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The Download: fire-resistant homes, and Big Tech’s AI chokehold

With each devastating wildfire in the US West, officials consider new methods or regulations that might save homes or lives the next time. In the parts of California where the hillsides meet... Read more »

The quest to build wildfire-resistant homes

“We have to get over this idea that it’s always the best thing to actually evacuate,” says Kolden. “We used to have community bomb shelters, right? These are functionally community fire shelters. Those... Read more »

Generative AI risks concentrating Big Tech’s power. Here’s how to stop it

Myers West says her secondment taught her that AI regulation doesn’t have to start from a blank slate. Instead of waiting for AI-specific regulations, such as the EU’s AI Act, which will take... Read more »

The Download: solar geoengineering’s high stakes, and tracking student’s moods

Picture two theoretical futures: one in which nations counteract climate change by reflecting sunlight back into space, and another where the world continues heating up. There are big differences between the two,... Read more »

This technology could alter the entire planet. These groups want every nation to have a say.

But critics of geoengineering research argue that whatever the stated goals, such efforts legitimize the development and eventual use of a climate intervention that they insist is too risky to even consider.... Read more »

The US is pouring money into surveillance tech at the southern border

According to EFF, the agency plans to triple the number of towers, from 135 today to 442, and upgrade existing towers with new technologies in the next several years. There are three... Read more »

Teachers in Denmark are using apps to audit their students’ moods

Rockenbach says these sociograms are crucial tools to detect social isolation and might even help identify children who are vulnerable to bullying. He points to testimonial reports from schools as an indicator... Read more »

Ways to Keep the Spark Alive

The targets of a text, the thrill of this first kiss, the need-to-have-you-right-now sex—there’s much to love about quick a relationship. But as things settle down and routine sets in, it’s easy... Read more »

The Download: cancer-fighting bacteria, and ChatGPT in the classroom

The news: There are trillions of microbes living in and on our bodies—and we might be able to modify them to help us treat diseases. Scientists have altered the genomes of some... Read more »

A test told me my brain and liver are older than they should be. Should I be worried?

I was 35 when I took the test. And my results suggested that my biological age was 35 too. That indicates I’m aging at a normal rate compared with other people we... Read more »