The Download: How to survive a conspiracy theory, and moldy cities

—Mike Rothschild is a journalist and expert on the development and impact of conspiracy theories and disinformation.

It's something of a familiar cycle: tragedy occurs; What follows is rampant misinformation and conspiracy theories. This often becomes even more acute in the event of a natural disaster, when conspiracy theories about what “really” caused the disaster segue straight into climate change denial driven by culture war. Taken together, these theories hide the real causes and exaggerate the false ones.

I've studied these ideas extensively, spending the last 10 years writing about conspiracy theories and disinformation as a journalist and researcher. I've covered everything from the rise of QAnon to whether Donald Trump faked his assassination attempt. I have written three books, testified before Congress, and even wrote a report for the January 6 Committee.

However, I have never lived it. Until my house burned down in Altadena, California. Read the full story.

This story is part of MIT Technology Review's “The New Age of Conspiracy” series, which examines how the current boom in conspiracy theories is changing science and technology. Check the rest of the series is here. He's also featured on this week's MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we publish every week on the MIT Technology Review website. Spotify And Apple Podcasts.

If you'd like to hear more from Mike, he'll join our Features Editor Amanda Silverman and Executive Editor Niall Firth for a subscriber-exclusive roundtable conversation about how we can survive in the age of conspiracy. This will be at 1:00 pm ET on Thursday, November 20th.register now to join us!

This Startup Believes Slime Mold Can Help Us Build Better Cities

It's a yellow blob without a brain, but some researchers believe a curious organism known as a slime mold could help us build more sustainable cities.

Humans have been building cities for 6,000 years, but slime mold has been around for 600 million years. The team at a new startup called Mireta wants to translate the body's biological superpowers into algorithms that could help cut travel times, reduce congestion and minimize climate-related disruption in cities around the world. Read the full story.

—Elizabeth M. Brandon