This is todays edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of whats going on in the world of technology.How the US is preparing for a potential bird flu pandemicThis week marks a strange anniversaryits five years since most of us first heard about a virus causing a mysterious pneumonia. A virus that we later learned could cause a disease called covid-19. A virus that swept the globe and has since been reported to have been responsible for over 7 million deathsand counting.We are facing the same uncertainty now with bird flu. We know it can cause severe disease in animals, and we know it can pass from animals to people who are in close contact with them. As of this week, we also know that it can cause severe disease in peoplea 65-year-old man in Louisiana became the first person in the US to die from an H5N1 infection.Scientists are increasingly concerned about a potential bird flu pandemic. The question is, given all the enduring uncertainty around the virus, what should we be doing now to prepare? Read the full story.Jessica HamzelouThis story is from The Checkup, our weekly health and biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday.Ask our journalists anything!Do you have questions about emerging technologies? Well, weve got answers. MIT Technology Reviews science and tech journalists are hosting an AMA on Reddit today at 12 pm ET. Submit your questions now!The must-readsIve combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.1 Metas new speech policies allow the denigration of trans peopleThe revamped guidelines now permit previously-forbidden insults and allegations. (Platformer $)+ The changes have left Metas employees feeling embarrassed and ashamed. (404 Media)+ Axed fact-checkers held an emergency meeting after Meta said it no longer required their services. (Insider $)2 The US Supreme Court will hear TikToks final pleaJustices are likely to make their decision before the end of next week. (The Guardian)+ If the ban is enacted, you can probably still access TikTok via a VPN. (NYT $)+ ByteDances founder could be TikToks secret weapon. (The Information $)3 Those pictures of the Hollywood sign burning are AI-generatedAI slop is making the Los Angeles fires appear even worse than they are. (404 Media)+ Elon Musk and Donald Trump arent helping matters by spreading disinformation. (The Verge)+ AI cameras are keeping tabs on the spreading destruction in Californias hills. (Insider $)+ The scale of the destruction is truly horrifying. (NY Mag $)4 Last year was officially the hottest ever recordedThe average global temperature exceeded 1.5C above the pre-industrial baseline for the first time. (New Scientist $)+ Consequently, were edging closer to breaching the Paris Agreement. (Politico)5 How to prevent another zoonotic pandemicIt all hinges on early detection. (FT $)6 Foxconn has stopped sending Chinese workers to Indian iPhone factoriesIts bad news for Apple, as its likely to disrupt production. (Rest of World)7 This new cell could change plastic surgery as we know itLipochondrocytes have the rigidity of cartilage and the squishiness of fat. (Wired $)+ Cosmetic surgery is booming in middle-income countries. (Economist $)8 Yandexs co-founder is shaking off PutinArkady Volozh has condemned Russias actions in the war with Ukraine, and started a new company. (Bloomberg $)+ How Russia killed its tech industry. (MIT Technology Review)9 Grok is a standalone app nowIts searching for an audience beyond the X faithful. (WSJ $)+ The company appears to be testing a separate website, too. (TechCrunch)10 PlayStation is experimenting with adding smells to its games Smells fishy to me. (Fast Company $)Quote of the daySocial media is like building real estate on sand. You never know.Joanne Molinaro, a former lawyer-turned TikTok chef, worries about the precarity of building a career tied to a specific internet platform, she tells CNN.The big storyAI hype is built on high test scores. Those tests are flawed.August 2023In the past few years, multiple researchers claim to have shown that large language models can pass cognitive tests designed for humans, from working through problems step by step, to guessing what other people are thinking.These kinds of results are feeding a hype machine predicting that these machines will soon come for white-collar jobs. But theres a problem: Theres little agreement on what those results really mean. Read the full story.William Douglas HeavenWe can still have nice thingsA place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet em at me.)+ The Sun turned blue 200 years ago and no one knew whyuntil now.+ Theres nothing better than a surreal TV crossover (Arrested Development + Law & Order: SVU, anyone?)+ Rye the truffle-hunting golden retriever is a very good boy indeed (thanks Vincent!) + I want to go to every single one of these incredible destinations and eat all their food.