The Download: our 35 Innovators Under 35 this year

The Download：本年度 35 位 35 岁以下创新者榜单

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. Introducing our 35 Innovators Under 35 list for 2026. What will the next generation of science and technology look like? Our latest Innovators Under 35 list offers a glimpse. 这是今天的《The Download》，我们平日的简报，为您提供每日科技世界的动态。隆重介绍我们 2026 年“35 位 35 岁以下创新者”榜单。下一代科学技术将会是什么样子？我们最新的“35 位 35 岁以下创新者”榜单为您提供了一瞥。

Every year, we recognize 35 people from around the world who are doing groundbreaking scientific work and building clever technical fixes for sticky problems. By finding the top young innovators globally and learning what they’re focused on, we aim to give readers a sense of the advances to expect in the years to come. 每年，我们都会表彰来自世界各地的 35 位人士，他们正在从事开创性的科学工作，并为棘手的问题构建巧妙的技术解决方案。通过寻找全球顶尖的年轻创新者并了解他们的关注点，我们旨在让读者预见未来几年将会出现的进步。

This year’s honorees were selected from 550 nominations, with 44 expert judges helping our editors evaluate the finalists. Each works in one of four categories: biotechnology, AI, computing and robotics, and climate and energy—and has already made clear progress toward their goals. Meet our 35 Innovators Under 35 shaping the future of science and technology. 今年的获奖者是从 550 项提名中选出的，44 位专家评委协助我们的编辑评估了入围者。每位获奖者都在生物技术、人工智能、计算与机器人、气候与能源这四个类别之一工作，并且已经在实现其目标的道路上取得了显著进展。来认识一下我们这 35 位正在塑造科学技术未来的“35 岁以下创新者”吧。

Welcome to the spiderverse, a world measured through webs

欢迎来到“蜘蛛宇宙”，一个通过蛛网来衡量的世界

Counting the creatures around us is critical for conservation, but it’s often a laborious, costly process that still leaves gaps. Environmental DNA, or eDNA, offers a promising alternative by analyzing genetic material shed by living things. Recently, spiderwebs have emerged as an eDNA goldmine, as they trap material from their arachnid creators, their prey, and bio-detritus like saliva and pollen from nearby plants and animals. Studies found no passive tool matched spiderwebs’ ability to ID vertebrates. Find out how spiderwebs are unlocking better ways to measure nature. —Stephen Ornes 统计我们周围的生物对于保护工作至关重要，但这通常是一个费力且昂贵的过程，且往往存在遗漏。环境 DNA（eDNA）通过分析生物体脱落的遗传物质，提供了一种有前景的替代方案。最近，蛛网已成为 eDNA 的金矿，因为它们能捕获来自蜘蛛本身、猎物以及唾液、花粉等生物碎屑。研究发现，没有任何被动工具能像蛛网那样精准地识别脊椎动物。了解蛛网如何开启衡量自然的新方法。——Stephen Ornes

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、最令人恐惧或最引人入胜的故事。

How a blacklisted Chinese company kept buying Nvidia’s best AI chips: Its US subsidiary shipped them to firms serving China from elsewhere. (NYT) 一家被列入黑名单的中国公司如何持续购买英伟达最顶尖的 AI 芯片： 其美国子公司从其他地方将芯片运送给服务于中国的公司。（《纽约时报》）
Mistral has raised a European record of $3.5 billion: It’s the biggest equity round for a private European tech firm. (CNBC) Mistral 筹集了 35 亿美元，创下欧洲纪录： 这是欧洲私营科技公司规模最大的一轮股权融资。（CNBC）
Anthropic formalized proof of Fermat’s last theorem in just 11 days: Claude produced a computer-verified 13-million-line proof. (Nature) Anthropic 仅用 11 天就完成了费马大定理的正式证明： Claude 生成了一份经计算机验证的 1300 万行证明。（《自然》）
Europe’s biggest carriers are in talks to build a Starlink rival: The consortium would create a satellite-to-mobile venture. (Bloomberg) 欧洲最大的运营商正在商谈建立 Starlink 的竞争对手： 该财团将创建一个卫星到移动设备的合资企业。（彭博社）
Tech companies are exploring Patagonia for giant AI data centers: Due to its cool temperatures, abundant energy, and new reforms. (Reuters) 科技公司正在考察巴塔哥尼亚以建设巨型 AI 数据中心： 得益于其凉爽的气温、充足的能源和新的改革措施。（路透社）
Australia plans to let users switch off social media algorithms: A proposed law would impose penalties on platforms that refuse. (BBC) 澳大利亚计划允许用户关闭社交媒体算法： 一项拟议的法律将对拒绝执行的平台处以罚款。（BBC）
A laser experiment could finally reveal the quantum vacuum: It aims to expose the hidden structure of a vacuum. (New Scientist) 一项激光实验可能最终揭示量子真空： 它旨在揭示真空的隐藏结构。（《新科学家》）
Spacecraft are getting a new type of armor: New lightweight materials could protect satellites from debris. (《经济学人》) 航天器正在获得一种新型装甲： 新型轻质材料可以保护卫星免受碎片撞击。（《经济学人》）
NASA’s “quiet supersonic” jet is set for acoustic testing this year: The tests will determine whether it produces a sonic thump, not boom. (Gizmodo) NASA 的“静音超音速”喷气式飞机今年将进行声学测试： 测试将确定它产生的是“砰”的一声，而不是“轰”的音爆。（Gizmodo）
The largest-ever map of space has arrived—and you can play with it: The 5.6-trillion-pixel map covers about three-quarters of the sky. (Wired) 有史以来最大的太空地图问世——你可以亲自体验： 这张 5.6 万亿像素的地图覆盖了约四分之三的天空。（《连线》）

Quote of the day

今日金句

“The people who have developed AI are very, very smart, but they’re high IQ, stupid people. They’re terrible marketers.” —Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) tells NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the AI industry has work to do to rebuild momentum among voters. “开发人工智能的人非常、非常聪明，但他们是‘高智商的笨蛋’。他们是不称职的营销人员。”——路易斯安那州共和党参议员约翰·肯尼迪在 NBC 的《会见新闻界》节目中表示，人工智能行业在重建选民信心方面还有很多工作要做。

One more thing

补充一点

We did the math on AI’s energy footprint. Here’s the story you haven’t heard. AI’s integration into our lives is the most significant shift in online life in more than a decade. Hundreds of millions of people now regularly turn to chatbots for help with homework, research, coding, or to create images and videos. But what’s powering all of that? To find out, we spoke to two dozen experts, evaluated different AI systems and prompts, pored over hundreds of pages of projections and reports, and questioned top model makers about their plans. 我们计算了人工智能的能源足迹。这是你还没听过的故事。人工智能融入我们的生活是十多年来在线生活最重大的转变。数以亿计的人现在定期求助于聊天机器人来协助完成作业、研究、编程，或创作图像和视频。但这一切的动力来源是什么？为了找出答案，我们采访了二十多位专家，评估了不同的人工智能系统和提示词，研读了数百页的预测和报告，并询问了顶级模型制造商关于他们的计划。

The result is an unprecedented comprehensive look at how much energy the AI industry uses. Our analysis reveals what AI’s carbon footprint looks like now and where it’s headed as adoption skyrockets. It also shows that the common understanding of AI’s energy consumption is full of holes. Here’s what we discovered about AI’s energy demands—and what’s coming next. —James O’Donnell and Casey Crownhart 结果是对人工智能行业能源消耗情况前所未有的全面审视。我们的分析揭示了人工智能目前的碳足迹，以及随着采用率的飙升，它将走向何方。它还表明，人们对人工智能能源消耗的普遍理解存在诸多漏洞。以下是我们关于人工智能能源需求及其未来发展的发现。——James O’Donnell 和 Casey Crownhart