Research & Development news

• Websites taken down worldwide as critical cyber-security update issued

  21-10-2026 21:54 via BBC News
  
  The vulnerabilities with PHP, a programming language widely used across the internet, have been described as the most significant ever found by AI.
  
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• Just Eat apologises for AI food mistakes after social media ridicule

  21-10-2026 19:04 via BBC News
  
  A spokesperson said it was removing inaccurate AI images and pausing the rollout of the tool.
  
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• The Download: introducing the Impossible issue

  21-10-2026 14:10 via MIT Technology Review
  
  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 Impossible issueWe wanted our last print edition of 2026 to include a slate of stories that check in on impossible ideas. Why? Because it’s fun to dream about living on other planets or uploading our brains. But also because scientists and engineers who won’t give up on daring endeavors remind us what technology is suppo
  
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• We can do impossible things

  21-10-2026 11:00 via MIT Technology Review
  
  I’d wager everyone has a rehearsed response to what’s absolutely one of the world’s worst interview questions: “What’s your biggest weakness?” Whenever I’ve gotten it, I take a slow—even pensive—breath and rattle off my line: “I say no to myself too much.” I won’t lie. It’s a bit shameless—a definite humblebrag. I’m a systems thinker: When an idea pops up, I immediately spin up a feasibility assessment
  
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• Solid-state batteries

  21-10-2026 11:00 via MIT Technology Review
  
  The rise of the lithium-ion battery, which powers everything from the smallest personal electronics to gargantuan energy storage systems, has been nothing short of revolutionary. But as anyone who’s boarded a plane in the last decade could tell you, storing and pumping out energy by moving charged lithium ions through a liquid electrolyte soup has its drawbacks, not least that the batteries have a troubling tendency to catch fire. Enter the solid-state battery, which swaps liquid for a sol
  
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• Nuclear-powered spaceships

  21-10-2026 11:00 via MIT Technology Review
  
  Just before the Artemis II crew began its historic slingshot around the moon this past April, NASA announced plans to build Space Reactor-1 Freedom. SR-1, the first-ever nuclear-reactor-­powered interplanetary spacecraft, is meant to fly an uncrewed mission to Mars by the end of 2028, arriving in 2029. A successful mission would herald a new era of more efficient, potentially faster spaceflight—saving astronauts time and cutting their exposure to harmful cosmic radiation as they travel
  
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• Interspecies communication

  21-10-2026 11:00 via MIT Technology Review
  
  Humans are far from the only species with a gift for gab, and our furry, feathered, and finned friends could have a lot to tell us. Decoding how animals communicate with one another could offer a window into the inner lives of other species and help humans realize that “animals are sentient creatures who think, who have hopes and dreams of their own,” says Con Slobodchikoff, the founder of Zoolingua, a company working on dog-to-human speech.The sticking pointsTeasing all this out is
  
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• Exercise in a pill

  21-10-2026 11:00 via MIT Technology Review
  
  We all know exercise is good for us. It builds muscle, strengthens bones, lowers blood pressure, and boosts mood. By deciphering how movement benefits the body, researchers hope to develop medicines that can offer some of the same perks—without the workout. The idea isn’t to replace exercise but to bring its upsides to people who struggle with frailty, disability, or chronic illness. The sticking pointsIt will take a lot of experimentation to untangle the myriad pathways by whic
  
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• Eliminating traffic deaths

  21-10-2026 11:00 via MIT Technology Review
  
  Every year, traffic crashes kill more than one million people, and they’re the leading cause of death for children and young adults. In the US, 100 people a day lose their lives this way, in many cases not on highways but on rural and local streets. “Traffic deaths are a leading cause of preventable death, yet we treat it like it’s inevitable,” says Leah Shahum, founder and director of the Vision Zero Network, a nonprofit focused on making streets less deadly. The st
  
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• Cleaning up PFAS

  21-10-2026 11:00 via MIT Technology Review
  
  Scrubbing Earth of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—a.k.a. PFAS or forever chemicals—could eliminate a list of woes for people and planet. Used for decades in everything from nonstick pans to firefighting foams, PFAS have been linked to increased risks of fertility challenges, developmental delays, cancer, and reduced immune response. They are known for a strong bond between carbon and fluorine, which the environment struggles to break down. The sticking pointsPFAS are everyw
  
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• Elon Musk confirms he is considering merging Tesla and SpaceX

  21-10-2026 10:42 via BBC News
  
  Musk says special committees within both companies have been formed to look at a possible mega-merger.
  
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• The tech helping crack decades-old cold cases

  21-10-2026 01:13 via BBC News
  
  Investigative genetic genealogy can help hunt down criminals but raises worries over privacy.
  
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