This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. The rise of Bluesky, and the splintering of social You may have read that it was a big week for Bluesky. If youre not familiar, Bluesky is, essentially, a Twitter clone that publishes short-form status updates. Last Wednesday, The Verge reported it had crossed 15 million users. Its just ticked over 19 million now, and is the number one app in Apples app store. Meanwhile, Threads, Metas answer to Twitter, reportedly signed up 15 million people in November alone. Both apps are surging in usage. Many of these new users were seemingly fleeing X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in reaction to Elon Musks support of Donald Trump, and his moves to elevate right-leaning content on the platform. But theres a deeper trend at play here. Were seeing a long-term shift away from massive centralized social networks. Read the full story. Mat Honan This story is from The Debrief, our newly-launched newsletter written by our editor-in-chief Mat Honan. Its his weekly take on the real stories behind the biggest news in techwith some links to stories we love and the occasional recommendation thrown in for good measure. Sign up to get it every Friday! Why the term women of childbearing age is problematic Jessica Hamzelou Every journalist has favorite topics. Mine include the quest to delay or reverse human aging, and new technologies for reproductive health and fertility. So when I saw trailers for The Substance, a film centered on one middle-aged womans attempt to reexperience youth, I had to watch it. I wont spoil the movie for anyone who hasnt seen it yet (although I should warn that it is not for the squeamish). But a key premise of the film involves harmful attitudes toward female aging. Hey, did you know that a womans fertility starts to decrease by the age of 25? a powerful male character asks early in the film. At 50, it just stops, he later adds. He never explains what stops, exactly, but to the viewer the message is pretty clear: If youre a woman, your worth is tied to your fertility. Once your fertile window is over, so are you. The insidious idea that womens bodies are, above all else, vessels for growing children has plenty of negative consequences for us all. But it also sets back scientific research and health policy. Read Jesss story to learn how. This story is from The Checkup, MIT Technology Reviews weekly biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Trump plans to loosen US rules for self-driving cars No prizes for guessing who might be behind that idea. (Bloomberg$)+Elon Musk is ramping up his legal fight against OpenAI and Microsoft.(WSJ$)+Trump has appointed the FCCs Brendan Carr to lead the agency.(NPR)+Robotaxis are here. Its time to decide what to do about them. (MIT Technology Review)2 How Bluesky is handling its explosive growthIt has just 20 employees, and theyre working round the clock to deal with bugs, outages and moderation issues. (NYT$)+Just joined Bluesky? Heres how to use it.(The Verge)+How to fix the internet.(MIT Technology Review) 3 Biden agreed to some small but significant AI limits with Xi Jinping I think we can all get behind the idea that nuclear weapons should be exclusively controlled by humans. (Politico)+Biden has lifted a ban on Ukraine using long-raise missiles to strike inside Russia.(BBC)4 Big Tech is trying to sink the US online child safety billAnd, as it stands, its lobbying efforts look very likely to succeed. (WSJ$)5 Amazon has launched a rival to Temu and Shein Nothing on Haul costs more than $20. (BBC)+Welcome to the slop era of online shopping. (The Atlantic$)6 The Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight on Netflix was plagued by glitchesDespite that, 60 million households still tuned in. (Deadline)7 AI models can work together faster in their own languageLinking different models together could help tackle thorny problems individual ones cant solve. (New Scientist$)8 Tech companies are training their AI on movie subtitlesA database called OpenSubtitles provides a rare glimpse into what goes into these systems. (The Atlantic$)9 McDonalds is trying to bring back NFTsRemember those? (Gizmodo)10 A lot of people are confusing Starlink satellites with UFOs Guess itll take us a while for us to get used to seeing them. (Ars Technica)Quote of the day F*** you, Elon Musk. Brazils first lady, Janja Lula da Silva, makes her views clear during a speech calling for tougher social media regulation ahead of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro,Reutersreports.The big story Alina Chan tweeted life into the idea that the virus came from a lab COURTESY PHOTO June 2021 Alina Chan started asking questions in March 2020. She was chatting with friends on Facebook about the virus then spreading out of China. She thought it was strange that no one had found any infected animal. She wondered why no one was admitting another possibility, which to her seemed very obvious: the outbreak might have been due to a lab accident.Chan is a postdoc in a gene therapy lab at the Broad Institute, a prestigious research institute affiliated with both Harvard and MIT. Throughout 2020, Chan relentlessly stoked scientific argument, and wasnt afraid to pit her brain against the best virologists in the world. Her persistence even helped change some researchers minds.Read the full story.Antonio Regalado We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.) + WhyQuincy Joneswas the best of the best. + Thesehandy appsare a great way to save articles to read later on (Pocket is my own personal favorite.)+ How to resurrect aghost riverin the Bronx.+ Look after yourstainless steel pans, and your stainless steel pans will look after you.