<![CDATA[A psychiatric clinician reveals how peers can spark small daily joy, beat burnout, and build balanced wellness that lasts.]]>
Leeds to test digital tools for young diabetes patients
Leeds has been selected as the UK site for a European research pilot to improve diabetes treatment in young people using digital tools.
The Download: a useful quantum machine and a record-breaking subsea tunnel
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.
PsiQuantum has a plan to make a massive quantum computer out of light
The machine that could change the world will be housed in a room that looks like a data center crossed with an ice cream factory.
Inside, some 100 stainless-steel cabinets each hold hundreds of chips. On those chips, thousands of light particles will fly through a maze of optical switches and beam splitters. Each photon must be accounted for, because precisely measuring where it ends up will help answer questions that current computers might take millions of years to solve.
This computer, as described, does not exist. It’s the brainchild of a company called PsiQuantum, founded in 2016 by four physicists from UK universities. In a crowded field of deep-pocketed competitors with similarly fantastical visions, the company aims to be the first to build a useful quantum machine.
Read the full story on the company’s quest.
—James O’Donnell
MIT Technology Review Narrated: inside the world’s deepest and longest subsea road tunnel
—Niall Firth
I’m currently around 1,000 feet beneath the North Sea, in a dark, dank cave. It smells weird. And I’m increasingly aware of the pressure from millions of tons of seawater just above my head.
I’m under the iconic fjords of Norway to visit what will soon become the world’s longest and deepest subsea road tunnel—an exceptional engineering feat that will carry drivers deep beneath the North Sea.
I’m here to understand how you make a 16.6-mile highway that sits 1,280 feet below the sea at its deepest point. And also—at a time when it can feel hard to get anything done—to reassure myself that ambitious engineering is still possible. That we can still make things.
This is our latest story to be turned into an MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we publish each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Meta allegedly used AI to target workers with health issues for layoffs
Their lawsuit says Meta relied on AI to create a termination list. (Guardian)
+ And pinpointed staff who took maternity or disability leave. (Reuters $)
+ One was allegedly informed the day before her water broke. (Ars Technica)
+ The layoffs aimed to offset Meta’s AI spending. (Gizmodo)
+ AI agents are not your “coworkers.” (MIT Technology Review)
2 OpenAI’s first consumer device will be a mobile smart speaker
The screenless device will serve as an “AI companion.” (Bloomberg $)
+ It’ll let you talk with ChatGPT. (Verge)
+ And use a camera and sensor to understand your environment. (Reuters $)
+ It’s set to launch next year. (Engadget)
3 The US military sent explosive drone boats into combat for the first time
They attacked an Iranian midget submarine and naval port. (Ars Technica)
+ Underwater drones may shape a war in Taiwan. (MIT Technology Review)
4 DeepMind’s CEO has called for a US-led body to test frontier AI models
Demis Hassabis wants the watchdog to vet national security threats. (FT $)
+ If dangers mount, it would coordinate an industry-wide slowdown. (Axios)
5 Data centers are set to add billions in power costs in 13 states
A power auction is slated to produce $6.3 billion in new charges. (NYT $)
+ Australia plans to govern the use of water and power for AI. (WSJ $)
6 xAI’s unpermitted power pollution hits Black communities hardest
Elon Musk’s xAI has been installing gas turbines without permits. (Reuters $)
+ We need to focus on Big Tech’s energy footprint. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Stripe and Advent have offered to buy PayPal for more than $53 billion
The payments giant and private equity firm have made a joint bid. (Reuters $)
+ Apple and Google Pay have eroded PayPal’s market share. (Bloomberg $)
8 DeepSeek plans to file for IPO as soon as this year
The Chinese AI pioneer is likely to list in Shanghai. (WSJ $)
+ Here’s why DeepSeek’s latest model matters. (MIT Technology Review)
9 A hard, lightweight “bio-metal” has been discovered in sea worm jaws
It could have applications in engineering. (New Scientist $)
10 A new $3,000 fitness suit electrocutes you to boost your gains
Celebrities love it—but not everyone’s a fan. (404 Media)
Quote of the day
“By economic and engineering measures, generative AI might be the worst technology ever deployed.”
—Alex Reisner, a staff writer at The Atlantic, explains why GenAI’s scaling problem is an engineering disaster.
One More Thing
FRANZISKA BARCZYK
Hackers made death threats against this security researcher. Big mistake.
In April 2024, an anonymous hacker began posting death threats on Telegram and Discord channels aimed at a cybersecurity researcher named Allison Nixon. It wasn’t long before others piled on. Someone shared AI-generated nudes of her.
They targeted Nixon because she had become a formidable threat. As chief research officer at the cyber investigations firm Unit 221B, named after Sherlock Holmes’s apartment, she had built a career tracking cybercriminals and helping get them arrested.
For years, Nixon had lurked quietly in online chat channels or used pseudonyms to engage with perpetrators and bring them to justice. Now, she resolved to unmask the people behind the death threats—and take them down for crimes they admitted to committing.
Find out why they learned to regret their choice of target.
—Kim Zetter
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.)
+ A musician has discovered the true masters of metal breakdowns: birds.
+ Photographer Fontanesi’s surreal photo splits transform everyday images into spectacular hybrid scenes.
+ Over 30 actors, filmmakers, and friends recount how Steven Spielberg infiltrated Hollywood in this terrific article.
+ Who would win the World Cup if less important things than soccer decided it, like life expectancy and happiness? A new game tests your knowledge.
Neurophysiological basis for visual distortions in amblyopia
Despite decades of research, the neural basis of visual distortions in amblyopia remains poorly understood. While numerous studies have reported abnormalities in both early visual cortex and extrastriate areas, these findings have rarely been integrated into a unified mechanistic framework. This review addresses that gap by proposing a dual-level model of cortical distortion in amblyopia: one level reflecting local feature encoding deficits in V1, and a second reflecting integration-level distortions in retinotopic extrastriate cortex. By synthesizing behavioral, neurophysiological, and imaging data from adult human studies as well as animal models, this review offers a coherent neurophysiological account of amblyopic visual distortions and outlines a framework for interpreting current findings and guiding future interventions.
Verbal fluency after cochlear implantation: a longitudinal comparison with untreated hearing loss in the ELSA cohort
IntroductionHearing loss is associated with accelerated cognitive decline, and auditory rehabilitation via cochlear implantation (CI) may mitigate this trajectory. In the past, the impact of cochlear implantation on different cognitive subdomains has been described. However, verbal fluency (VF), which requires fast semantic retrieval, executive control, and processing speed, and is predictive of dementia risk and overall survival, has been rarely studied and control groups are mostly missing due to ethical reasons. The present study compares long-term VF trajectories in CI recipients and untreated hearing-impaired controls from a large population-based aging study.Materials and methodsVF was assessed in 74 CI recipients (M = 65.6 years, SD = 9.1) at pre-operative baseline and 1, 2, 4.5, and up to 9 years post-implantation, and in 383 untreated hearing-impaired participants (M = 72.6 years, SD = 10.0) from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) across a comparable time frame. Scores were z-standardized within each study to enable cross-cohort comparison. Linear mixed-effects models were used to compare VF trajectories, with age, sex, and education as covariates.ResultsVF trajectories differed significantly between groups (Time × Study interaction: b = 0.562, p < 0.001). The ELSA cohort showed a steady linear decline over time (b = −0.261, p = 0.001), whereas the CI cohort exhibited an inverted-U trajectory with initial improvement followed by a plateau. After propensity score matching, results remained robust.ConclusionCochlear implantation is associated with more favorable long-term verbal fluency trajectories compared to untreated hearing loss. These findings add to the growing evidence that auditory rehabilitation may help preserve cognitive function in older adults.
Mouse model of Angelman syndrome exhibits reduced retinal activity during development
Angelman Syndrome (AS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by intellectual disability, seizures, and motor dysfunction caused by loss of function of the maternal UBE3A allele. A large proportion of patients exhibit visual impairments, but the underlying circuit-level mechanisms are not well understood. Spontaneous retinal waves provide essential patterned activity that guides the wiring and refinement of retinofugal projections to visual brain centers during a critical early developmental window. Here, using high-density microelectrode array recordings from postnatal day 8–11 mouse retinas, we demonstrate that Ube3a deficiency leads to reduced retinal ganglion cell (RGC) firing rates and fewer retinal waves while largely preserving retinal wave propagation properties. The reduced activity levels observed in AS retinas represent a novel finding that may help explain how Ube3a deficiency disrupts the normal activity-dependent refinement of developing neural circuits.
Biomarker value of plasma endothelial microvesicle-derived circRNA 0006222 in vascular ageing and carotid atherosclerosis
BackgroundEndothelial microvesicles (EMVs) carrying circular RNAs (circRNAs) have emerged as promising novel biomarkers of ageing-associated disorders. This study investigated the potential of plasma EMVs-circ_0006222 as vascular ageing (VA) and carotid atherosclerosis (CAS) biomarkers.MethodsA circRNA microarray was applied to screen for differentially expressed circRNAs in plasma EMVs obtained from CAS participants, VA participants and healthy controls. VA was assessed according to intima thickness, and CAS was evaluated by using computed tomography angiography. The plasma EMVs-circ_0006222 level was determined via qRT-PCR. EMVs-circ_0006222 levels in patients of different ages and with different severities of CAS were compared. The diagnostic potential of EMVs-circ_0006222 was evaluated by using multivariable logistic regression and receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curve analyses.ResultsA total of 47 healthy controls, 81 VA participants and 216 CAS participants were included in this study. Plasma EMVs-circ_0006222 levels were observed to be negatively associated with age. The plasma level of EMVs-circ_0006222 was markedly reduced in elderly participants, as well as VA and CAS participants; moreover, the decrease was most evident in the CAS group. The plasma EMVs-circ_0006222 level was declined in the severe CAS compared with the mild and moderate CAS subjects. Plasma EMVs-circ_0006222 level was identified by multivariate logistic regression as a significant, independent risk factor for VA and CAS. The areas under the ROC curve of plasma EMVs-circ_0006222 for diagnosing VA and CAS were 0.628 and 0.773, respectively.ConclusionPlasma EMVs-circ_0006222 may serve as a promising biomarker for VA and CAS.
Traumatic brain injury and neurological stealth syndromes
IntroductionA traumatic brain injury (TBI) of mild or more severe degree affects approximately ½ of the global population at some stage of their life. Mild TBI occurs in 70–90%, with 30 and 50% having symptoms persisting for more than 6 months. Mild TBI presentations include cognitive, elementary neurological, neuropsychiatric, endocrine, autonomic, cardiac, and general medical entities, with many behavioral neurological syndromes flying under the radar.AimsA retrospective examination of the cognitive and behavioral impairments in people with traumatic brain injury to evaluate the range of differing syndrome presentations, including hypofunction, hyperfunction and superla+ve brain function syndromes.MethodologyThe Brainbeat Cognitive Registry was a prospectively designed observational registry that collected clinical, cognitive, behavioral, neurological, neuropsychiatric, laboratory, and radiographic data from people with cognitive and behavioral disorders.ResultsIn the registry (n = 73), of predominantly men (88%), with averages for age 55.1 years, BMI 28.9, education 15.1 years, and MOCA score 21.7. Migraine, olfactory impairment, depression, anxiety, and PTSD were all relatively commonly associated conditions. Relatively common disorders with more complex syndromes, including Diogenes syndrome, IEED, ADHD, field-dependent behavior, and hyperorality, the later on presenting as a human Klüver Bucy syndrome. Less common disorders included other higher cortical function disorders (17.1%), neuropsychiatric (10.5%), cortico-ponto- cerebellar pathway syndromes (10.5%), and visual radiation disorders (6.5%). The least common were chronotaraxis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, content-specific delusions, tremor, ataxia, astereopsis, and prosopagnosia. The majority of TBI patients presented with an overarching frontotemporal disorder (FTD) diagnosis (n = 68, 89.4%), with abnormal FRSBE scores for one or more entities of abulia, disinhibition, and executive dysfunction. Frontal Behavioral Inventory scores were abnormal in 86%. The most common neurological sub-syndrome was Geschwind-Gastaut syndrome (n = 49, 62.8%). A category of patients demonstrating superlative abilities (n = 9), including visual art, musical, literary, architectural brilliance, and precognition, all attributed to right hemisphere hyperfunction, was also identified.ConclusionPost-TBI frontotemporal disorders are common. Deconstructing the overarching FTD diagnosis into multiple subsyndromes is clinically useful, revealing hypofunction syndromes, hyperfunction, and superlative function syndromes. The range of neurological stealth syndromes as part of the post-TBI range of maladies may facilitate a more targeted, precision management approach.
Gone fishin’… for distinct patterns of belief-updating in late-life worry and rumination
IntroductionWorry and rumination are two common forms of repetitive negative thinking encountered as core symptoms of anxiety and depression. They are difficult to treat and increase the risk of relapse for remitted depressive and anxiety disorders, especially in late-life. We propose that dysfunctional belief-updating is a fundamental cognitive mechanism underlying repetitive negative thinking and use a Bayesian model to test whether distinct components of belief updating are differentially associated with worry and rumination.MethodsWe recruited 83 older participants (age≥50) dimensionally for worry and rumination to perform a belief-updating task and undergo neuropsychological testing. We extracted three parameters from a Bayesian model of belief-updating: performance compared to the Bayesian optimal model, emphasis on initial information (prior weight), and relative weighting of new evidence compared to current beliefs (update strength). These parameters were tested for associations with worry and rumination severity, and four neuropsychological domains were tested as moderators (attention, visuospatial, working memory maintenance, and executive function).ResultsWorry severity was uniquely associated with lower prior weight, while rumination was associated with low update strength. Neither worry nor rumination were associated with performance. None of the neuropsychological domains moderated these relationships.ConclusionWorry and rumination are associated with unique alterations in belief-updating but not overall performance. Low prior weight in worry may inflate perceived uncertainty, while low update strength in rumination—specifically reflective pondering—is consistent with slower incorporation of new information. Both biases may contribute to the distinct phenomenological profiles of worry and rumination and inform specific therapeutic targets for these symptoms.
High perceived energy: exploring distinct patterns of energetic and cognitive functioning in older adults
BackgroundA hyperthymic temperament and high perceived energy are often framed as positive dispositional traits, particularly in later life. Indeed, these characteristics are generally associated with a greater tendency to preserve autonomy and with more favorable outcomes in terms of health, engagement, and participation in community life-key dimensions of successful aging. However, the relationship between elevated perceived energy and cognitive performance in older adults remains insufficiently explored. Therefore, this exploratory study aimed to compare cognitive performance and well-being in older adults with different self-reported levels of subjective energy, and to explore potential phenotypic heterogeneity within this population.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study on older adults from the general population. Participants were classified as having higher versus lower levels of perceived energy based on item 10 of the Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) questionnaire. Cognitive performance was assessed using the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R). Depressive symptoms were evaluated with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), biological and behavioral rhythm regulation with the Biological Rhythms Interview of Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (BRIAN), and quality of life with the SF-12 were also evaluated to characterize overall well-being.ResultsStatistically significant difference emerged in global cognitive performance between individuals with higher versus lower perceived energy (ES ACE-R p=0.012). Although subscale scores were within the normative range in both groups, individuals with higher perceived energy consistently showed significantly lower scores in language (p = 0.011) and attention/orientation (p = 0.049) compared to the lower perceived energy group. Interestingly, the higher perceived energy group also reported fewer depressive symptoms (p = 0.013), better social and behavioral rhythm regulation (p = 0.005), and higher quality of life (p < 0.001).Discussion/ConclusionsHyperenergy in older adults with preserved well-being is not associated with global cognitive impairment, but rather with subtle domain-specific performance variations, suggesting a heterogeneous underlying profile. These findings support a high-energy profile that does not appear to be associated with functional impairment, but is instead characterized by preserved or enhanced functioning and overall well-being, despite selective areas of lower performance. Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify its clinical and cognitive implications.