The Download: preserving the Arctic permafrost, and playful AI agents

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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. Inside the quest to combat Arctic fires and save the planet’s frozen carbon —James Temple

这是今日份的《下载》（The Download），我们平日发行的时事通讯，为您提供每日科技动态。本期内容包括：探索如何对抗北极火灾并拯救地球的冻土碳——詹姆斯·坦普尔（James Temple）。

In July 2021, a wildfire burned through a forest on the University of Alaska, Fairbanks campus, stripping away the moss and organic-rich soil insulating the permafrost below. Five years later, I followed researchers into the forest to investigate how fighting fires could help keep that carbon locked in the ground. A simple metal probe revealed how much deeper the ground had thawed. This rudimentary tool offered a glimpse of an escalating problem: As climate change fuels more frequent and severe fires, they’re accelerating permafrost thaw and releasing greenhouse gases. Now, researchers are exploring how to break that cycle. But how much should we spend, and what risks are worth taking? Read the full story on how scientists are rethinking the fight against wildfires.

2021年7月，一场野火烧毁了阿拉斯加大学费尔班克斯分校校园内的一片森林，剥去了覆盖在下方永久冻土层上的苔藓和富含有机物的土壤。五年后，我跟随研究人员进入森林，调查扑灭火灾如何有助于将碳锁在地下。一个简单的金属探测器显示地面融化的深度比预想的要深得多。这种原始工具让我们得以一窥日益严重的问题：随着气候变化导致火灾发生得更加频繁且剧烈，它们正在加速永久冻土的融化并释放温室气体。目前，研究人员正在探索如何打破这一循环。但我们应该投入多少资金，又有哪些风险值得承担？请阅读关于科学家如何重新思考野火防治工作的完整报道。

AI researchers stranded Claude on a virtual desert island. It started to “play.” What do AI agents do if you don’t tell them to do anything? The answer looks a lot like play. Researchers repeatedly stranded them alone on a virtual desert island for 30 hours in an experiment reminiscent of the movies Cast Away or Home Alone. The agents started behaving in surprising ways. They set about exploring the limits of the world, and came up with their own goals—attempting to scale the highest point on the map, or seeing how high they could throw a block. A lot of what they were doing met the bar for play. But is it truly playful behavior, or simply role-playing? Read our full story to learn more. —Amit Katwala

人工智能研究人员将 Claude 困在了一个虚拟荒岛上。它开始“玩耍”起来。如果你不给人工智能代理下达任何指令，它们会做什么？答案看起来很像是在玩耍。研究人员在一次让人联想到电影《荒岛余生》或《小鬼当家》的实验中，将它们反复单独困在虚拟荒岛上长达30小时。这些代理开始表现出令人惊讶的行为。它们开始探索世界的边界，并提出了自己的目标——尝试攀登地图上的最高点，或者测试能把积木扔多高。它们的许多行为都符合“玩耍”的标准。但这真的是玩耍行为，还是仅仅在角色扮演？请阅读我们的完整报道以了解更多信息。——阿米特·卡特瓦拉（Amit Katwala）

10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: X-energy and its helium-cooled nuclear reactors. X-energy is one of MIT Technology Review’s 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch 2026, available exclusively to subscribers. Making concrete, steel, and chemicals takes huge amounts of heat, much of it generated by burning fossil fuels. X-energy hopes to offer an alternative with a nuclear reactor that uses helium gas instead of water as a coolant, allowing it to operate at higher temperatures. The proposed Xe-100 reactor could supply superheated steam directly to industrial facilities, generate 80 megawatts of electricity—or do both. See how X-energy hopes to bring high-temperature nuclear power to heavy industry. —Mark Ellis Harris

值得关注的10家气候科技公司：X-energy 及其氦冷核反应堆。X-energy 是《麻省理工科技评论》评选出的“2026年值得关注的10家气候科技公司”之一，该榜单仅供订阅用户查看。制造混凝土、钢铁和化学品需要巨大的热量，其中大部分是通过燃烧化石燃料产生的。X-energy 希望通过一种使用氦气而非水作为冷却剂的核反应堆提供替代方案，使其能够在更高的温度下运行。拟议的 Xe-100 反应堆可以直接向工业设施供应过热蒸汽，产生80兆瓦的电力，或者两者兼顾。看看 X-energy 如何希望将高温核能引入重工业。——马克·埃利斯·哈里斯（Mark Ellis Harris）

Subscribers can now access the full 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch, spanning everything from cleaner cement to streamlined geothermal power. Catch up on our conversation with a creator of AI-designed viruses. Can AI design new life forms? In 2025, Stanford University PhD student Samuel King came up with a preliminary answer when he used a generative AI model to propose genetic blueprints for microscopic viruses. It isn’t yet an example of AI-generated life, but that could be next. He spoke about his work with our senior AI reporter James O’Donnell on Friday. If you missed it, you can watch their chat now, and subscribe to get invites to our Roundtables events in future.

订阅用户现在可以访问完整的“值得关注的10家气候科技公司”名单，涵盖从更清洁的水泥到精简的地热能等各个领域。回顾我们与人工智能设计病毒创造者的对话。人工智能能设计出新的生命形式吗？2025年，斯坦福大学博士生塞缪尔·金（Samuel King）给出了一个初步答案，他利用生成式人工智能模型提出了微观病毒的基因蓝图。这还不是人工智能生成生命的例子，但那可能是下一步。周五，他与我们的资深人工智能记者詹姆斯·奥唐奈（James O’Donnell）讨论了他的工作。如果您错过了，现在可以观看他们的谈话，并订阅以获取未来我们圆桌会议活动的邀请。