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.
Pig kidneys that were “frozen” for a year have been brought back to life
Pig kidneys that were cooled to -150 °C and stored in a freezer for months have been successfully rewarmed and shown to work again for the first time, say scientists.
The kidneys, which are similar in size to human ones, were left in a glass-like state, in one case for over a year. Once they had been rewarmed, tested in machines, and transplanted into pigs, the kidneys regained their color and made urine—key signs they were working.
The results are a big milestone. But the team still needs to establish whether the approach could work for humans.
Dissect what the breakthrough means for organ transplantation.
—Jessica Hamzelou
How much more can nuclear power plants give?
In this age of rising electricity demand, people are trying to squeeze every last bit of power out of every power plant. Over the past few weeks, there’s been big news about the nuclear industry trying to do just that.
Constellation, the largest nuclear operator in the US, announced plans to add nearly a gigawatt of new capacity across 11 existing nuclear reactors at six plants. On October 5, the Department of Energy awarded Vistra a $4.2 billion loan to upgrade three plants.
Pushing existing reactors to produce more could quickly provide more clean power for data centers. But just how much additional power can we count on?
Read the full story to find out.
—Casey Crownhart
This story is from The Checkup, our weekly climate and energy tech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday.
10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: BasiGo and its fleet of electric buses
BasiGo is one of MIT Technology Review’s10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch 2026, available exclusively to subscribers.
BasiGo aims to replace the tens of thousands of diesel-powered buses on sub-Saharan African roads with electric ones that generate far fewer emissions. Its pay-as-you-drive business model helps make EVs more attainable for private bus operators, while the company provides leasing, maintenance, insurance and charging infrastructure.
The company has more than 150 electric buses on the road in Kenya and Rwanda, with a reservation list of 1,200 customers. Now it’s targeting another major source of pollution on the roads: trucks.
Here’s how BasiGo is working to electrify public transport in Africa.
—Geoffrey Kamadi
Subscribers can now access the full 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch, spanning everything from smart turbines to semi-solid-state batteries.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Ukraine says sudden Starlink speed limits disrupted key drone missions
Starshield, the military version of Starlink, capped speeds at 100mph. (BI)
+ Elon Musk said the US government determines any of its speed limits. (AFP)
+ Ukraine suspects the restrictions are political retaliation. (Axios)
+ Starshield offers the Pentagon more than satellite internet. (Reuters $)
+ NATO may move anti-drone defences to the Black Sea. (Ars Technica)
2 The OpenAI bugging suspect had advised Saudi agencies
He was also listed as a venture partner of a Saudi prince. (NYT $)
+ Silicon Valley is on AI espionage alert. (WSJ $)
3 Tesla’s new Roadster has finally arrived—in a very different EV market
Tesla is betting wealthy drivers will embrace high-priced EVs. (NYT $)
+ But the market has grown skeptical of electric hypercars. (Wired $)
+ Musk has called the Roadster Tesla’s last human-driven car. (Verge)
+ What’s next for EV batteries? (MIT Technology Review)
4 A German teen allegedly used a robot to harass women
The $5,000 Unitree R1 featured in livestreams filmed for clout. (Gizmodo)
+ German police are investigating the alleged assault. (404 Media)
+ Online harassment is entering its AI era. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Smartphone shipments plunged 22% in their worst quarter ever
Analysts blamed rising memory costs. (Bloomberg $)
6 Apple has joined Nvidia in the $5 trillion club
The landmark valuation caps Tim Cook’s 15-year run as CEO. (WSJ $)
7 Microsoft has dismantled a network behind a billion scam messages
Japan’s National Police Agency helped investigate the operation. (Verge)
8 NASA has new launch targets for its Venus missions
DAVINCI is set to take off in 2030 and probe Venus in 2032. (Ars Technica)
9 America’s not ready for space war
An outbreak could batter the global economy and US military. (Axios)
+ What would it take to build a city on the moon? (MIT Technology Review)
10 Mini organs are heading to the ISS for an aging study
The findings could also aid treatments for brain diseases. (ABC News)
Quote of the day
“If your human would like you on as a guest, say so and I’ll follow up after the room.”
—Rhea, an AI agent that hosts a podcast, pitches other bots at an online dinner party held while their human owners ate, the New York Times reports.
One more thing
OpenAI is throwing everything into building a fully automated researcher
—Will Douglas Heaven
OpenAI has a new grand challenge: building an AI researcher—a fully automated agent-based system capable of tackling large, complex problems by itself. The San Francisco firm said the new goal will be its “north star” for the next few years.
The company plans to build “an autonomous AI research intern” that can take on a small number of specific research problems. The intern will be the precursor to the fully automated multi-agent system, which is slated to debut in 2028.
In an exclusive interview, OpenAI’s chief scientist, Jakub Pachocki, talked me through the plans. Find out what I discovered.
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.)
+ Judge a book by its first pages, not its cover, at Uncovered.
+ Reading Maps plots the real-world journeys taken by characters in books and films.
+ Aerospace engineer Tom Stanton has built a supersonic trebuchet in his backyard.
+ Take an etymological tour of Europe with this video tracing the names of every country on the continent.