Plus: it’s bad news for net neutrality advocates
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 poop could help feed the planet
A new industrial facility in suburban Seattle is giving off a whiff of futuristic technology. It can safely treat fecal waste from people and livestock while recycling nutrients that are crucial for agriculture but in increasingly short supply across the nation’s farmlands.
Making fertilizer from the nutrients that we and other animals excrete has a long and colorful history; for generations it helped Indigenous cultures around the world create exceptionally fertile soil.
These systems fell out of favor in Western culture. But, if researchers and engineers across several companies get their way, that could be about to change. Read the full story.
—Bryn Nelson
This story is from the forthcoming magazine edition of MIT Technology Review, set to go live on January 6—it’s all about the exciting breakthroughs happening in the world right now. If you don’t already, subscribe to receive future copies.
If you’re interested in poop’s wider scientific potential, check out the latest entry in our Jobs of the Future series: stool bank manager. Pediatric gastroenterologist Nikhil Pai is helping to treat children with a common bacterial infection of the large intestine by transplanting healthy stool into a patient’s gut—a highly effective, albeit unconventional, treatment. Read the full story.
Here are MIT Technology Review’s best-performing stories of 2024
MIT Technology Review published hundreds of stories in 2024, covering everything from AI, climate tech, and biotech, to robotics, space, and more.
As the new year begins, take a look at a small selection of the stories that resonated most with you, our readers. Read the full story.
—Abby Ivory-Ganja
Unveiling the 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2025
Each year, MIT Technology Review selects the top ten breakthrough technologies that will have the greatest impact on how we live and work in the future. In the past, we’ve selected breakthrough technologies such as weight-loss drugs, a malaria vaccine, and GPT-3 (the precursor to ChatGPT).
Amy Nordrum, our executive editor, will join our news editor Charlotte Jee to unveil the new list live during an exclusive Roundtable discussion for subscribers at 12.30pm ET today. Register here to be among the first to know.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 A US appeals court has struck down net neutrality rules
It’s the end of a nearly two-decade effort to regulate broadband providers. (NYT $)
+ Net neutrality has been in danger for a while, truthfully. (The Verge)
+ It’s bad news for the Biden administration as it prepares to hand over to Trump. (WP $)
2 Car rental app Turo is under scrutiny
But concerns over the app’s safety practices are nothing new. (WSJ $)
+ The app was used to book vehicles used in both the New Orleans attack and Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion. (NYT $)
+ Turo staff have been pulled off vacation to respond to the aftermath. (Bloomberg $)
3 Nick Clegg is leaving Meta
The former British deputy prime minister is making way for prominent Republican Joel Kaplan. (Semafor)
+ It’s part of the company’s desire to align itself with the incoming Trump administration. (WSJ $)
+ How tech is turning MAGA. (Economist $)
4 Yandex has been ordered to hide maps of a Russian oil refinery
In response to repeated attacks from Ukrainian drones. (Reuters)
+ The Ryazan refinery was hit four times last year alone. (Bloomberg $)
+ The uneasy coexistence of Yandex and the Kremlin. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Apple has agreed to settle a $95 million class-action lawsuit
Over claims the company violated user privacy by sharing Siri recordings. (WP $)
6 Several Californian AI laws have gone into effect
A new year means new regulations. (The Information $)
+ There are more than 120 AI bills in Congress right now. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Our understanding of genetic diseases is changing
Cell mutations suggest we’re far more genetically varied than we previously realized. (The Atlantic $)
+ DeepMind is using AI to pinpoint the causes of genetic disease. (MIT Technology Review)
8 African content creators are struggling to make money
But it appears as though the tide may be slowly turning. (The Guardian)
+ What Africa needs to do to become a major AI player. (MIT Technology Review)
9 Get the new year off to a starry start ☄️
There’s a meteor shower due tonight! (Wired $)
10 How to build a more sustainable refrigerator
A new kind of heat-absorbing crystal could hold the key. (New Scientist $)
+ The future of urban housing is energy-efficient refrigerators. (MIT Technology Review)
Quote of the day
“He is quite clearly the right person for the right job at the right time!”
—Nick Clegg, Meta’s outgoing chief policy executive, wishes his replacement Joel Kaplan the best in a post on X.
The big story
Is it possible to really understand someone else’s mind?
November 2023
Technically speaking, neuroscientists have been able to read your mind for decades. It’s not easy, mind you. First, you must lie motionless within a fMRI scanner, perhaps for hours, while you watch films or listen to audiobooks.
If you do elect to endure claustrophobic hours in the scanner, the software will learn to generate a bespoke reconstruction of what you were seeing or listening to, just by analyzing how blood moves through your brain.
More recently, researchers have deployed generative AI tools, like Stable Diffusion and GPT, to create far more realistic, if not entirely accurate, reconstructions of films and podcasts based on neural activity. So how close are we to genuine “mind reading?” Read the full story.
—Grace Huckins
We can still have nice things
A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)
+ Of course The Cure’s Robert Smith is an iPod fanatic.
+ Japan may be associated with tasteful minimalism, but there’s always room for a bit of clutter.
+ Meet the people who release 3,000 pounds of confetti into New York’s Times Square by hand every New Year’s Eve—then clear it all up.
+ How to start a healthy habit, and, crucially, stick to it. ($)
