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On a hot, oppressively muggy summer day in a city like New York or Atlanta, when you crank up the AC, it might not feel like its working well. Thats because conventional air conditioners arent optimized to deal with humidity. Your AC will run longer as it tries to deal with both heat and moisture in the airand if the humidity stays too high, your home can feel clammy or sticky even if the temperature is dropping. Because humidity makes the air feel hotter, you might not feel much cooler even as your electric bill climbs. But what if you could save 90% of the cost of your air-conditioning electric billsand actually be cool during a sweltering summer? That’s the promise of a new kind of AC technology that deals with humidity more effectively; its just coming out of testing and into commercial development. Though the technology exists, you’re going to have to wait (but not too long) before you can have it in your home. The innovations, from a handful of startups and larger companies, can save huge amounts of energy and provide more effective temperature control. As the planet gets both hotter and more humid, new tech can help more people afford to stay cool. It also can help the grid so blackouts are less likely in a heat wave. And with less energy use, it can help tackle the cooling paradox: the fact that the growth of conventional air-conditioning is a major source of emissions, forcing us to rely on ACs even more. The problem with legacy AC New technologies take different approaches to solving the same challenge. The air-conditioning problem really is a humidity control problem, says Russ Wilcox, CEO of Trellis Air, an air-conditioning startup spinning out tech that was originally developed by Harvard researchers. Standard air conditioners remove humidity and cool the air at the same time. When hot, wet air passes over cold coils inside the machine, it condenses, like beads of water on a cold drink. But because the system’s main goal is to cool, on a very humid day, you need to turn the temperature way down to remove enough humidity to try to feel comfortable. The AC has to run longer, guzzling more energy. Rooms can end up either cool and clammy or too cold. In some large spaces, like a movie theater, overcooling sometimes means that the heat comes back on, despite the fact that its sweltering outside. There are more than a billion air conditioners in use now, responsible for a carbon footprint thats around twice as large as that of aviation, and around a third of the electricity they use is for dehumidification. Emissions are also quickly growing as more people buy air conditioners. By 2050, the number of units in use around the world is expected to triple, causing emissions from air-conditioning to potentially double to 2 billion tons of CO2 per year. How the new tech works Cutting-edge AC tech deals with humidity separately from temperature. Trellis, for example, uses a membrane to filter water vapor out of the air before cooling it, an approach that is far more efficient than a typical air conditioner that expends energy cooling both the air and the water inside it. That gives us a huge edge in energy for dehumidification, Wilcox says. And we do it with an engineered plastic film, which means its a pretty passive, simple, reliable, potentially very cost-effective way of dehumidifying. Blue Frontier, a startup that has raised more than $36 million from investors including Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, uses a salt-based desiccant to store energy that can later be used when electricity prices are high. During peak hours, the system uses the desiccant to remove humidity. (It’s like a battery, but instead of storing electricity it stores drying power.) The technology can reduce electricity use by 50% to 90%. Transaera, which raised an $8.2 million round of seed funding in November 2024, uses a type of material called a metal-organic framework (or MOF) with a microscopic tinker-toy-like shape. MOFs are “really powerful because they allow us to target a specific moleculeyou make the pores just the right size for that molecule to go in, says Ross Bonner, cofounder and CTO of the Massachusetts-based startup. In our case, we have tuned them for water. Transaera uses the material to coat a substrate, and then can add it to a standard air conditioner. Depending on the climate, it can cut energy use by around 40%. AirJoule, another startup, uses metal-organic frameworks along with waste heat to efficiently dehumidify and cool the air (and to produce pure water that can be used elsewhere). Data centers are target customers. Industry veteran Carrier has partnered with the startup to incorporate the tech into its own equipment. Two large AC manufacturers, Chinas Gree and Japans Daikin, have developed super-efficient air conditioners that use different sensors and controls for humidity and temperature. Its really smart design and smart controls, and the ability to sense and respond to real-time conditions, that enables them, says Ankit Kalanki, who works on the carbon-free buildings program at the nonprofit RMI. The designs from Gree and Daikin also use the most efficient components possible, from heat exchangers to compressors. Both companies won the Global Cooling Prize, a contest that launched in 2018 to encourage innovation in air conditioner design. Proven tech Over the past few years, the companies have been proving that the technology works. RMI recently partnered with Gree and Daikin to test their units in real-world conditions in India. They rented seven apartments in a city outside Mumbai and pitted the new designs against the most efficient ACs and mini-splits currently on the Indian market, looking at how much power it took to stay below 80 degrees Fahrenheit and 60% humidity. Earlier this year, after nine months of testing under different weather conditions, they published the results: The new tech cut energy use by 60%. Transaera began testing a prototype of its tech on a large commercial building in Houston last year. Our approach was, okay, we have this technology, weve proven it out in the lab, we want to put it through its paces and really see if it can perform and do what we say it can do, says Bonner. So we found the most punishing climate that weve been in. Last summer, when they went on the roof of the building for the installation, they measured the surface temperature: 140 degrees. It was so hot that the installers had to wear knee pads so they didnt burn themselves. After months of testing in Houstons ultra-humid weather, where a typical summer day might have a heat index of 110 degrees, the AC has been saving even more energy than projected. Now Transaera is working with a manufacturer to make a full-size prototype for testing. The path to market If you need a new window air conditioner, you can’t yet go to the store and buy one of the new designs. So far, the first product to come to market is a commercial one. Blue Frontier launched a 15-ton “dedicated outdoor air system” (or DOAS) unit earlier this year. Selling first to commercial customersfrom medical centers to schools to restaurantsmans that the company can have the biggest climate benefit with each unit it sells. “The conventional technology DOAS are the ‘gas guzzlers’ of the industry,” says Daniel Betts, founder and CEO of Blue Frontier. The standard tech of this type is very inefficient and energy-intensive. Blue Frontier’s version also offers energy storage so the units can run for four to six hours with little electricity use; that lets building owners make better use of renewable electricity and lower electric rates at certain times of day. The technology can also be used in smaller residential units, but that will come later. “It’s just a matter of picking a market entry strategy that makes sense to us and that helps our community the most,” Betts says. Gree and Daikin, the Global Cooling Prize winners, initially aimed to bring products to market in 2025. Their technology is ready, says RMIs Kalanki, who is working with the companies on commercialization. But it isnt likely that the ACs will be in stores this year. From a technical feasibility standpoint, I think that has been proven through the testing, he says. So its more about commercial viability now. One challenge, Kalanki says, is that international standards for residential air conditioners dont yet measure the energy used to remove humidity. Were working very closely with the international standards organization to really bring dehumidification into the conversation, he says. This needs to get reflected so we can reward the products in the right way and industry has the right target to design for. Though customers will be able to save money over time on electric bills, the up-front cost of the units will be higher, making them a little more challenging to sell. Institutional buyers, who purchase in bulk, could help jump-start the market, Kalanki says, noting, “That demand signal is going to be very critical for manufacturers to make those early investments. More commercial options are likely to be available sooner. AirJoule plans to be on the market next year. Transaera is now working with a manufacturer that will be able to produce its commercial units at scale after the current pilots end, and is already in conversations with customers. The technology has the biggest advantage against conventional products in a commercial application, Bonner says, but the company also plans to later make residential ACs. (It’s already made a viable prototype.) Trellis, which launched last year, is at an earlier stage and hasn’t yet started testing prototypes. The process will take time. “I think we have a lot of ambition of how we can manufacture this cost-effectively in the supply chain and make a robust product,” says Wilcox, noting that the team previously worked together on the development of the screen for the Amazon Kindle. “But we also appreciate that it takes some years to really make something robust enough to ship all around the world.” The startups recognize the urgency of their work, as the need for ACs and their impact continues to grow. “I’m always impatient,” says Bonner. “We can go faster, and we need to go faster. And we have a responsibility to future generations to make the difference that we know we need to.”
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AI skeptics have found a new way to express their disdain for the creeping presence of artificial intelligence: through slurs. Out on the streets and in stores, people have begun harassing robots they encounter in the wild. (Anyone else feel a bit sorry for the robot?) Online, the internet has revived a Star Warsinspired insult, clanker, with Google Trends data showing a spike in searches for the term in early June. @semdenpriv original sound – semdenpriv POV: Me at the clanker rally in 2088, one TikTok user joked. Keep your oily soulless clanker hands away from my delicious human food, another X user wrote in response to a clip of Elon Musks Optimus robot dishing out popcorn at the Tesla Diner (not a sentence I ever thought Id write). Keep your oily soulless clanker hands away from my delicious human food https://t.co/DXF7JNKD0W— EckhartsLadder (@EckhartsLadder) July 20, 2025 The term has also been picked up by politicians. Sick of yelling ‘REPRESENTATIVE’ into the phone 10 times just to talk to a human being? Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) posted on X last month. My new bill makes sure you dont have to talk to a clanker if you dont want to. Sick of yelling REPRESENTATIVE into the phone 10 times just to talk to a human being? My new bill makes sure you dont have to talk to a clanker if you dont want to. pic.twitter.com/9aUv478gSP— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) July 30, 2025 While some direct their insults at the technology itself, others target those using AI systems. On one thread, suggestions for users of the xAI chatbot Grok included Grokkers, Groklins, and Grocksuckers. Meanwhile, on TikTok, someone coined sloppers for people becoming increasingly overreliant on ChatGPT. @intrnetbf shoutout to Monica. Incredible command over the English language original sound – intrnetbf The trend reflects a broader mood. Concerns about AI among U.S. adults have grown since 2021, according to the Pew Research Center. More than half (51%) say they are more concerned than excited about the technologys rise, with worries ranging from AI taking away jobs to chatbot addiction. Still, some see embracing new slurseven those aimed at robotsas problematic, especially when they echo existing racial slurs or stereotypes. @thebrookboys This bout to be the biggest fear for all Dads in year 2050 #meme #clanker #robo Bell Sound/Temple/Gone/About 10 minutes(846892) – yulu-ism project Others simply fear theyll regret their words later. As one X user wrote: I dont want to have to look a robot in the eye in fifty years and be like, you dont understand it was a different time star wars did give us a slur for robots (clankers) but i dont use it bc i dont want to have to look a robot in the eye in fifty years and be like you dont understand it was a different time— anna !!! (@frogs4girls) July 20, 2025
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In the late 2010s, cultured meat was everywhereand yet nowhere. From Reddit to major magazine covers, articles touted the latest advances in “lab-grown meat,” promising cruelty-free, environmentally friendly steaks at your local supermarket. The hype was palpable. One 2019 report predicted cultured meats would halve the number of cows on the planet by 2030, disrupting the world’s oldest industry by delivering ethical meat with negligible environmental impact that tasted identical to traditional meatand at a fraction of the price. [Photo: Vow] That promise of rapid disruption terrified conventional animal agriculture stakeholders. Under pressure from these livestock constituents, lawmakers in multiple states have banned this new protein source entirely. Florida and Alabama passed bans in 2024, with more states following. Indiana imposed a manufacturing moratorium with steep fines, Nebraska prohibited its production and sale, and Montanas governor signed legislation to ensure consumers could “continue to enjoy authentic meat.” In June, a Texas ban became law, with the state’s agriculture commissioner touting the “God-given right” to pasture-raised meateven though the vast majority of what Americans eat comes from industrial feedlots. But here’s the irony: Lawmakers are fighting a version of cultured meat that never materialized. Today, while you can eat cultured meat at more than 60 venues in Singapore and Australia, and cultured seafood at two restaurants in the U.S. at the time of this writing, it’s far from the rapid disruption that was forecasted. More than a decade after the world’s first cultured hamburger was announced, the hype has virtually disappeared.The reality of how and why this all transpired is complicated. However, we would argue that what we’re witnessing isn’t industry failure, but the natural evolution of a transformative invention finding its true market fit. Cultured meat technology works; what needed adjustment were the timelines and business models that promised too much, too quickly, and to replicate conventional meats that people already enjoy en masse.Rather than viewing this as a setback, some in the industry are discovering something potentially more valuable: sustainable, scalable pathways to market that don’t require displacing existing agriculture but can grow alongside it. As the industry turns the page to a new chapter, once uncertain regulatory pathways are now established in multiple countries. [Photo: Vow] The technology itself continues to advance. Production yields are improving, costs are declining, and new species beyond traditional livestock are proving viable for cultivation.More importantly, early market success demonstrates genuine consumer appetite. In Singapore, where cultured meat has been available the longest, restaurants report strong repeat customers and growing demand. In Australia, where cultured meat became available at dozens of restaurants in recent weeks, initial sales and demand for the items are taking off. Forged Cultured Japanese Quail Whipped Pate [Photo: Vow] This suggests cultured meat purveyors arent just scratching a theoretical itch, but delivering real value and excitement that consumers recognize and seek out.This reality is leading to a strategic pivot that may actually benefit both the industry and consumers: innovation over imitation. Rather than trying to perfectly replicate a chicken wing or rib-eye steakproducts that traditional animal agriculture already produces and consumers are accustomed tocompanies that are finding success are creating entirely new culinary experiences that excite chefs and diners alike. Forged Cultured Japanese Quail Foie Gras [Photo: Vow] Take Japanese quail, a species that demonstrates cultivated meat’s unique advantages. Traditional quail foie gras is impossible to produce commerciallythe birds are so petite that conventional methods are prohibitively labor-intensive, and the production process itself remains controversial. Japanese quail, however, proves remarkably well-suited for cultivation technology, enabling the creation of previously undoable delicacies like foie gras, whipped pâté, and even edible tallow candles. Forged Cultured Japanese Quail Tallow Candle [Photo: Vow] And Vow can make a lot of it. The company recently completed the largest cultured meat harvest in history: more than one metric ton of quail. And it projects it will have the capacity, by the end of 2025, to harvest up to 130 metric tons annually. While that’s still minimal compared with the 12.29 million metric tons of beef American farmers produced in 2023 and 2024, it is proof that cultured meat can offer consumers genuinely new choices and advance consumer acceptance. Its an illustration of how the industry can position itself as expanding culinary possibilities while avoiding potential conflicts with traditional agriculture.Rather than letting politicians dictate what should be on our plates in order to protect incumbent industries, we should trust consumers to decide for themselves. When given the freedom to choose, consumers are embracing these innovations as exciting additions to culinary experiences, the evidence suggests. Thats a decision best left to diners, not lawmakers.
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