The Download: ancient DNA’s modern uses, and an AI-artist collaboration

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.

Adventures in the genetic time machine

An ancient-DNA revolution is turning the high-speed equipment used to study the DNA of living things on to specimens from the past.

The technology is being used to create genetic maps of saber-toothed cats, cave bears, and thousands of ancient humans, including Vikings, Polynesian navigators, and numerous Neanderthals. The total number of ancient humans studied is more than 10,000 and rising fast.

The old genes have already revealed remarkable stories of human migrations around the globe.

But researchers are hoping ancient DNA will be more than a telescope on the past—they hope it will have concrete practical use in the present. Read the full story.

—Antonio Regalado

This artist collaborates with AI and robots

Many artists worry about the encroachment of artificial intelligence on artistic creation. But Sougwen Chung, a nonbinary Canadian-Chinese artist, instead sees AI as an opportunity for artists to embrace uncertainty and challenge people to think about technology and creativity in unexpected ways.

Chung’s exhibitions are driven by technology; they’re also live and kinetic, with the artwork emerging in real time. Audiences watch as the artist works alongside or surrounded by one or more robots, human and machine drawing simultaneously. These works are at the frontier of what it means to make art in an age of fast-­accelerating artificial intelligence and robotics. Here’s what they have to say about their work, and AI in art generally.

—Stephen Ornes

Both of the subscriber-only stories above are from the next edition of our print magazine, which is all about relationships. Subscribe now to get a copy when it lands on February 26!

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 US disease monitoring capabilities are disappearing

DOGE just fired half of a critical ‘disease detective’ team at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. (CBS)

+ A measles outbreak in Texas is spreading rapidly. (NBC)

+Louisiana said it’ll stop promoting mass vaccination programs, on the same day RFK Jr was sworn in as health secretary. (NYT $)

+ Why childhood vaccines are a public health success story. (MIT Technology Review)

2 Who is Elon Musk accountable to?

When you’re the world’s richest man, it seems the answer is: no one. (WSJ $)

+Musk is using X to spread misinformation about DOGE’s targets. (WP $)

+ A Musk-linked group offered $5 million for proof of voter fraud. It couldn’t find any. (The Guardian)

3 South Korea removed DeepSeek from app stores

Quite a few countries have done this now, citing privacy concerns. (BBC)

+ Baidu and OpenAI are responding to DeepSeek with new launches. (CNN)

+ E-scooter brands are among many companies in China racing to integrate DeepSeek AI.(South China Morning Post $)

+ Four Chinese AI startups to watch beyond DeepSeek. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Inside the US’s fragile nuclear renaissance

Tech companies are betting that it can help meet AI’s energy demands. But huge challenges lay ahead. (The Information $)

+ Why Microsoft made a deal to help restart Three Mile Island.(MIT Technology Review)

5 OpenAI’s board rejected Elon Musk’s offer to buy it for $97.4 billion

Unanimously. (WSJ $)

+Musk did it to try to chuck a grenade into OpenAI’s process of transitioning from a research lab to a for-profit company. (Vox $)

6 A new system can clone your voice from just five seconds of audio

And the end result is scarily good. (The Register)

+ Motor neuron diseases took their voices. AI is bringing them back. (MIT Technology Review)

7 People who lost money on crypto are furious with Argentina’s President

He’s facing impeachment calls over allegations he promoted a classic ‘pump and dump’ scam over the weekend. (CNN)

8 How musicians are using AI tools

AI makes it easy to do traditionally tricky engineering tasks like isolating and extracting sounds. (The Next Web)

+ A Disney director tried—and failed—to use an AI Hans Zimmer to create a soundtrack. (MIT Technology Review)

9Meta is working on humanoid robots

It’s hoping it can combine its experience in both hardware and AI to win in this increasingly crowded category. (Bloomberg $)

+ China’s EV giants are betting big on humanoid robots. (MIT Technology Review)

10 How Diablo hackers uncovered a speedrunning scandal

This makes me wonder just how endemic cheating could be in the gaming community. (Ars Technica)

Quote of the day

“He seems to have ghosted his own company.”

—Investor Nell Minow, vice chair of ValueEdge Advisors, tells the Washington Post that Elon Musk’s inattention is starting to do real harm to Tesla.

The big story

Three-parent baby technique could create babies at risk of severe disease

March 2023

When the first baby born using a controversial procedure that meant he had three genetic parents was born back in 2016, it made headlines. The baby boy inherited most of his DNA from his mother and father, but he also had a tiny amount from a third person.

The idea was to avoid having the baby inherit a fatal illness, and it seemed to work. But new evidence now suggests this technique might not work as hoped, due to a phenomenon scientists call “reversion.” Read the full story.

—Jessica Hamzelou

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas?Drop me a lineorskeet ’em at me.)+ Willing to bet your weekend wasn’t as eventful as this guy’s was.

+ Stop overthinking. Start ‘satisficing’.

+ Well, that’s one thing AI definitely can’t do.

+ If you’ve only got the time or energy for one stretch, make it this one.