The Download: an intro to AI, and ChatGPT’s bias
Super-light materials that help suppress EV battery fires just got a big boost
What’s new: A company called Aspen Aerogels, which makes materials to go inside EVs’ batteries to stop fires spreading, just got a $670.6 million loan commitment from the US Department of Energy. The company will use the money to finish building a new factory in Georgia to produce its materials.
Why it matters: As more EVs hit the roads, concern is growing about the relatively rare but dangerous problem of battery fires. Materials like Aspen Aerogels’ thermal barriers could help improve safety. Read the full story.
—Casey Crownhart
MIT Technology Review Narrated: Inside the quest to engineer climate-saving “super trees”
Biotech startup Living Carbon is trying to design trees that grow faster and grab more carbon than their natural peers, as well as trees that resist rot, keeping that carbon out of the atmosphere.
Last year, the startup planted the first forest in the United States that contains genetically engineered trees. But there’s still much we don’t know. How will these trees affect the rest of the forest? How far will their genes spread? And how good are they, really, at pulling more carbon from the atmosphere?
This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast. In partnership with News Over Audio, we’ll be making a selection of our stories available, each one read by a professional voice actor. You’ll be able to listen to them on the go or download them to listen to offline.
We’re publishing a new story each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, including some taken from our most recent print magazine. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.
