Physicist Richard Feynman argued in 1959 that there is no physical law preventing us from writing the entire Encyclopædia Britannica on the head of a pin. For decades, computing exploited that room almost for free as transistors repeatedly halved in size. That easy descent has now stalled, and the industry increasingly relies on brute force, building ever-bigger data centers to boost performance. Researchers are exploring new ways to unlock the next leap in computing, since the laws of physics still leave plenty of room for improvement.
Elsewhere in the newsletter, colleague James Temple reported from Alaska's forests on the fires threatening permafrost, the layer of frozen soil that is thawing and playing a major role in climate change. Their complicated potential climate effects are a key part of that reporting.
In a Roundtables conversation, senior AI reporter James O'Donnell spoke with Stanford University Ph.D. student Samuel King, who used a generative AI model in 2025 to propose genetic blueprints for microscopic viruses. King was named one of MIT Technology Review's Innovators Under 35.
The newsletter also flags that AI has uncovered a decade-old flaw in PHP, the code behind most websites. Governments are urging website owners to patch it or take sites offline, and exploit attempts reportedly jumped from thousands to millions after disclosure.
Source: MIT Technology Review · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing