Inside the quest to combat Arctic fires and save the planet's frozen carbon In July 2021, a wildfire burned through a forest on the University of Alaska, Fairbanks campus, stripping away the moss and organic-rich soil insulating the permafrost below. Five years later, I followed researchers into the forest to investigate how fighting fires could help keep that carbon locked in the ground. A simple metal probe revealed how much deeper the ground had thawed. This rudimentary tool offered a glimpse of an escalating problem: As climate change fuels more frequent and severe fires, they're accelerating permafrost thaw and releasing greenhouse gases. Now, researchers are exploring how to break that cycle. But how much should we spend, and what risks are worth taking?

Plus: Ukraine says sudden Starlink speed limits disrupted key drone missions. Pig kidneys that were "frozen" for a year have been brought back to life Pig kidneys that were cooled to -150 C and stored in a freezer for months have been successfully rewarmed and shown to work again for the first time, say scientists. The kidneys, which are similar in size to human ones, were left in a glass-like state, in one case for over a year. Once they had been rewarmed, tested in machines, and transplanted into pigs, the kidneys regained their color and made urine--key signs they were working. The results are a big milestone. But the team still needs to establish whether the approach could work for humans.

Plus: The FBI has arrested an OpenAI engineer accused of snooping. The US military's race to make fake blood In February 2007, a US military helicopter carrying blood to a field hospital was shot down in Iraq, killing all seven crew members. The mission was a reminder of the risks of transporting blood, which has a limited shelf life and is often in short supply. Now, a $73 million DARPA effort aims to create shelf-stable versions of plasma, platelets, and red blood cells. The idea is to develop dried blood products that can be stored for long periods and deployed quickly on the battlefield. The project aims to have bags of dried blood products deployed in the field by 2029.

Plus: A cyberattack overheated fridges at hundreds of French supermarkets. Open models have real benefits. Do they outweigh the risks? Anthropic recently released a report arguing that a powerful new model released by the Chinese company Z.ai, poses a major cyberattack risk. Its core concern was that it is freely available for anyone to download and modify. The warning was the latest flashpoint in a debate over whether frontier AI models should be open or kept behind the doors of frontier labs.

An Anthropic AI model submitted a fake tip about an unsolved murder.

Plus: Scientists in Austria and China have built the first nuclear clocks. The hype around humanoid robots is reaching fever pitch. Much of it comes from the idea that the same AI advances behind ChatGPT and Claude could enable robots to imitate human movement the way chatbots imitate human language. But many researchers are skeptical. They argue that such assumptions minimize the challenges of using an intelligence built on language and images to master the infinite variability of the physical world. They also point out that conflating humanoids with so-called generalist machines is misleading.

Plus: OpenAI has released 377 new math findings, further rattling the field. Popular weight-loss drugs may do more than help people shed pounds. They might also slow the aging process. Drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk say patients taking their GLP-1 drugs age less quickly, according to molecular "aging clocks" that track changes in DNA or levels of key proteins. The findings add to speculation that GLP-1 drugs could be acting on basic causes of aging and might be true longevity treatments. But how much can we read into these results?

Plus: Musk's new Pentagon role has raised conflict-of-interest fears. Each year, Review puts together a list of the most promising climate tech companies in the world. This year, the stakes feel higher than ever. The world is on track for one of its hottest years on record, climate-fueled disasters are taking lives and costing billions, while political shifts and international conflict have stalled progress. We urgently need to cut emissions and avoid climate change's most harmful effects, and that's where our 10 companies come in. They also reflect the biggest shifts in climate tech--including the surging energy demands of AI data centers.

The Download: climate tech companies to watch and AI's discovery problem Plus: OpenAI has scrapped a new AI model over safety concerns. With the planet nearing 1.5 C of warming, climate policies being unraveled, and Big Tech backpedaling on its climate ambitions, it can be tempting to give in to climate doom and defeatism. But despite the headwinds, the world has still made incredible progress. That's why publishes its annual list of Climate Tech Companies to Watch . Once a year, we compile a list of 10 companies that we believe have done the most, or have the best chance, to make a real dent in emissions or improve public safety and health. We've now finalized our 2026 list and will publish it on October 6.

The negative climate news is piling up, but there are some bright spots of progress if you know where to look. Earlier this month, the UN announced the planet will tip past 1.5 C of warming, "likely within the next few years," squashing any lingering hope that nations would cut emissions fast enough to achieve the loftiest goal of the Paris climate agreement. In the US, the world's second-largest-emitting country, its leader continues to deny climate realities and unravel climate policies . Big Tech is backpedaling on its climate ambitions, as companies race to build massive AI data centers. And all this comes amid yet another season of shattered heat records, raging wildfires, and deadly floods. It can be tempting to give in to climate doom and defeatism.