The Download: lasers for nuclear fuel, and organ preservation advances
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 lasers could help provide fuel for nuclear reactors Nuclear power provides about 9% of global electricity today, and that fraction could t
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 lasers could help provide fuel for nuclear reactors Nuclear power provides about 9% of global electricity today, and that fraction could tick up as countries look to build new reactors. New, cheaper methods to obtain fuel could help ensure that those nuclear projects stay on track.
One of those methods is called laser enrichment. It allows you to separate out the material you want (in this case, uranium) from others in a mixture of old waste. A company called Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) is about to start testing whether the technology works at commercial scale.
Read our story about their efforts. —Casey Crownhart The quest to keep organs alive outside the body It’s super difficult to freeze organs. Once ice forms in them, they’re done.
The ice crystals create all kinds of damage and render the organs unusable. That hasn’t stopped many researchers from trying. In new research, one team has been able to supercool the kidneys of pigs and preserve them for days.
The kidneys survived being stored at −4 °C (25 °F) and eventually reimplanted back into pigs. And that’s just the latest development in a field that is positively buzzing. Read about why it’s such an exciting time for organ preservation—and what could be coming next.
—Jessica Hamzelou This story is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter. Sign upto receive it in your inbox every Thursday. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Silicon Valley is split over how to respond to Chinese AIIt boils down to whether AI models should be open or closed. (NYT $)+ Nvidia, Microsoft and Meta warn that restricting open models would backfire. (CNBC)+ AI companies are spending record sums on lobbying Washington.
(FT $)+ China’s AI models have Trump’s AI world at war with itself. (MIT Technology
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Bessemer, Atomico in talks to lead The Exploration Company funding at $2bn valuation
Franco-German scaleup The Exploration Company, which makes reusable space capsules, is in advanced talks for a new round set to be co-led by Atomico and Bessemer Venture Partners which will value the scaleup at around $2bn post-money.Csw mwnkszl ms yfh ds xobeo gvkxid $190a, azc
Way Security, which uses AI automation and agentic workflows to help deploy IAM systems, raised a $20M seed from Insight Partners and Glilot Capital (Chris Metinko/Axios)
Chris Metinko / Axios: Way Security, which uses AI automation and agentic workflows to help deploy IAM systems, raised a $20M seed from Insight Partners and Glilot Capital — Way Security raised a $20 million seed round from Insight Partners and Glilot Capital, CEO Yossi Barishev
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