The Download: making drugs in orbit and NASA’s nuclear-powered spacecraft

The Download：在轨道上制造药物与 NASA 的核动力航天器

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. 这是今日份的《The Download》，我们每日更新的通讯，为您提供科技界每日动态。

A plan to make drugs in orbit is going commercial

在轨道上制造药物的计划正走向商业化

A startup called Varda Space Industries is betting that the future of pharmaceuticals lies in orbit. The company has signed a deal with United Therapeutics to test whether drugs crystallize differently in microgravity, potentially creating improved versions with new properties. The idea sounds futuristic, but falling launch costs and reusable rockets are making space-based manufacturing seem increasingly plausible. Varda says the partnership could mark an important step toward building products in orbit for use back on Earth. Discover how space could become the next frontier for drug development. —Antonio Regalado MIT Technology Review 一家名为 Varda Space Industries 的初创公司押注制药业的未来在于轨道。该公司已与联合治疗公司（United Therapeutics）签署协议，测试药物在微重力环境下是否会产生不同的结晶，从而可能创造出具有新特性的改良版本。这个想法听起来很超前，但不断下降的发射成本和可重复使用的火箭正使太空制造变得越来越可行。Varda 表示，此次合作可能标志着迈向在轨道上制造产品并运回地球使用的重要一步。探索太空如何成为药物研发的下一个前沿领域。——Antonio Regalado，《麻省理工科技评论》

Narrated: NASA is building the first nuclear reactor-powered interplanetary spacecraft. How will it work?

语音播报：NASA 正在建造首个核反应堆驱动的行星际航天器。它将如何运作？

Just before Artemis II began its historic slingshot around the moon, NASA revealed an even grander space travel plan. By the end of 2028, the agency aims to fly a nuclear reactor-powered interplanetary spacecraft to Mars. A successful mission would herald a new era in spaceflight—and might just give the US the edge in the race against China. But the project remains shrouded in mystery. MIT Technology Review picked the brains of nuclear power and propulsion experts to find out how the nuclear-powered spacecraft might work. —Robin George Andrews 就在“阿耳忒弥斯 2 号”（Artemis II）开始其历史性的绕月飞行之前，NASA 披露了一项更为宏大的太空旅行计划。该机构的目标是在 2028 年底前，将一艘由核反应堆驱动的行星际航天器送往火星。任务的成功将预示着航天飞行新时代的到来，并可能使美国在与中国的竞争中占据优势。但该项目仍笼罩在神秘之中。《麻省理工科技评论》采访了核动力和推进专家，以探究这种核动力航天器可能的工作原理。——Robin George Andrews

This is our latest story to be turned into an MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we publish each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released. 这是我们最新被制作成《麻省理工科技评论》语音播报（MIT Technology Review Narrated）播客的故事，我们每周会在 Spotify 和 Apple Podcasts 上发布。只需在任一平台搜索“MIT Technology Review Narrated”并关注我们，即可在第一时间获取我们的所有新内容。

The must-reads

必读内容

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 我已梳理了互联网，为您找出今天关于科技最有趣、最重要、最令人担忧及最引人入胜的故事。

1. Sam Altman claims Elon Musk tried to seize control of OpenAI Altman said Musk initially wanted 90% of the equity. (AFP)

   • And that control should go to his children when he dies. (BBC)
   • Altman also accused Musk of twice trying to end its non-profit status. (NPR)
   • Musk’s motivations for the suit are under scrutiny. (MIT Technology Review) 山姆·奥特曼声称埃隆·马斯克曾试图夺取 OpenAI 的控制权 奥特曼称马斯克最初想要 90% 的股权。（法新社）
   • 并且在他去世后，这些控制权应由他的子女继承。（BBC）
   • 奥特曼还指责马斯克曾两次试图终止其非营利组织地位。（NPR）
   • 马斯克提起诉讼的动机正受到审视。（《麻省理工科技评论》）

2. Google and SpaceX are in talks to launch data centers into orbit SpaceX could join Suncatcher, Google’s orbital data center project. (WSJ)

   • The project’s first launch is slated for early 2027. (Guardian)
   • Anthropic and SpaceX have also discussed orbital data centers. (Wired)
   • But there are a few hurdles to overcome. (MIT Technology Review) 谷歌与 SpaceX 正在商谈将数据中心发射到轨道上 SpaceX 可能加入谷歌的轨道数据中心项目“Suncatcher”。（《华尔街日报》）
   • 该项目的首次发射定于 2027 年初。（《卫报》）
   • Anthropic 和 SpaceX 也讨论过轨道数据中心。（《连线》）
   • 但仍有一些障碍需要克服。（《麻省理工科技评论》）

3. Jensen Huang has joined Donald Trump’s high-stakes mission to China Nvidia is lobbying to sell its AI chips in the country. (Bloomberg)

   • Elon Musk and Tim Cook are also on the trip. (CNBC)
   • But a tech rivalry and distrust have sapped hopes for big deals. (Reuters) 黄仁勋加入了唐纳德·特朗普的高风险中国之行 英伟达正在游说以在中国销售其 AI 芯片。（彭博社）
   • 埃隆·马斯克和蒂姆·库克也参加了此次行程。（CNBC）
   • 但科技竞争和不信任感削弱了达成重大交易的希望。（路透社）

4. ICE agents have a list of 20 million people on their iPhones, thanks to Palantir An ICE official said Palantir is speeding up raids and arrests. (404 Media)

   • ICE has also used facial recognition and Paragon spyware. (TechCrunch) 得益于 Palantir，美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）特工的 iPhone 上有一份 2000 万人的名单 一位 ICE 官员表示，Palantir 正在加速突袭和逮捕行动。（404 Media）
   • ICE 还使用了人脸识别和 Paragon 间谍软件。（TechCrunch）

5. Defense tech firm Anduril just doubled its valuation to over $60 billion In a $5 billion funding round led by Thrive Capital and a16z. (FT) Anduril, which makes AI-backed weapons, may go public next year. (NYT) 国防科技公司 Anduril 估值翻倍至 600 多亿美元 在由 Thrive Capital 和 a16z 领投的 50 亿美元融资轮中。（《金融时报》） 制造 AI 武器的 Anduril 可能在明年上市。（《纽约时报》）

6. Meta employees are protesting computer-tracking at work Flyers posted at offices are urging staff to oppose the program. (Reuters)

   • Meta plans to track workers’ clicks and keystrokes to train AI. (CNBC) Meta 员工正在抗议工作中的电脑监控 办公室张贴的传单敦促员工抵制该计划。（路透社）
   • Meta 计划追踪员工的点击和按键以训练 AI。（CNBC）

7. OpenAI is facing another wrongful death lawsuit over ChatGPT medical advice The chatbot’s tips allegedly led to a teenager’s overdose. (Ars Technica) OpenAI 因 ChatGPT 的医疗建议面临另一起过失致死诉讼 据称该聊天机器人的建议导致了一名青少年的药物过量。（Ars Technica）

8. The Canvas learning platform has paid hackers to delete stolen student data It caved to ransomware demands after the biggest-ever edtech breach. (BBC) Canvas 学习平台已向黑客支付赎金以删除被盗的学生数据 在遭遇史上最大的教育科技数据泄露事件后，它屈服于勒索软件的要求。（BBC）

9. Scientific researchers are thinking twice about using AI Due to price hikes, usage limitations, and unreliable outputs. (Nature) 科学研究人员正在重新考虑是否使用 AI 原因包括价格上涨、使用限制以及输出结果不可靠。（《自然》）

10. The latest AI compute solution? Putting data centers in your home Hardware hosts get subsidized electricity and internet. (Ars Technica) 最新的 AI 计算解决方案？把数据中心搬进你家 硬件托管方可获得电费和网费补贴。（Ars Technica）

Quote of the day

今日金句

“Mr Musk did try to kill it.” —Sam Altman claims that Elon Musk tried to destroy rather than protect OpenAI’s non-profit operations, the Guardian reports. “马斯克先生确实试图扼杀它。”——据《卫报》报道，山姆·奥特曼声称埃隆·马斯克试图摧毁而非保护 OpenAI 的非营利业务。

One More Thing

还有一件事

Why does AI hallucinate? 为什么 AI 会产生幻觉？

Chatbot fails are now a familiar meme. Meta’s short-lived scientific chatbot generated wiki articles about the history of bears in space. Lawyers have submitted court documents filled with legal citations fabricated by ChatGPT. Air Canada was ordered to honor a refund policy invented by its customer service chatbot. This tendency to make things up—known as hallucination—is one of the biggest obstacles holding chatbots back from more widespread adoption. Here’s why they do it—and why we still can’t fix it. —Will Douglas Heaven 聊天机器人的失败案例现在已成为常见的梗。Meta 短命的科学聊天机器人曾生成关于“太空熊历史”的维基文章；律师提交的法庭文件中充斥着 ChatGPT 编造的法律引文；加拿大航空被勒令履行其客服聊天机器人编造的退款政策。这种编造事实的倾向——被称为“幻觉”——是阻碍聊天机器人更广泛应用的最大障碍之一。以下是它们为何会这样，以及为什么我们至今无法解决这个问题。——Will Douglas Heaven

This story is part of MIT Technology Review Explains, our series untangling the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. You can read more from the series here. 本文是《麻省理工科技评论》“解释”系列的一部分，该系列旨在梳理复杂、混乱的科技世界，帮助您了解未来趋势。您可以在此处阅读该系列的更多内容。

We can still have nice things

我们依然可以拥有美好事物

A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line.) 一个为您提供舒适、乐趣和消遣，点亮您一天的地方。（有任何想法？请给我留言。）

• A historian has unearthed the etymology of every single dinosaur name.
• 一位历史学家挖掘出了每一种恐龙名称的词源。
• Humus on the moon is getting closer to reality after scientists grew chickpeas in lunar soil.
• 在科学家于月球土壤中种出鹰嘴豆后，月球腐殖质正变得越来越现实。
• Witness the patience of a master paper artist in this gallery of intricate, handmade sculptures.
• 在这个精美的手工雕塑画廊中，见证一位纸艺大师的耐心。
• Want to tell the time alphabetically? Me neither, but this cursed clock is an intriguing reason to try.
• 想按字母顺序看时间吗？我也不想，但这个“被诅咒的”时钟是一个尝试的有趣理由。