A Startup's Plan to Dim the Sun, and The Simpsons' Spooky Predictions

Hey there,

Sometimes, the world of tech feels like it’s pulled straight from a sci-fi script. One minute you're reading about a startup that wants to literally dim the sun, and the next you're trying to figure out how a cartoon from the 90s predicted a presidency. It’s a wild ride, and today is no exception.

So grab your coffee, and let’s get into what’s happening. We’ve got a lot to unpack, from serious ethical dilemmas in climate tech to some lighter, weirder stuff that makes you go, "huh."

So, a Startup Wants to 'Fix' the Climate... and Scientists Are Worried

Alright, let's start with the big one. An American-Israeli company called Stardust just announced it raised $60 million. That's a huge chunk of change, especially for a startup in a field as controversial as solar geoengineering.

What is that, exactly? In simple terms, it's the idea of deliberately manipulating the Earth's climate to counteract global warming—in this case, by reflecting sunlight back into space. Stardust claims their proprietary tech can cool the planet and that this new funding will get them ready for deployment by the early 2030s.

This is where the alarm bells start ringing for a lot of people in the science community.

Two experts I really respect, David Keith from the University of Chicago and Daniele Visioni from Cornell, have been working on the science behind this for decades. They recently voiced some serious concerns, and I think they're worth listening to. They’re worried about private, for-profit companies racing to deploy technology that could alter the entire planet's climate. It’s one thing for this to be a carefully controlled, publicly overseen research project. It’s another thing entirely for it to become a venture-backed business.

On top of the ethical questions, they also strongly dispute some of the technical claims these companies are making. It’s a classic case of Silicon Valley's "move fast and break things" mentality clashing with something you absolutely do not want to "break": our planet's atmosphere. This is a story we’ll be watching closely.

Can The Simpsons Actually Predict the Future?

Okay, let's shift gears to something a little less terrifying and a lot more bizarre. You’ve seen the memes and the internet listicles, right? The Simpsons has apparently predicted everything.

We’re talking about Donald Trump's presidency (17 years before it happened!), an "Osaka flu" that felt eerily like a precursor to the pandemic, and even the U.S. Olympic curling team beating Sweden. It’s uncanny.

So, what’s the deal? Is the writers' room staffed by time travelers?

Al Jean, who has been the showrunner for The Simpsons forever, finally weighed in. He’s worked on the show since 1989, so if anyone knows the secret, it’s him. He talked about the conspiracy theories that have popped up around these "prophecies," and his take is pretty fascinating. It's less about magic and more about what happens when you make thousands of jokes over 30+ years—a few are bound to hit the mark. It’s a fun look at how we create patterns and meaning out of pure coincidence.

Your Therapist, Your Trust, and... ChatGPT?

This next one is a tough one. Imagine you’re in a therapy session, pouring your heart out, only to realize your therapist is feeding everything you say into ChatGPT and just reading the AI’s responses back to you.

It sounds like a nightmare, but it actually happened to a man named Declan. He only found out because his therapist accidentally shared their screen. He saw a real-time stream of his own words being analyzed by an AI, with his therapist acting as a mouthpiece.

And Declan isn’t alone. A growing number of people are discovering their therapists are using AI chatbots during sessions, often without their knowledge or consent. This raises huge questions about trust, privacy, and what the role of a therapist even is. It's a massive betrayal for clients who are in their most vulnerable state. We thought this story was so important that we turned it into a narrated podcast episode—you can find it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts under "MIT Technology Review Narrated."

Your Daily Tech Briefing: What Else is Happening?

I’ve been scouring the web for the other big stories you should know about. Here’s a quick rundown:

1. Amazon vs. Perplexity: Amazon is suing the AI company Perplexity, claiming its AI agent, Comet, is committing fraud by not identifying itself as a bot when it's "shopping" on a human's behalf. Perplexity shot back, accusing Amazon of bullying. (via Bloomberg and CNBC)
2. Trump's Pick for NASA: The billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman has been nominated by Trump to lead NASA. This comes just five months after his previous nomination for the same job was withdrawn. (via Washington Post)
3. A New Face-Scanning App for Police: Homeland Security has rolled out an app called Mobile Fortify. It uses facial recognition to let police check if someone has a deportation order. (via 404 Media)
4. Scientific Journals Are Drowning in AI: Researchers are getting swamped with AI-generated letters and papers, and they’re struggling to figure out what’s real and what’s not. The preprint server ArXiv has even started rejecting some papers over AI concerns. (via New York Times)
5. The AI Boom's Unlikely Winners: All this AI development requires a massive amount of power. Turns out, it's been a huge windfall for companies that make smaller equipment like turbines and fuel cells. (via Wall Street Journal)
6. Climate Change and Kidney Disease: In a troubling development, experts are now linking a surge in chronic kidney disease to hotter temperatures, potentially making it the first chronic illness tied directly to climate change. (via Undark)
7. Brazil's Plan to Save the Rainforest: The country is proposing a fund that would essentially pay other countries not to cut down their tropical forests. A fascinating economic approach to conservation. (via New York Times)
8. New York City Gets an Official Digital Map: For the first time, the five boroughs will be represented by a single, official citywide digital map. (via Fast Company)
9. Prepping for an Internet Collapse: Yes, people are actually preparing for the possibility of a catastrophic internet failure. Meet the folks working to figure out what we'd do if the web just... stopped. (via New Scientist)
10. Trouble on the Chinese Space Station: A Chinese spacecraft might have been hit by space junk. Three astronauts are stuck on the Tiangong space station while they investigate the damage. (via Ars Technica)

Quote of the Day

"I am not sure how I earned the trust of so many, but I will do everything I can to live up to those expectations."

That’s from Jared Isaacman, after being re-nominated by Donald Trump to lead NASA. You have to admit, it’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of his own qualifications, but we’ll see what happens.

So, Is the Digital Dollar Dead?

Remember a few years ago when digital currencies were all anyone could talk about? China was rolling out its digital yuan, and countries all over the world, including the U.S., were exploring their own "central bank digital currencies," or CBDCs.

Well, how times have changed.

The idea of a "digital dollar" has become a political hot potato. Some politicians are painting it as a dystopian surveillance tool. Late last year, the Boston Fed quietly shut down its CBDC research project. So, what happened to the dream? It seems like the political backlash and privacy concerns have put the brakes on the whole idea in the U.S., at least for now.

And Finally, Something to Brighten Your Day

Let's end on a high note. The world is a heavy place, but there's still room for some fun and wonder.

• Scientists just unleashed the world's oldest air, which was trapped under ice for six million years. Imagine taking a breath of that!
• Feeling overwhelmed? Here’s a nice piece on how to stop sweating the small stuff.
• Happy Bonfire Night to all our readers in the UK!
• And if you're still in the Halloween spirit, check out this list of the scariest music ever recorded.

That's all for today. It's a lot to take in, I know. But staying on top of this stuff, both the good and the deeply weird, is how we make sense of where technology is taking us. Talk to you soon.