The newsletter leads with a look at a fast-emerging field that analyzes cells to predict what kind of person an embryo might become. While some prospective parents pursue such testing to avoid passing on serious genetic disorders, a smaller group is paying tens of thousands of dollars to try to optimize traits like intelligence, appearance, and personality. The piece raises concerns that customers may not be getting what they are paying for, underscoring a widening ethical and scientific gray zone as embryo prediction services move from lab research to commercial offerings.
It also examines the growing business of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Tech companies are spending heavily on technologies meant to cancel out their emissions, and giants like Microsoft are backing bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, or BECCS. But the approach faces several potential problems, according to reporting summarized here, and some of the concerns mirror long-running issues with other climate strategies, including the reliability of carbon offsets and the practicality of alternative jet fuels.
Another feature highlights Fervo Energy, one of the 2025 climate tech companies to watch, for its work advancing enhanced geothermal systems. By using fracking techniques to create artificial geothermal reservoirs, Fervo aims to replicate the unique geological conditions normally required for cost-effective geothermal power. The company says its approach can deliver steady, renewable electricity at scales suitable for massive data centers and hundreds of thousands of homes, expanding geothermal’s reach beyond naturally favorable locations.
The curated links section spans technology and policy developments. Highlights include Meta removing a Facebook group that shared ICE agent sightings, soaring valuations for loss-making Artificial Intelligence startups and energy firms, shortcomings in facial recognition for people with facial differences, and a billionaire-backed startup using sound waves to treat tumors. Other items cover the surge in scam texts, South Korea rolling back an Artificial Intelligence textbook program over inaccuracies and added teacher workload, YouTube’s growing push into sports, job hunting challenges in the age of Artificial Intelligence, a new International Space Station livestream channel, and e-waste risks as Windows 10 support ends.
The quote of the day comes from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, responding to criticism over relaxing rules to let adults hold erotic conversations with ChatGPT: “We are not the elected moral police of the world.” The newsletter closes with a report on India’s scramble for Artificial Intelligence independence amid chronic underinvestment and linguistic complexity, spurred by the strong performance of the Chinese open-source model DeepSeek-R1, plus a few lighter picks, from award-winning wildlife photography to a very sleepy giraffe.
