses altogether.

Anthropic, OpenAI, and Bill Gates have also backed the venture, which will investigate whether modern technologies can counter the common cold and the flu. Dive into the nonprofit’s plans.

—Antonio Regalado

MIT Technology Review Narrated: inside the hunt for the most dangerous asteroid ever

As asteroid 2024 YR4 hurtled toward Earth, astronomers determined that this massive rock posed a higher risk of impact than any object of its size in recorded history. Then, just as quickly as history was made, experts declared that the danger had passed. 

This is the inside story of the network of global scientists who found, followed, planned for, and finally dismissed the most dangerous asteroid ever discovered —all under the tightest of timelines and with the highest of stakes.

—Robin George Andrews

This is our latest story to be turned into an MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we publish each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 China has taken the US’s crown for the world’s fastest supercomputer 
Shenzhen’s LineShine overtook California’s El Capitan. (Axios)
+ China had not had a machine at the top of the list since 2017. (NYT $)
+ But the supercomputer race isn’t geared for AI work. (Reuters $)

2 Mythos reportedly found flaws in classified US government systems
A US official said Anthropic’s model identified certain vulnerabilities. (AP News)
+ The model has now been suspended over US security concerns. (BBC)
+ The NSA has lost access to Anthropic’s tools in fallout. (Engadget)
+ The feud raises new questions about AI safety. (MIT Technology Review) 

3 A US pilot reported seeing Iranian drones swarm in “jellyfish” formation
Which would represent an alarming advance in Iranian drone capabilities. (CNN)
+ The US is heading toward a drone-filled future. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Mark Zuckerberg directed Meta to create a prediction markets app
It will be similar to Polymarket and Kalshi. (NYT $)
+ But won’t let users wager real money. (The Verge) 
+ Another new app, Meta Photos, will create media with AI. (Reuters $)

5 SpaceX’s "Starfall" just launched a secretive test flight
The orbital delivery spacecraft blasted off for the first time yesterday. (Axios)
+ It could also support space manufacturing. (New Scientist $)

6 Alibaba has sued the US for being linked to the Chinese military
It wants to be removed from a Pentagon blacklist. (Reuters $)

7 Nvidia’s banned AI chips have doubled in price on China’s black market
The DGX B300 now costs more than $1.1 million. (Financial Times $)

8 Tesla claims a driver “manually overrode self-driving” in a deadly crash
It said the accelerator was pressed “all the way to 100%.” (The Verge $)

9 The US science retreat has created an opportunity for Europe
But questions about funding and innovation remain. (Nature)
+ Trump has dealt many blows to US science. (MIT Technology Review)

10 Meta’s new smart glasses ditch Ray-Bans for Kylie Jenner 
Meta logos and Jenner designs have replaced the Ray-Ban branding. (Wired $)

Quote of the day

“It's blasphemy against AI if ‌you say it's a bubble.”

—SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son tells shareholders that the AI boom is still in its early stages, Reuters reports.

One More Thing

Video games are dividing South Korea

They say StarCraft was the game that changed everything. When the science fiction strategy game arrived in South Korea in 1998, it wasn’t just a hit—it was an awakening.

Out of 11 million copies sold worldwide, 4.5 million were in the country. The game was so popular that it triggered another boom: “PC bangs,” pay-as-you-go gaming cafés.

StarCraft and PC bangs spoke to a generation of young South Koreans boxed in by economic anxiety and rising academic pressures. But they also sparked arguments about game addiction. They’ve led to feuds between government departments—and a national debate over policy.

Read the full story.

—Max S. Kim

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line.)

+ This archive lovingly documents the beautiful design of over 1,700 obsolete objects.
+ Classic TV theme tunes like Hey Arnold! Have been revived in a musician’s marvellous samples.
+ Marvel at the mind-boggling geometry of nature and see how bees perfectly construct honeycombs.
+ Hear the ominous, deeply atmospheric tones of a custom string instrument built inside a plastic drainage pipe.