The Download: future materials shortages, and Google on trial [MIT Tech Review]

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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.

This rare earth metal shows us the future of our planet’s resources

For nearly as long as we’ve extracted materials from our planet, we’ve been trying to predict how long they will be able to meet our demand. How much can we pump from a well, or wrest from a mine, before we need to reconsider what we’re building and how? 

We’re in the middle of a potentially transformative moment. Metals discovered barely a century ago now underpin the technologies we’re relying on for cleaner energy, and not having enough of them could slow progress. 

Take neodymium, one of the rare earth metals. It’s used in cryogenic coolers to reach ultra-low temperatures needed for devices like superconductors and in high-powered magnets that power everything from smartphones to wind turbines. And very soon, demand for it could outstrip supply. What happens then? And what does it reveal about issues across wider supply chains? Read our story to find out.

—Casey Crownhart

This piece is from the forthcoming print issue of MIT Technology Review, which is celebrating 125 years of the magazine! It’s set to go live on Wednesday August 28, so if you don’t already, subscribe now to get a copy when it lands.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Google will face a trial claiming that it misled Chrome users 
The lawsuit alleges that the browser collected user data without their permission. (WP $)
+ The case was originally dismissed in 2022, but was reversed on appeal. (The Verge)

2 OpenAI will let companies customize its most powerful model
Businesses can fine-tune GPT-4o to include their own data for the first time. (Bloomberg $)
+ OpenAI has also hashed out a deal with media giant Condé Nast. (Wired $)
+ How to fine-tune AI for prosperity. (MIT Technology Review)

3 CrowdStrike has had a rough month
The cyber security firm has accused its rivals of making ‘misguided’ attacks in the wake of its colossal global IT outage. (FT $)
+ The outage was caused by a botched update. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Waymo is making 100,000 robotaxi trips a week
That’s double the amount of journeys it was making in May. (NBC News)
+ What’s next for robotaxis. (MIT Technology Review)

5 A law that protects tech giants is being used against them
Section 230 shields tech firms from legal liability. A Massachusetts professor is testing its limits. (NYT $)

6 The hype around hydrogen continues to build
Particularly regarding ‘gold’ hydrogen, which doesn’t require energy to produce. (Wired $)
+ But producing green hydrogen is easier said than done. (FT $)
+ Hydrogen could be used for nearly everything. It probably shouldn’t be. (MIT Technology Review)

7 Taiwan is putting its fish farms to work
They’re doubling up as solar plants, creating a new aquavoltaics facility. (IEEE Spectrum) 

8 China’s fast fashion giants are feuding again
Shein has accused Temu of ripping off its designs, an accusation that major brands have long leveled against Shein itself. (404 Media)
+ Shein’s lawsuit comes as Temu is attempting to infiltrate the US. (The Register)
+ The pair have a long, litigious history of suing each other. (MIT Technology Review)

9 How to make food from plastic
No, really. (Undark Magazine)
+ Think that your plastic is being recycled? Think again. (MIT Technology Review)

10 China is going wild for a Ming dynasty epic video game
Players need a good knowledge of Journey to the West to progress. (Reuters)
+ Its creators are hoping it’ll prove a hit with Western audiences too. (NYT $)

Quote of the day

“If we take our clothes off when in our communities, then it has to be shown in the same way on the internet.”

—Chirley Pankara, a doctor in anthropology at the University of São Paulo and an Indigenous activist, says social media’s anti-nudity policies censor Indigenous practices, Rest of World reports.

The big story

The messy quest to replace drugs with electricity

May 2024

In the early 2010s, electricity seemed poised for a hostile takeover of your doctor’s office. Research into how the nervous system—the highway that carries electrical messages between the brain and the body— controls the immune response was gaining traction.

And that had opened the door to the possibility of hacking into the body’s circuitry and thereby controlling a host of chronic diseases, as if the immune system were as reprogrammable as a computer.

To do that you’d need a new class of implant: an “electroceutical.” These devices would replace drugs. No more messy side effects. And no more guessing whether a drug would work differently for you and someone else. In the 10 years or so since, around a billion dollars has accreted around the effort. Despite that, electroceuticals have still not taken off as hoped. But could that be about to change? Read our story.

—Sally Adee

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 tweet ’em at me.)

• Ditch the calorie counting and apply sun cream around your eyes: here’s how to live well these days.
  + Emily in Paris is back, and its shooting locations are as dreamy as ever.
  + You can’t tickle yourself, no matter how hard you try.
  + This tasty-looking food has been upcycled.