The Download: an exclusive chat with Jim O’Neill, and the surprising truth about heists
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.
US deputy health secretary: Vaccine guidelines are still subject to change
Over the past year, Jim O’Neill has become one of the most powerful people in public health. As the US deputy health secretary, he holds two roles at the top of the country’s federal health and science agencies. He oversees a department with a budget of over a trillion dollars. And he signed the decision memorandum on the US’s deeply controversial new vaccine schedule.
He’s also a longevity enthusiast. In an exclusive interview with MIT Technology Review earlier this month, O’Neill described his plans to increase human healthspan through longevity-focused research supported by ARPA-H, a federal agency dedicated to biomedical breakthroughs. Fellow longevity enthusiasts said they hope he will bring attention and funding to their cause.
At the same time, O’Neill defended reducing the number of broadly recommended childhood vaccines, a move that has been widely criticized by experts in medicine and public health. Read the full story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
The myth of the high-tech heist
Making a movie is a lot like pulling off a heist. That’s what Steven Soderbergh—director of the Ocean’s franchise, among other heist-y classics—said a few years ago. You come up with a creative angle, put together a team of specialists, figure out how to beat the technological challenges, rehearse, move with Swiss-watch precision, and—if you do it right—redistribute some wealth.
But conversely, pulling off a heist isn’t much like the movies. Surveillance cameras, computer-controlled alarms, knockout gas, and lasers hardly ever feature in big-ticket crime. In reality, technical countermeasures are rarely a problem, and high-tech gadgets are rarely a solution. Read the full story.
—Adam Rogers
This story is from the next print issue of MIT Technology Review magazine, which is all about crime. If you haven’t already, subscribe now to receive future issues once they land.
RFK Jr. follows a carnivore diet. That doesn’t mean you should.
Americans have a new set of diet guidelines. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken an old-fashioned food pyramid, turned it upside down, and plonked a steak and a stick of butter in prime positions.
Kennedy and his Make America Healthy Again mates have long been extolling the virtues of meat and whole-fat dairy, so it wasn’t too surprising to see those foods recommended alongside vegetables and whole grains (despite the well-established fact that too much saturated fat can be extremely bad for you).
Some influencers have taken the meat trend to extremes, following a “carnivore diet.” A recent review of research into nutrition misinformation on social media found that a lot of shared diet information is nonsense. But what’s new is that some of this misinformation comes from the people who now lead America’s federal health agencies. Read the full story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 The Trump administration has revoked a landmark climate ruling
In its absence, it can erase the limits that restrict planet-warming emissions. (WP $)
+ Environmentalists and Democrats have vowed to fight the reversal. (Politico)
+ They’re seriously worried about how it will affect public health. (The Hill)
2 An unexplained wave of bot traffic is sweeping the web
Sites across the world are witnessing automated traffic that appears to originate from China. (Wired $)
3 Amazon’s Ring has axed its partnership with Flock
Law enforcement will no longer be able to request Ring doorbell footage from its users. (The Verge)
+ Ring’s recent TV ad for a dog-finding feature riled viewers. (WSJ $)
+ How Amazon Ring uses domestic violence to market doorbell cameras. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Americans are taking the hit for almost all of Trump’s tariffs
Consumers and companies in the US, not overseas, are shouldering 90% of levies. (Reuters)
+ Trump has long insisted that his tariffs costs will be borne by foreign exporters. (FT $)
+ Sweeping tariffs could threaten the US manufacturing rebound. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Meta and Snap say Australia’s social media ban hasn’t affected business
They’re still making plenty of money amid the country’s decision to ban under-16s from the platforms. (Bloomberg $)
+ Does preventing teens from going online actually do any good? (Economist $)
6 AI workers are selling their shares before their firms go public
Cashing out early used to be a major Silicon Valley taboo. (WSJ $)
7 Elon Musk posted about race almost every day last month
His fixation on a white racial majority appears to be intensifying. (The Guardian)
+ Race is a recurring theme in the Epstein emails, too. (The Atlantic $)
8 The man behind a viral warning about AI used AI to write it
But he stands behind its content.. (NY Mag $)
+ How AI-generated text is poisoning the internet. (MIT Technology Review)
9 Influencers are embracing Chinese traditions ahead of the New Year 
On the internet, no one knows you’re actually from Wisconsin. (NYT $)
10 Australia’s farmers are using AI to count sheep 
No word on whether it’s helping them sleep easier, though. (FT $)
Quote of the day
“Ignoring warning signs will not stop the storm. It puts more Americans directly in its path.”
—Former US secretary of state John Kerry takes aim at the US government’s decision to repeal the key rule that allows it to regulate climate-heating pollution, the Guardian reports.
One more thing
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is ready to transform our understanding of the cosmos
High atop Chile’s 2,700-meter Cerro Pachón, the air is clear and dry, leaving few clouds to block the beautiful view of the stars. It’s here that the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will soon use a car-size 3,200-megapixel digital camera—the largest ever built—to produce a new map of the entire night sky every three days.
Findings from the observatory will help tease apart fundamental mysteries like the nature of dark matter and dark energy, two phenomena that have not been directly observed but affect how objects are bound together—and pushed apart.
A quarter-century in the making, the observatory is poised to expand our understanding of just about every corner of the universe. Read the full story.
—Adam Mann
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 skeet ’em at me.)
+ Why 2026 is shaping up to be the year of the pop comeback.
+ Almost everything we thought we knew about Central America’s Maya has turned out to be completely wrong.
+ The Bigfoot hunters have spoken!
+ This fun game puts you in the shoes of a distracted man trying to participate in a date while playing on a GameBoy.
