{"id":853020,"date":"2025-06-03T05:11:54","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T10:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/03\/the-download-us-climate-studies-are-being-shut-down-and-building-cities-from-lava\/"},"modified":"2025-06-03T05:11:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T10:11:54","slug":"the-download-us-climate-studies-are-being-shut-down-and-building-cities-from-lava","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/03\/the-download-us-climate-studies-are-being-shut-down-and-building-cities-from-lava\/","title":{"rendered":"The Download: US climate studies are being shut down, and building cities from lava"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Plus: the US is failing to narrow the technological gap between it and China<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n

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This is today’s edition of\u00a0The Download<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Trump administration has shut down more than 100 climate studies<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Trump administration has terminated National Science Foundation grants for more than 100 research projects related to climate change, according to an MIT Technology Review<\/em> analysis of a database that tracks such cuts.<\/p>\n

The move will cut off what\u2019s likely to amount to tens of millions of dollars for studies that were previously approved and, in most cases, already in the works. Many believe the administration\u2019s broader motivation is to undermine the power of the university system and prevent research findings that cut against its politics. Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014James Temple<\/em><\/p>\n

This architect wants to build cities out of lava<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Arnhildur P\u00e1lmad\u00f3ttir is an architect with an extraordinary mission: to harness molten lava and build cities out of it.<\/p>\n

P\u00e1lmad\u00f3ttir believes the lava that flows from a single eruption could yield enough building material to lay the foundations of an entire city. She has been researching this possibility for more than five years as part of a project she calls Lavaforming. Together with her son and colleague Arnar Skarph\u00e9\u00f0insson, she has identified three potential techniques that could change how future homes are designed and built from repurposed lava. Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Elissaveta M. Brandon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This story is from the <\/strong>most recent edition of our print magazine<\/strong><\/a>, which is all about how technology is changing creativity. <\/strong>Subscribe now<\/strong><\/a> to read it and to receive future print copies once they land.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The must-reads<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve combed the internet to find you today\u2019s most fun\/important\/scary\/fascinating stories about technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

1 America is failing to win the tech race against China<\/strong>
In fields as diverse as drones and energy. (WSJ<\/a> $)
+ Humanoid robots is an area of particular interest. <\/em>(Bloomberg<\/a> $)
+ China has accused the US of violating the pair\u2019s trade truce. <\/em>(FT<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

2 Who is really in charge of DOGE?<\/strong>
According to a fired staffer, it wasn\u2019t Elon Musk. (Wired<\/a> $)
+ DOGE\u2019s tech takeover threatens the safety and stability of our critical data. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

3 Brazilians will soon be able to sell their digital data
<\/strong>It\u2019s the first time citizens will be able to monetize their digital footprint. (Rest of World<\/a>)<\/p>\n

4 The Trump administration\u2019s anti-vaccine stance is stoking fear among scientists<\/strong>
It\u2019s slashing funding for mRNA trials, and experts are afraid to speak out. (The Atlantic<\/a> $)
+ This annual shot might protect against HIV infections. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

5 Tech companies want us to spend longer talking to chatbots<\/strong>
Those conversations can easily veer into dangerous territory. (WP<\/a> $)
+ How we use AI in the future is up to us. <\/em>(New Yorker<\/a> $)
+ This benchmark used Reddit\u2019s AITA to test how much AI models suck up to us. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

6 Tiktok\u2019s mental health videos are rife with misinformation
<\/strong>A lot of the advice is useless at best, and harmful at worst. (The Guardian<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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7 Lawyers are hooked on ChatGPT
<\/strong>Even though it\u2019s inherently unreliable. (The Verge<\/a>)
+ Yet another lawyer has been found referencing nonexistent citations. <\/em>(The Guardian<\/a>)
+ How AI is introducing errors into courtrooms. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

8 How chefs are using generative AI <\/strong>????\u200d????<\/strong>
<\/strong>They\u2019re starting to experiment with using it to create innovative new dishes. (NYT<\/a> $)
+ Watch this robot cook shrimp and clean autonomously. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

9 The influencer suing her rival has dropped her lawsuit<\/strong>
The legal fight over ownership of a basic aesthetic has come to an end. (NBC News<\/a>)<\/p>\n

10 Roblox\u2019s new game has sparked a digital fruit underground market<\/strong>
And players are already spending millions of dollars every week. (Bloomberg<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

Quote of the day<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t substitute complex thinking with machines. AI can\u2019t replace our curiosity, creativity or emotional intelligence.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014Mateusz Demski, a journalist in Poland, tells the Guardian<\/a> about how his radio station employer laid him off, only to later launch shows fronted by AI-generated presenters.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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One more thing<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/figure>\n
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\u200b\u200b<\/strong>Adventures in the genetic time machine<\/strong>An ancient-DNA revolution is turning the high-speed equipment used to study the DNA of living things on to specimens from the past.<\/p>\n

The technology is being used to create genetic maps of saber-toothed cats, cave bears, and thousands of ancient humans, including Vikings, Polynesian navigators, and numerous Neanderthals. The total number of ancient humans studied is more than 10,000 and rising fast.<\/p>\n

The old genes have already revealed remarkable stories of human migrations around the globe.<\/p>\n

But researchers are hoping ancient DNA will be more than a telescope on the past\u2014they hope it will have concrete practical use in the present. Read the full story<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2014Antonio Regalado<\/em><\/p>\n

We can still have nice things<\/strong><\/p>\n

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? <\/em>Drop me a line<\/em><\/a> or <\/em>skeet ’em at me<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

+ The ancient Persians managed to keep cool<\/a> using an innovative breeze-catching technique that could still be useful today.
+ Knowledge is power\u2014here\u2019s a helpful list of hoaxes<\/a> to be aware of.
+ How said it: Homer Simpson or Pete Hegseth<\/a>?
+ I had no idea London has so many cat statues<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Rhiannon Williams<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plus: the US is failing to narrow the technological gap between it and China This is today’s edition of\u00a0The Download ,\u00a0our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. The Trump administration has shut down more than 100 climate studies The Trump administration has terminated National Science<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":853021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1923,24097,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-853020","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-climate","8":"category-download","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/853021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}