This is today's episode Loading, Our weekday newsletter, breaking down what's happening in tech, every day.
Meet the man creating a starter kit for civilization
You live in a house that you designed and built yourself. You rely on the sun for energy, heat your home with a wood stove, and grow your own fish and vegetables. Year 2025.
Such is the life of Marcin Jakubowski, the 53-year-old founder of Open Source Ecology, an open community of engineers, producers and builders developing what they call the Global Village Construction Set (GVCS).
This is a set of 50 machines – from a tractor to a stove to circuitry – that are capable of building a civilization from the ground up and can be reconfigured as you see fit. Part of his ethos is that life-changing technologies should be available to everyone, not controlled by a few. Read the whole story.
— Tiffany Ng
This story is from latest print issue MIT Technology Review magazine, full of fascinating stories. If you haven't already done so, subscribe now to receive future episodes as soon as they become available.
What it's like to be at the center of a conspiracy theory
Last week we held a subscriber-only roundtable on how to survive the new era of conspiracy theories. Our Features Editor Amanda Silverman and Executive Editor Niall Firth are joined by conspiracy theory expert Mike Rothschild, who explains exactly what it's like to be at the center of a conspiracy you can't control. Watch the conversation here.
A must read
I've scoured the internet to find you the funniest/important/scary/fascinating technology stories of today.
1 DOGE disbanded
Despite being eight months away from its official scheduled completion. (Reuters)
+ This leaves behind chaos and little measurable savings. (Politician)
+ DOGE's technological takeover compromises the security and stability of our critical data. (MIT Technology Review)
2. How OpenAI settings in ChatGPT sent some users into delusional spirals
Essentially, this has led to an increase in both chatbot usage and the risks it poses to a certain portion of people. (NOW $)
+ Artificial intelligence workers are warning their loved ones to stay away from the technology. (Guardian)
+ It's surprisingly easy to form a relationship with an AI chatbot. (MIT Technology Review)
3. A three-year-old child received the world's first gene therapy for Hunter syndrome.
Oliver Chu appears to be developing normally one year after starting therapy. (BBC)
4. Why we may (or may not) be in an AI bubble
It's time to follow the data. (W.P. $)
+ Even technology leaders don't seem entirely convinced. (Insider $)
+ How far can the “fake it 'til you make it” strategy take us? (WSJ $)
+ Nvidia remains confidently riding the wave. (New York Mag $)
5 Many MAGA influencers are based in Russia, India and Nigeria.
The new X Account Origin feature reveals some interesting truths. (Daily Beast)
6. The FBI wants to equip drones with facial recognition technology
Civil rights activists say the plans amount to aerial surveillance. (Interception)
+ This giant microwave oven could change the future of warfare. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Snapchat warns users that social media is banned in Australia for children under 16
The platform will analyze the account's “behavioral signals” to estimate the user's age. (Guardian)
+ An artificial intelligence stripping site has been fined for skipping age verification. (Register)
+ Millennial parents fetishize the idea of offline childhood. (Observer)
8 activists are playing out ICE raids in Fortnite and Grand Theft Auto
The goal of the game is to prepare players to exercise their rights in the real world. (Wired $)
+ Another attempt to track ICE raids has just been taken down. (MIT Technology Review)
9. JWST May Have Discovered Colossal Stars 
In fact, they are so large that they have a mass of 10,000 times the Sun. (New scientist $)
+ In search of the most dangerous asteroid in history. (MIT Technology Review)
10 social media users lie about brands ghosting them
Completely normal behavior. (WSJ $)
+ This would never have happened on Vine, I’ll tell you now. (Edge)
Quote of the day
“I can't believe we have to say this, but this account was only ever operated from the United States.”
—The US Department of Homeland Security's X account is trying to end speculation surrounding its origins on social media. New York Times reports.
One more thing
This company plans to build a lithium empire on the shores of the Great Salt Lake.
On a bright August day, the shores of Utah's Great Salt Lake look like something out of a science-fiction movie set on a scorching alien world.
The otherworldly scene is a testing ground for Lilac Solutions, which is developing technology it says will undermine the United States' efforts to wrest control of global supplies of lithium, the so-called “white gold” needed for electric vehicles and batteries, from China.
The startup aims to commercialize a new, less environmentally harmful way to extract lithium from rocks. If successful, it could significantly boost domestic supplies at a crucial time for the nation's lithium industry. Read the full story.
—Alexander K. Kaufman
We can still have good things
A place for comfort, fun and entertainment that will brighten your day. (Any ideas? Write to me or shoot skeet at me.)
+ I like the idea of smart crows using their minds collect cigarette butts (thanks, Alice!)
+ Speaking of brains, sea urchins there are many more of them than we initially suspected.
+ Wow! Ukrainian refugee won elite level sumo competition in Japan.
+ How to make any day a little more fun brighter.
