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We should talk more about air-conditioning

Things are starting to warm up here in the New York City area, and it’s got me thinking once again about something that people aren’t talking about enough: energy demand for air conditioners. I get it: Data centers are the shiny new thing to worry about. And I’m not saying we shouldn’t be thinking about…
Rivals are rising to challenge the dominance of SpaceX

SpaceX is a space launch juggernaut. In just two decades, the company has managed to edge out former aerospace heavyweights Boeing, Lockheed, and Northrop Grumman to gain near-monopoly status over rocket launches in the US; it accounted for 87% of the country’s orbital launches in 2024, according to an analysis by SpaceNews. Since the mid-2010s,…
The machines are rising — but developers still hold the keys

Rumors of the ongoing death of software development — that it’s being slain by AI — are greatly exaggerated. In reality, software development is at a fork in the road: embracing the (currently) far-off notion of fully automated software development or acknowledging the work of a software developer is much more than just writing lines…
The Download: how to make better cooling systems, and farming on Mars

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 3D printing could make better cooling systems A new 3D-printed design could make an integral part of cooling systems like air conditioners or refrigerators smaller and more efficient, according to new research.…
How 3D printing could make better cooling systems

A new 3D-printed design could make an integral part of cooling systems like air conditioners or refrigerators smaller and more efficient, according to new research. Heat exchangers are devices that whisk away heat, and they’re everywhere—used in data centers, ships, factories, and buildings. The aim is to pass as much heat as possible from one…
The Download: brain-computer interfaces, and teaching an AI model to give therapy

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. Brain-computer interfaces face a critical test Brain computer interfaces (BCIs) are electrodes put in paralyzed people’s brains so they can use imagined movements to send commands from their neurons through a wire, or…
Brain-computer interfaces face a critical test

Tech companies are always trying out new ways for people to interact with computers—consider efforts like Google Glass, the Apple Watch, and Amazon’s Alexa. You’ve probably used at least one. But the most radical option has been tried by fewer than 100 people on Earth—those who have lived for months or years with implanted brain-computer…
How do you teach an AI model to give therapy?

On March 27, the results of the first clinical trial for a generative AI therapy bot were published, and they showed that people in the trial who had depression or anxiety or were at risk for eating disorders benefited from chatting with the bot. I was surprised by those results, which you can read about…
The Download: generative AI therapy, and the future of 23andMe’s genetic data

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. The first trial of generative AI therapy shows it might help with depression The first clinical trial of a generative AI therapy bot suggests it was as effective as human therapy for people…
The first trial of generative AI therapy shows it might help with depression

The first clinical trial of a therapy bot that uses generative AI suggests it was as effective as human therapy for participants with depression, anxiety, or risk for developing eating disorders. Even so, it doesn’t give a go-ahead to the dozens of companies hyping such technologies while operating in a regulatory gray area. A team…