The Download: cutting AC emissions, and nature’s drug designer

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. These new solid-state ACs promise a cool future. Scientists aren’t so sure. After three years of record-­breaking heat and another scorcher underway, air-conditioning isn’t going anywhere. That’s good for our health, but bad for the planet: it already accounts for 7% of global electricity use and 3% of greenhouse-gas emissions. Feeling the heat, scientists and startups are hoping to amp up solid-­state cooling. These systems move heat through conductive materials, which could cool spaces and surfaces with fewer messy side effects. The catch is whether it can match the efficiency of traditional AC. Find out how the unconventional coolers aim to dial down AC emissions. —Sara Kiley Watson This story is from the next edition of our magazine, which is all about engineering. Subscribe now to get a copy when it lands! Job titles of the future: nature’s drug designer In 2018, after nearly two decades working in Big Pharma, chemist Tim Cernak was ready to put his skills to a new use. As a lifelong nature lover, he had become concerned that animals are often treated with human pharmaceuticals that can be harmful or even lethal. He decided to address this with a new approach: “conservation chemistry.” Using AI tools and robots, he’s now rapidly designing and testing drugs for animals. Here’s what it takes to treat nature’s patients. —Anna Gibbs The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Anthropic has shut down access to its top models after a US directiveThe US barred foreigners from using Fable 5 and Mythos 5 on Friday. (NYT $)+ Anthropic disabled access globally as it can’t filter users in real time.(BBC)+ Talks with Amazon’s CEO apparently prompted the ban. (WSJ $)+ Cybersecurity experts have called for the ban to end. (Axios)+ But the White Hous