Research & Development news

• How much hydrogen awaits us underground?

  17-08-2026 11:00 via technologyreview.com
  
  In the 1990s, Barbara Sherwood Lollar descended into the Kidd Creek mine in northern Ontario, which cuts more than three kilometers into the ancient root of North America. There her team of geochemists found water that had been confined underground for more than a billion years. This ancient brine turned out to be a habitat for living microbes that feed on the hydrogen produced in reactions between the water and the rock.Decades later, Sherwood Lollar, who is a geochemist at the University of To
  
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• What Flock’s defenders are missing

  17-08-2026 21:16 via technologyreview.com
  
  This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here.Flock, the police-tech giant known for its network of some 120,000 automatic license plate readers around the US, announced some changes to its platform last Thursday. The updates are meant to prevent officers from using the platform for illegal or illegitimate purposes. That includes stalking. The Washington Post recently identified 50 cases in which
  
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• The Download: dead robot friends and the “censorship-industrial complex”

  17-08-2026 14:10 via technologyreview.com
  
  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.
  What happens when a kid’s robot best friend dies?When Xander first met Moxie, she taught him how to calm down when he was anxious or mad. Six years later, she mostly watches him play Minecraft and talks to him about his stuffed animals.Moxie is a robot—a 15-inch-tall device that looks a bit like a blue, legless astronaut. It belongs to
  
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• What happens when a kid’s robot best friend dies?

  17-08-2026 11:00 via technologyreview.com
  
  When Xander first met Moxie, she taught him that when he was anxious, he could calm down by exhaling through his lips so that he buzzed like a bee. They practiced breathing like dragons to manage feeling mad and sniffing like bunnies to boost his energy. But in the six years they’ve known each other, Moxie’s changed. She doesn’t talk anymore about her home or do their animal breathing. Now, she watches Xander play Minecraft and talks to him about his stuffed animal collection.&
  
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• I survived two years as prime minister in a hit new game - then my cabinet deserted me

  16-08-2026 01:45 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Mobile game No 10: Full Confidence recently ranked above Minecraft on the UK App Store paid games chart
  
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• Secondhand book sales are booming. Is it because of AI?

  15-08-2026 13:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Booksellers are reporting mysterious bulk orders. It's thought the books are being used to train AI - and ending up pulped.
  
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• Why tech bosses keep sharing their manifestos about AI

  15-08-2026 01:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg is the latest Big Tech name to pen a letter thousands of words long about AI.
  
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• Protein or pickled garlic? What's new in ice cream

  14-08-2026 23:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  There's a constant battle in ice cream to come up with new flavours and to keep costs down.
  
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• The Download: Flock’s new rules, cloning’s future, and children’s cells

  14-08-2026 14:17 via technologyreview.com
  
  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.
  Flock is tightening its rules in response to a growing surveillance backlashThe police-tech giant Flock is changing officers’ access to its nationwide network of license plate readers. The move comes amid a backlash over mass surveillance and reports of officers using the technology to stalk and harass current or former romantic partners.To c
  
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• This scientist is helping build a missing map of childhood

  14-08-2026 11:00 via technologyreview.com
  
  In 2017, Deanne Taylor attended a presentation at the University of Pennsylvania, just a short walk from her office. A researcher was there to unveil the Human Cell Atlas, an ambitious project that aimed to map every cell in the human body. Taylor was floored, and then concerned. As details emerged, she discovered that the project’s researchers had only made plans to study adults. “That’s when my little alarm went off,” she says. “Not again.”Since joining the
  
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• Job titles of the future: Space travel agent

  14-08-2026 11:00 via technologyreview.com
  
  Roman Chiporukha has long turned wild travel dreams into reality. Over two decades as co-owner of the luxury lifestyle firm Roman & Erica, he has orchestrated everything from the construction of a client’s superyacht to vacations in the Bahamas at a location so private that guests must sign an NDA. NHUNG LÊ
  The experiences earned him “the ear,” he says, “of the ultra-high-net-worth audience.” It also led to a life-changing phone call: In 2018, Axiom S
  
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• Cloning could be used to save species—or make human “organ sacks”

  14-08-2026 11:00 via technologyreview.com
  
  This week I spoke to scientists who have found a way to turn male mouse embryos female. They’ve developed a CRISPR-based approach to essentially cut out the Y chromosome. It allowed them to create female clones of male mice.That’s right: female animals that are genetically identical to males, except for the missing Y chromosome. Takashi Ishiuchi, a reproductive biologist at the University of Yamanashi who co-led the work, told me it felt a bit like sci-fi.Ishiuchi and his colleague
  
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• Roundtables: Inside the “Censorship-Industrial Complex” Idea Shaping US Policy

  13-08-2026 23:00 via technologyreview.com
  
  Listen to the session or watch belowThe “censorship-industrial complex” is an idea that a network of government, tech, and research groups is collaborating to suppress conservative online speech. This was fodder for the right-wing information sphere for years—then it began making its way into US policy. Watch a conversation exploring how it started, where it’s going, and what it means for the future of democracy and the internet.Speakers: Amy Nordrum, Executive Editor, Op
  
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• Building a practical path to post-quantum cryptography

  13-08-2026 20:11 via technologyreview.com
  
  Quantum computing has alternated between breakthrough darling and overhyped promise in technology circles. Its powerful new capabilities come with a threat to break current cryptography, but for business leaders navigating the noise, the signal should be clear: post-quantum cryptography (PQC) is a manageable evolution, not a crisis.The mathematics behind today’s encrypted digital transactions may yield to quantum computers one day, but the transition to quantum-resistant algorithms is neit
  
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• Bumble divides users by ditching its signature 'women-first' chat rule

  13-08-2026 16:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The dating app's boss says the move is in response to a successful trial and a change in what users want.
  
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• Flock is tightening its rules in response to a growing surveillance backlash

  13-08-2026 15:41 via technologyreview.com
  
  The police-tech giant Flock is announcing today that it will change officers’ access to its nationwide network of license plate readers, in an apparent effort to quell a growing backlash and win back contracts lost amid concerns about mass surveillance and police abuse.Several changes aim directly at a problem that has made recent headlines: officers abusing Flock’s technology to stalk and harass current or former romantic partners. Flock’s 120,000 cameras form a nationwide net
  
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• Flock boss admits surveillance firm took too long to act over police abuse

  13-08-2026 15:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  US police officers have quit after using licence plate-reading cameras to track romantic partners.
  
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• The Download: kids’ thoughts on AI, and female clones of male mice

  13-08-2026 14:10 via technologyreview.com
  
  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 kids feel about AI, in their own words—Jen Swetzoff and Keeley McNamara, the founding editors of Anyway, an independent print magazine for tweens and teensWhen we set out to talk to kids about AI, we thought we knew what we’d hear. We expected stories about cheating, inspiring uses, and concerns like deepfakes or job destruction. Bu
  
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• Twitch users outraged as Amazon uses their content to train AI in opt-out feature

  13-08-2026 12:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Users of the popular streaming platform criticised allowing Amazon to use their data by dafault.
  
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• What’s behind this summer’s heat, and why 2027 could be worse

  13-08-2026 12:00 via technologyreview.com
  
  This summer has been a scorcher for much of the Northern Hemisphere. June and July marked the hottest two-month stretch in Europe since record-keeping began. The contiguous US endured its hottest month on record in July. South Korea saw its highest-ever recorded temperature.  The heat isn’t over yet, but some scientists are already looking ahead to 2027. Experts say the latest El Niño event is going to affect next year’s temperatures more than this year’s.So a
  
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• How kids feel about AI, in their own words

  13-08-2026 11:00 via technologyreview.com
  
  When we set out to talk to kids about artificial intelligence, we thought we knew what we’d hear. We expected some to tell us they were using it to cheat a little, the way Millennials and Gen Xers opened up CliffsNotes or programmed formulas into their TI-82s, and others to share inspiring ways they were using it. We were also listening for concerns that were less kid-specific, like deepfakes or job destruction. But what we actually heard when we asked kids aged 10 to 18 about AI had tons
  
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• Amazon is using Twitch to train generative AI

  13-08-2026 09:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The streaming platform's users criticised the move to allow the use of channel content for AI training.
  
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• Why Japanese firms are being so slow to use AI

  13-08-2026 01:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Japanese risk aversion and conservatism blamed for slow AI take-up by the country's business sector.
  
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• Scientists just created female clones of male mice

  12-08-2026 20:59 via technologyreview.com
  
  Scientists have deliberately turned male mouse embryos into females for the first time. A team based in Japan used a CRISPR-based approach to remove the Y chromosome from male cells and create female clones of male mice. “No one has done this before,” says Monika Ward, a reproductive biologist at the University of Hawaii, who was not involved in the research.The feat could change the way scientists think about reproduction, says Takashi Ishiuchi, a reproductive biologist at the
  
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• Discord ordered to suspend livestreams in Brazil

  12-08-2026 19:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Discord told the BBC it was "thoughtfully reviewing" the order by Brazil's data protection agency and it was "committed to user safety"
  
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• Scaling AI agents with trustworthy data

  12-08-2026 18:51 via technologyreview.com
  
  Business and technology leaders need no convincing that the time of agentic AI is here. Organizations are rapidly adopting agents, and few executives doubt the technology’s potential to transform work. But many organizations find that realizing the desired return on investment (ROI) from AI hinges on having the right foundation, with inadequate infrastructure and data being major blockers.Agentic AI places considerable new demands on enterprise data systems. The shift from answering questi
  
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• The Download: our 35 young innovators and the “censorship-industrial complex”

  12-08-2026 14:10 via technologyreview.com
  
  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 we picked 35 of the world’s top young scientists and engineersOn September 8, MIT Technology Review will reveal its 2026 list of Innovators Under 35, recognizing 35 young people from around the world who are doing groundbreaking scientific work and building clever technical fixes for sticky problems.By finding the top young innovators glo
  
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• How we picked 35 of the world’s top young scientists and engineers

  12-08-2026 11:08 via technologyreview.com
  
  Next month, on September 8, MIT Technology Review will reveal its 2026 list of Innovators Under 35, recognizing 35 young people from around the world who are doing groundbreaking scientific work and building clever technical fixes for sticky problems. By finding the top young innovators globally and learning what they’re focused on in their work, we aim to give readers a sense of what advances to expect in the years to come. As a newsroom, we also use this exercise to help us spot ris
  
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• How the “censorship-industrial complex” is changing the Internet and US policy

  11-08-2026 19:58 via technologyreview.com
  
  I first heard the term “censorship-industrial complex” on April 15, 2025. That’s when I got the tip that a small office in the U.S. State Department, which focused on monitoring and countering foreign disinformation from the likes of Russia, Iran, and China, was facing imminent shutdown—the next day. And the reason? R/FIMI, as the office was called, was accused of serving as the State Department’s central hub in the so-called censorship-industrial complex&
  
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• Humans aren’t electronics

  11-08-2026 18:40 via technologyreview.com
  The following essay, originally titled “Guaranteeing Agency in the Age of Neural Prosthetics,” was selected as one of three finalists in MIT’s 2026 Envisioning the Future of Computing Prize. Its author, Strahinja  Janjušević, SM ’26, who studied computer science and cybersecurity at the US Naval Academy and just earned his master’s in the Technology and Policy Program of MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, now runs Refractal, an AI
  
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