As anyone who has googled their symptoms and convinced themselves that they’ve got a brain tumor will attest, the internet makes it very easy to self-(mis)diagnose your health problems. And although social media and other digital forums can be a lifeline for some people looking for a diagnosis or community, when that information is wrong, it can put their well-being and even lives in danger.

We spoke to a number of health-care professionals who told us how this modern impulse to “do your own research” is changing their profession. Read the full story.

—Rhiannon Williams

As a climate technology reporter, I’m often asked by people whether they should be using AI, given how awful it is for the environment. Generally, I tell them not to worry—let a chatbot plan your vacation, suggest recipe ideas, or write you a poem if you want.

That response might surprise some. I promise I’m not living under a rock, and I have seen all the concerning projections about how much electricity AI is using. But I feel strongly about not putting the onus on individuals. Here’s why.

A company called Quantinuum has just unveiled Helios, its third-generation quantum computer, which includes expanded computing power and error correction capability.

Like all other existing quantum computers, Helios is not powerful enough to execute the industry’s dream money-making algorithms, such as those that would be useful for materials discovery or financial modeling.

But Quantinuum’s machines, which use individual ions as qubits, could be easier to scale up than quantum computers that use superconducting circuits as qubits, such as Google’s and IBM’s. Read the full story.

2 The FDA has fast-tracked a pill to treat pancreatic cancer
The experimental drug appears promising, but experts worry corners may be cut. (WP $)
+ Demand for AstraZeneca’s cancer and diabetes drugs is pushing profits up. (Bloomberg $)
+ A new cancer treatment kills cells using localized heat. (Wired $)

3 AI pioneers claim it is already superior to humans in many tasks
But not all tasks are created equal. (FT $)
+ Are we all wandering into an AGI trap? (Vox)
+ How AGI became the most consequential conspiracy theory of our time. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Vibe coding is Collins dictionary’s word of 2025 📖
Beating stiff competition from “clanker.” (The Guardian)
+ What is vibe coding, exactly? (MIT Technology Review)

10 These people found romance with their chatbot companions
The AI may not be real, but the humans’ feelings certainly are. (NYT $)
+ It’s surprisingly easy to stumble into a relationship with an AI chatbot. (MIT Technology Review)

Ethically sourced “spare” human bodies could revolutionize medicineMany challenges in medicine stem, in large part, from a common root cause: a severe shortage of ethically-sourced human bodies.

There might be a way to get out of this moral and scientific deadlock. Recent advances in biotechnology now provide a pathway to producing living human bodies without the neural components that allow us to think, be aware, or feel pain.

Many will find this possibility disturbing, but if researchers and policymakers can find a way to pull these technologies together, we may one day be able to create “spare” bodies, both human and nonhuman. Read the full story.—Carsten T. Charlesworth, Henry T. Greely & Hiromitsu Nakauchi