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. AI can now create a replica of your personality Imagine sitting down with an AI model for a spoken two-hour interview. A friendly voice guides you through a conversation that ranges from your childhood, your formative memories, and your career to your thoughts on immigration policy. Not long after, a virtual replica of you is able to embody your values and preferences with stunning accuracy. Thats now possible, according to a new paper from a team including researchers from Stanford and Google DeepMind. They recruited 1,000 people and, from interviews with them, created agent replicas of them all. To test how well the agents mimicked their human counterparts, participants did a series of tests, games and surveys, then the agents completed the same exercises. The results were 85% similar. Freaky.Read our story about the work, and why it matters. James ODonnell Chinas complicated role in climate change But what about China? In debates about climate change, its usually only a matter of time until someone brings up China. Often, it comes in response to some statement about how the US and Europe are addressing the issue (or how they need to be). Sometimes it can be done in bad faith. Its a rhetorical way to throw up your hands, and essentially say: if they arent taking responsibility, why should we? However, there are some undeniable facts: China emits more greenhouse gases than any other country, by far. Its one of the worlds most populous countries and a climate-tech powerhouse, and its economy is still developing. With many complicated factors at play, how should we think about the countrys role in addressing climate change?Read the full story. Casey Crownhart This story is from The Spark, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things energy and climate.Sign upto receive it in your inbox every Wednesday. Four ways to protect your art from AI Since the start of the generative AI boom, artists have been worried about losing their livelihoods to AI tools. Unfortunately, there is little you can do if your work has been scraped into a data set and used in a model that is already out there. You can, however, take steps to prevent your work from being used in the future.Here are four ways to do that.Melissa Heikkila This is part of our How To series, where we give you practical advice on how to use technology in your everyday lives. You can read the rest of the series here. MIT Technology Review Narrated: The worlds on the verge of a carbon storage boom In late 2023, one of Californias largest oil and gas producers secured draft permits from the US Environmental Protection Agency to develop a new type of well in an oil field. If approved, it intends to drill a series of boreholes down to a sprawling sedimentary formation roughly 6,000 feet below the surface, where it will inject tens of millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide to store it away forever. Hundreds of similar projects are looming across the state, the US, and the world. Proponents hope its the start of a sort of oil boom in reverse, kick-starting a process through which the world will eventually bury more greenhouse gas than it adds to the atmosphere. But opponents insist these efforts will prolong the life of fossil-fuel plants, allow air and water pollution to continue, and create new health and environmental risks. This is our lateststoryto be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which were publishing each week onSpotifyandApple Podcasts. Just navigate toMIT Technology Review Narratedon either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as its released. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 How the Trump administration could hack your phone Spyware acquired by the US government in September could fairly easily be turned on its own citizens. (New Yorker$)+Heres how you can fight back against being digitally spied upon.(The Guardian)2 The DOJ is trying to force Google to sell off ChromeWhether Trump will keep pushing it through is unclear, though. (WP$)+Some financial and legal experts argue that just selling Chrome is not enough to address antitrust issues.(Wired$)3 Theres a booming AI pimping industryPeople are stealing videos from real adult content creators, giving them AI-generated faces, and monetizing their bodies. (Wired$)+This viral AI avatar app undressed mewithout my consent.(MIT Technology Review)4 Heres Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy plan for federal employeesLarge-scale firings and an end to any form of remote work. (WSJ$)5 The US is scaring everyone with its response to bird flu Its done remarkably little to show its trying to contain the outbreak. (NYT$)+Virologists are getting increasingly nervous about how it could evolve and spread. (MIT Technology Review) 6 AI could boost the performance of quantum computers A new model created by Google DeepMind is very good at correcting errors.(New Scientist$)+But AI could also make quantum computers less necessary.(MIT Technology Review)7 Biden has approved the use of anti-personnel mines in UkraineIt comes just days after he gave the go-ahead for it to use long-range missiles inside Russia. (Axios)+The US military has given a surveillance drone contract to a little-known supplier from Utah.(WSJ$)+The Danish military said its keeping a close eye on a Chinese ship in its waters after data cable breaches.(Reuters$)8 The number of new mobile internet users is stallingOnly about 57% of the worlds population is connected. (Rest of World)9 All of life on Earth descended from this single cell Our last universal common ancestor (or LUCA for short) was a surprisingly complex organism living 4.2 billion years ago. (Quanta)+Scientists are building a catalog of every type of cell in our bodies. (The Economist$)10 What its like to live with a fluffy AI petTry as we might, it seems we cant help but form attachments to cute companion robots. (The Guardian)Quote of the day The free pumpkins have brought joy to many. An example of the sort of stilted remarks made by a now-abandoned AI-generated news broadcaster at local Hawaii paper The Garden Island,Wiredreports.The big story How Bitcoin mining devastated this New York town GABRIELA BHASKAR April 2022 If you had taken a gamble in 2017 and purchased Bitcoin, today you might be a millionaire many times over. But while the industry has provided windfalls for some, local communities have paid a high price, as people started scouring the world for cheap sources of energy to run large Bitcoin-mining farms. It didnt take long for a subsidiary of the popular Bitcoin mining firm Coinmint to lease a Family Dollar store in Plattsburgh, a city in New York state offering cheap power. Soon, the company was regularly drawing enough power for about 4,000 homes. And while other miners were quick to follow, the problems had already taken root.Read the full story. Lois Parshley 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.) + Cultivatinggratitudeis a proven way to make yourself happier. + You cant beat ahot toddywhen its cold outside.+ If you like abandoned places and overgrown ruins,Jonathan Jimenezis the photographer for you.+ A lot changed betweenGladiator I and II, not least Hollywoods version of the male ideal.