The Download: how to prove you’re human, and replacing the grid’s gas [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.

How “personhood credentials” could help prove you’re a human online

As AI models become better at mimicking human behavior, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between real human internet users and sophisticated systems imitating them.

That’s a real problem when those systems are deployed for nefarious ends like spreading misinformation or conducting fraud, and it makes it a lot harder to trust what you encounter online.

A group of researchers have developed a potential solution— a verification concept called ‘personhood credentials’ that proves its holder is a real person, without revealing any further information about their identity. Read the full story to learn how it works.

—Rhiannon Williams

The race to replace the powerful greenhouse gas that underpins the power grid

The power grid is underpinned by a single gas that is used to insulate a range of high-voltage equipment. The problem is, it’s also a super powerful greenhouse gas: a nightmare for climate change.

Sulfur hexafluoride (or SF6) is far from the most common gas that warms the planet, contributing around 1% of warming to date—carbon dioxide and methane are much more well-known and abundant. But emissions of the gas are steadily ticking up every year. 

Now, companies are looking to do away with equipment that relies on the gas and searching for replacements that can match its performance. Read the full story.

—Casey Crownhart

Unveiling the 2024 Innovator of the Year

Every year, MIT Technology Review recognizes 35 Innovators Under 35. These young entrepreneurs, researchers, and humanitarians are inventing materials and building systems to help tackle the world’s most pressing problems in biotechnology, computing, and climate science.

On Monday, September 9, we’ll introduce our 2024 Innovator of the Year live on LinkedIn. Join us at 12.30pm ET to find out who it is, and learn about their work and the impact they’re having in this special broadcast ahead of the list’s publication. 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 X is a lot quieter without its Brazilian users
The extremely online nation ran many of X’s most popular fan accounts. (NYT $)
+ Brazil’s Supreme Court is under fire from some quarters for banning access to the platform. (FT $)+ The investors who helped Elon Musk buy X are seriously out of pocket. (WP $)

2 China’s online surveillance net is widening
Influencers’ followers are increasingly becoming targets for police interrogation. (The Guardian)
+ How 2023 marked the death of anonymity online in China. (MIT Technology Review)

3 Intel has a plan to revive its fortunes 
The once-mighty chipmaker plans to shed as many unnecessary assets as possible. (Reuters)
+ Its sales are shrinking, and rival Nvidia is flourishing. (Bloomberg $)

4 We need much more grid storage
EVs haven’t fully taken off, so battery makers are looking to the grid instead. (Economist $)
+ New iron batteries could help. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Dating apps are developing AI wingmen to help you flirt
Tinder, Hinge, Bumble and Grindr’s new bots will suggest smooth chat-up lines. (FT $)

6 US sanctions are pushing China and Russia to build new payment systems
To help them skirt the US-dollar-dominated global financial order. (Insider $)
+ Is the digital dollar dead? (MIT Technology Review)

7 These scientists want to store biological samples on the moon
Seeds, plant, animal and microbial samples could be safer there than on Earth. (Wired $)
+ Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is making weird noises. (Ars Technica)
+ Future space food could be made from astronaut breath. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Making video calls from prison is seriously expensive
But US regulators are finally capping how much private companies can charge. (WSJ $)

9 Hobby apps are exploding in popularity
Social media fatigue is real, and Strava and Letterboxd are reaping the benefits. (Bloomberg $)
+ Want to see what your friends are up to? Check your Venmo. (The Atlantic $)
+ How to fix the internet. (MIT Technology Review)

10 Why AI is such a compelling movie villain
From 2001: A Space Odyssey to the Terminator to the Matrix. (WP $)

Quote of the day

“Pls turn off history.”

—A Google employee tells others to turn off their chat history while discussing sensitive subjects, which the US Federal Government claims is evidence that workers knew to avoid creating a legal paper trail, 404 Media reports.

The big story

The race to produce rare earth materials

January 2024

Abandoning fossil fuels and adopting lower-­carbon technologies are our best options for warding off the accelerating threat of climate change. And access to rare earth elements, key ingredients in many of these technologies, will partly determine which countries will meet their goals for lowering emissions.

Some nations, including the US, are increasingly worried about whether the supply of those elements will remain stable. As a result, scientists and companies alike are intent on increasing access and improving sustainability by exploring secondary or unconventional sources. Read the full story. 

—Mureji Fatunde

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.)

• Now fall is officially on its way, it’s time to update your autumnal reading list ($)
  + I love this image of a neuroscientist and her baby captured by an MRI machine.
  + My favorite Olympic sport? Snail racing! You can read more about how the snails power their little cars here (thanks Claire!)
  + Marginal gains really do work.