During an emergency, making a U-turn is the quickest method to return home within the initial 36 hours following the TLI. Beyond that timeframe, it can often be equally fast, and frequently easier, to continue the trajectory around the Moon and descend back to Earth, Orion programme manager Howard Hu stated prior to the launch.
During the initial year, the administration experienced the exit of acting Attorney General Sally Yates, National Security Adviser Mike Flynn, FBI Director James Comey, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, chief strategist Steve Bannon, and two press secretaries, among other officials.
The fanfiction site will keep introducing new functionalities even after removing the ‘beta’ designation.
The fanfiction site will keep introducing new functionalities even after removing the ‘beta’ designation.
Archive of Our Own (AO3) is formally leaving the beta phase. The Organization for Transformative Works — the nonprofit behind the fanfiction platform — made the announcement on Thursday, marking 17 years since AO3’s inception in 2009.
“Since 2009, AO3 has evolved significantly,” the statement reveals. “We’ve rolled out numerous features over the years through the hard work of our volunteers and coding contributors, as well as the contractors we’ve been able to hire due to the generous support from our users.”
The announcement showcases several features introduced on AO3 since its inception, including a tagging system, downloads for fanworks, privacy settings that enable creators to restrict access to their content, and more. Just because AO3 is leaving beta doesn’t imply that updates are ceasing;
Since the AO3 software has maintained stability for an extended period, this transition is primarily aesthetic and does not suggest that everything is finalized or functioning flawlessly. Exiting beta will not halt our ongoing efforts to enhance AO3—our community of volunteer coders and contributors will persist in their work to enrich and refine AO3 daily.
A notable alteration on the site is the removal of the small “beta” label from the AO3 logo shown at the top of the platform. (AO3 temporarily replaced the beta designation with “omega” for April Fools’ Day this year).
You can monitor the latest updates for AO3 by checking its projects on Jira.
The note-taking application also allows AI training by default for non-enterprise users.
The note-taking application also allows AI training by default for non-enterprise users.
If you utilize the AI-assisted note-taking service Granola, it may be wise to revisit your privacy configurations. While Granola states that your notes are “private by default,” it renders them accessible to anyone possessing a link and also incorporates them for internal AI training unless you opt out.
Granola characterizes itself as an “AI notepad for individuals in back-to-back meetings.” It syncs with your calendar to capture audio from meetings, subsequently employing AI to create a bulleted summary of what was discussed, which it refers to as a “note.” You have the option to modify the AI-generated notes, invite other participants to view them, and engage with Granola’s AI assistant to inquire about your notes and review the meeting transcripts they originate from.
However, within the app’s settings menu, Granola notes, “By default, your notes are accessible to anyone with the link.” This implies that anyone online can view your notes if you inadvertently share a link — a significant concern if you’re documenting sensitive meetings. After personally testing this, I discovered that I could retrieve my own note from a private browser window, all without logging into my Granola account. The site even displays the ownership of the note and its creation date.
While I was unable to view the complete transcript associated with the note, I could still access portions of it. Clicking on one of the bullet points produced by Granola reveals a quote from the transcript that the note references, accompanied by an AI-generated summary providing additional context about the discussion.
On its site, Granola mentions that “full transcript access is granted to colleagues who open the same folder or note inside the Granola desktop app.” It remains unclear whether all Granola account holders can view your transcript, or if only those you’ve shared your workspace with can do so. Granola did not provide a response to a request for additional details by the publication time.
You can modify who is able to view your links by opening Granola, clicking on your profile at the bottom-left of the screen, and then selecting “Settings.” From there, go to the “Default link sharing” setting, and adjust “Anyone with the link” to either “Only my company” or “Private.” If you delete your note, those with the link will no longer have access to it.
One user on LinkedIn highlighted the public notes feature last year, stating, “these links aren’t indexed, but if you share or leak one – even accidentally – it’s public to anyone who finds it.” Furthermore, at least one prominent company has prohibited a senior executive from using the tool due to security worries, a source informed The Verge.
In addition, Granola “might utilize anonymized data” to enhance its AI models, as stated on the app’s support page. Enterprise users are excluded from AI training by default, whereas individuals on all other plans are included. You can disable AI training by navigating to the settings menu and turning off the “Use my data to improve models for everyone” option. The company asserts it does not permit third-party entities, like OpenAI or Anthropic, to use your data for AI training if the setting is active.
Granola’s security page states that your notes are stored in a US-based Amazon Web Services private cloud and asserts they are “encrypted both at rest and in transit.” The company also does not retain audio from meetings. It solely keeps meeting notes and transcripts, both of which it processes within the cloud.
For Doe, he was “dismayed” to discover that full and partial transcripts of chats about his family’s financial information appeared to have been shared with Google and Meta, reportedly along with PII. His complaint says he relies on Perplexity to help manage taxes, obtain legal advice, and make investment choices. He argued that, without an injunction stopping Perplexity’s alleged ongoing privacy harms, he would be prevented from using his preferred search engine.
The lawsuit asserts other members of the proposed class likely turned to Perplexity when researching various sensitive topics. It alleges the companies built ad trackers to operate “surreptitiously” so they could purportedly “exploit this sensitive data for their own benefit, including targeting individuals with advertising and reselling their sensitive data to additional third parties.”
Most worryingly, people often use these AI systems to look up health and medical information, particularly when talking to another person might feel embarrassing or upsetting.
The complaint claims Perplexity appears to take advantage of users’ tendency to overshare with AI by prompting them to upload sensitive records during chats. That includes data that, if transmitted to Google and Meta, could cause users to be suddenly targeted with ads they “may find overwhelming, disturbing, or, in many instances, physically deleterious,” the filing said.
For example, the complaint notes Perplexity answers a simple prompt like “What is the best treatment for liver cancer?” by offering that “I can help you interpret a specific scan report, biopsy result, or proposed treatment plan if you share more details.”
The suit says invasive trackers embedded in Perplexity’s AI search engine include the Facebook Meta Pixel, Google Ads, and Google DoubleClick, and possibly a Meta tool called “Conversions API.” The complaint alleges Meta recommends partners use that technology alongside the Meta Pixel because it supposedly provides a “workaround” that stops “savvy users” from blocking Pixel tracking. It also points out Meta has faced several privacy lawsuits over that tech, with some settlements, while Congress has criticized some former partners who used trackers from Google and Meta.
President Donald Trump dismissed Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday.
Bondi’s removal follows reports that Trump was dissatisfied with her management of Department of Justice documents concerning the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the DOJ’s inability to effectively prosecute numerous political adversaries of the president.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will act as the interim attorney general, Trump stated, describing his former criminal defense attorney Blanche as a “highly skilled and esteemed Legal Mind” in a social media update.
Trump is considering Lee Zeldin, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, as a potential permanent successor to Bondi.
“Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a steadfast friend, who served diligently as my Attorney General for the past year,” Trump expressed on Truth Social.
“Pam effectively supervised a major crackdown on crime nationwide, with murder rates dropping to their lowest point since 1900,” the president remarked.
“We appreciate Pam, and she will soon transition to a vital new role in the private sector, to be revealed soon,” Trump noted.
In a statement on X, Bondi mentioned, “In the coming month, I will work diligently to ensure a smooth transition of the Attorney General’s office to the remarkable Todd Blanche before moving to an exciting new private sector position where I will continue to advocate for President Trump and this Administration.”
Her dismissal arrives shortly after Trump let go of another cabinet member, Kristi Noem, as Secretary of Homeland Security.
Noem’s termination followed criticism regarding DHS’s stringent immigration enforcement in Minnesota, which resulted in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents. She was succeeded by Markwayne Mullin, previously a U.S. senator from Oklahoma.
“Her time was running out,” a source revealed to MS NOW earlier Thursday, noting that Trump had been discussing Bondi’s removal with Republicans and allies in recent days.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky whose legislation requiring the DOJ to release all Epstein-related files became law in late 2025, stated in a post on X, “I support Trump’s decision to fire Pam Bondi. Do you?”
“I hope the next Attorney General will release all Epstein files in compliance with the law and pursue investigations, prosecutions, and arrests,” Massie added.
Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, in a post earlier Thursday on X stated, “If the rumors about Lee Zeldin replacing Pam Bondi as Attorney General are accurate — I welcome it.”
“Bondi managed the Epstein Files poorly and exacerbated this situation more than necessary for President Trump,” Mace noted. “I anticipate a new Attorney General positively.”
In his second term, Trump has been notably more restrained in dismissing senior officials compared to his first term, which was characterized by a series of sudden firings, including that of his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions.
Trump dismissed Sessions late in 2018 after the then-attorney general withdrew from overseeing a DOJ inquiry into the 2016 Trump campaign’s connections with Russians, which led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to conduct that investigation.
Bondi is generally viewed as having mishandled the release of documents connected to Epstein, who was once associated with Trump.
Bondi, after Trump retook the White House last year, initially vowed to unveil DOJ papers concerning Epstein, whose unlawful activities have captured the attention of the president’s MAGA political supporters.
She later backed out of that commitment after she was seen giving social media figures supportive of Trump binders of documents that were largely composed of publicly available information about Epstein.
Congress subsequently overwhelmingly passed Massie’s legislation mandating the DOJ release all its files pertaining to Epstein by December 19, which Trump reluctantly signed after resisting the initiative for several months.
Although the DOJ did produce numerous documents by that deadline, it did not release millions more until weeks afterward, and even then withheld many files.
On March 17, the House Oversight Committee summoned Bondi, requiring her to testify about the DOJ’s management of the Epstein files on April 14.
Rep. Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California and ranking member of the Oversight committee, wrote in a post on X on Thursday, “Pam Bondi and Donald Trump may believe her termination exempts her from testifying before the Oversight Committee.”
“They are mistaken — and we are eager to hear from her under oath,” Garcia asserted.
On November 24, Bondi and the DOJ faced embarrassment due to the dismissal of federal criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Trump had urged Bondi to bring criminal charges against Comey and James, who are both adversaries of his.
Comey faced charges for making a false statement and obstructing justice stemming from his past congressional testimony. James was accused of bank fraud and providing false information to a financial institution regarding a mortgage she obtained in 2020.
Both denied any wrongdoing and claimed the charges were politically motivated.
A federal judge dismissed the cases against both individuals after determining that Lindsey Halligan, who was the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, one of the officials who pursued the indictments, had been improperly appointed.
Halligan is among several federal prosecutors whose appointments during the second Trump administration have been ruled invalid.
House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, stated on Thursday, “Pam Bondi’s time as the most corrupt Attorney General in recent American history has been a shameful attack on our Constitution.”
“The so-called Attorney General and the pathetic, sycophantic political operatives she brought along have repeatedly weaponized the Department of Justice and taxpayer funds to target Donald Trump’s political opponents, violate the rights of law-abiding Americans, and attempt to intimidate and silence those who oppose this administration,” Jeffries asserted.
“Pam Bondi has misled Congress and the American public. During her leadership, the Department has forfeited centuries of expertise, intentionally violated federal laws and court orders, all while concealing millions of documents associated with the Epstein files in a massive cover-up.”
Amazon also told the FCC it would “further mitigate the risk of collision” by “coordinat[ing] during operations, in real-time, with systems through whose orbital altitudes Kuiper Satellites will transit.” The FCC later granted approval for Amazon’s orbital debris mitigation plan, attaching license conditions that mandate coordination and information-sharing with other operators occupying similar orbital regimes, SpaceX said.
SpaceX alleged that, despite repeated assurances and the related license conditions, Amazon conducted eight launches into orbits with insertion altitudes above 450 km without submitting an amended orbital debris mitigation plan or seeking Commission approval for that change. SpaceX added that most recently, even after SpaceX provided input, Amazon’s February 12, 2026 Ariane 6 launch placed satellites at an altitude high enough to create collision risks that could not be mitigated for dozens of operational spacecraft.
SpaceX asserted that Amazon failed to update its orbital debris mitigation plan and did not give sufficiently accurate information to other operators about the February launch. According to SpaceX, this materially increased the danger to all satellite operations near the 480 km insertion altitude and to inhabited spacecraft.
Amazon filed a letter with the FCC today rebutting the claims. “The facts demonstrate that Amazon Leo launches to altitudes permitted under its license, has been transparent about its insertion altitudes with both the Commission and with SpaceX, and operates squarely within established industry safety standards,” Amazon said.
Amazon said its launch altitudes comply with the license’s “at or near 400 km” requirement, which allows “some flexibility in adjusting parameters.” It explained that it proceeded with the 450 km insertion altitude because “changing near-term Ariane launch parameters would cause multi-month delays,” and said it has addressed SpaceX’s concerns by committing to lower initial altitudes beginning with its fourth Ariane mission. The February 12 flight was the first of 18 scheduled launches.
“Launch vehicle providers generally require several months—and often up to one year—to retarget insertion altitude due to the complexity of final mission analysis, which includes trajectory analysis, coupled loads analysis, and integrated thermal analysis,” Amazon told the FCC. “Arianespace, for example, requires three to six months for final mission analysis when changing target orbit parameters. Amazon Leo began this process immediately upon learning of SpaceX’s concerns and has worked diligently with its launch providers to implement changes as quickly as operationally feasible.”
Nonfarm payrolls are anticipated to recover — just slightly — in March as expectations continue to lower for what defines a healthy job market.
The U.S. economy is expected to report job increases of 59,000 for the month, a weak figure compared to earlier years this decade but sufficient to maintain the unemployment rate at 4.4%.
If the forecast holds true, it would signify above-average job growth for a labor market that has generated nearly no jobs over the past year.
Immigration limitations, shifting demographics, and geopolitical tensions have resulted in companies being neither inclined to hire nor terminate workers in large numbers, leading to a stagnant job market and a series of lackluster monthly reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS will disclose the figure Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET, although the stock market will be shut in recognition of the Good Friday holiday.
“We need to adjust our understanding of what constitutes a good or bad job number,” stated Guy Berger, chief economist at Homebase, which offers workforce management solutions for small enterprises.
A report like February’s indicating job losses “would have sparked alarm bells regarding the condition of the labor market,” he noted. “Now we acknowledge, yes, that was a very poor report, but it doesn’t panic anyone about the job market. I didn’t examine that report and think, wow, we’re about to slide into a recession.”
Resonating the thoughts expressed by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and other central bankers, Berger said he is placing more emphasis on the unemployment rate as a measure of labor market resilience.
With the workforce evolving, increasingly smaller payroll increases are necessary to keep the jobless rate stable. The current unemployment rate of 4.4% is just 0.2 percentage points higher than it was a year ago, despite the disappointing payroll growth.
A recent report from the St. Louis Fed updated previous findings regarding the breakeven point for job growth. The bank’s economists now believe that figure could be as low as 15,000, reaching up to 87,000.
This marks a significant decrease from an estimate as recent as April 2025 that identified the breakeven threshold at 153,000, and an update in August of that year positioning the figure between 32,000 to 82,000.
In other terms, the job market does not require nearly the job growth it once did to maintain employment close to full capacity.
“Conditions have been gradually deteriorating over the past several years,” Berger remarked, but additionally noted, “There’s no definitive indication of us slipping into a recession.”
Some economists on Wall Street hold a differing view. Goldman Sachs, Moody’s Analytics, and others have recently increased their recession probabilities for the next year, citing concerns stemming from a weakening job outlook and rising energy expenses.
Earlier this week, BLS data revealed that the hiring rate as a fraction of the workforce fell to 3.1%, marking its lowest point since the Covid recession in 2020 and, prior to that, January 2011.
Nonetheless, data from Homebase aligns with other metrics, including the ADP private payrolls report for March, which indicates modest payroll growth. February’s loss of 92,000 jobs was partly due to a strike at health-care provider Kaiser Permanente that temporarily affected around 31,000 workers in California and Hawaii, which has since been resolved.
The economy has heavily depended on the health care sector for employment growth. In fact, without this sector, the past year would have seen a net job loss of more than half a million positions.
ADP reported on Wednesday that private payrolls grew by 62,000, slightly exceeding market expectations, yet nearly all the growth came from healthcare, which added 58,000 jobs.
Even this figure concealed underlying weaknesses, stated ADP’s chief economist, Nela Richardson.
“Is that the economy that propels growth onward is the question, because many of these jobs are low-paying home health-care aide roles,” she remarked. “They aren’t the full-time, benefits-rich, 401(k) jobs that bolster consumer spending.”
EY-Parthenon is one of the Wall Street firms that have adjusted their recession predictions upward. Lydia Boussour, senior economist at EY-Parthenon, highlighted that health care “will be a significant aspect in the report.”
“We expect a largely stagnant job market in 2026, with selective hiring, limited wage growth, and strategic workforce adjustments as labor supply remains historically constrained,” Boussour stated in a note. “Risks are tilted to the downside considering the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with recession probabilities at 40%.”
Here is the latest issue of The Download, our weekday newsletter delivering a daily update on the happenings in the tech world.
As the ongoing conflict in Iran persists, one of the most noticeable global economic repercussions has been the rise in fossil-fuel prices. However, looking forward, additional effects could be imminent for plastics.
Plastics, derived from petrochemicals, are beginning to feel the supply chain repercussions from the unrest. Americans will likely experience these ripples.
Explore the complete article to understand the unpredictable effects.
—Casey Crownhart
This piece comes from The Spark, our weekly newsletter focused on climate. Register to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.
The crucial reads
I’ve scoured the internet to bring you today’s most interesting/important/scary/fascinating tech stories.
1 SpaceX has initiated an IPO
It’s anticipated to be the largest ever, aiming for a $1.75 trillion valuation. (NYT $)
+ This would make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire. (Al Jazeera)
+ Yet, the IPO may rely on the success of Moon missions. (LA Times $)
+ The conflicts of interest are considerable. (The Next Web)
+ Meanwhile, competitors are emerging to challenge SpaceX. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Artemis II is en route to the Moon
NASA successfully launched the four astronauts on its rocket yesterday. (Axios)
+ The lunar mission may infringe international law. (The Verge)
+ However, the potential advancements in science are enormous. (Nature)
+ Participate in our discussion on the new era of space exploration. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Iran has targeted Amazon’s cloud services in Bahrain once more
It pledged to strike at US firms as recently as yesterday. (FT $)
+ Additional targets include Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Nvidia. (CNBC)
+ AWS data centers in Bahrain were also attacked last month. (Reuters $)
4 OpenAI was clandestinely behind a child safety advocacy group
It advocated for age verification standards for AI. (The San Francisco Standard $)
+ OpenAI had supported the legislation as a compromise strategy. (WSJ $)
+ Coincidentally, Sam Altman leads a company providing age verification solutions.(Engadget)
5 Anthropic is racing to mitigate the Claude Code leak
It’s working to eliminate 8,000 instances of the exposed code from GitHub. (Gizmodo)
+ An executive attributed the leak to “process errors.” (Bloomberg $)
+ Here’s what it reveals about Anthropic’s strategies. (Ars Technica)
+ AI is facilitating online crimes—and it may worsen significantly. (MIT Technology Review)
6 A new Russian “super-app” seeks to imitate China’s WeChat
And offer the Kremlin enhanced surveillance capabilities. (WSJ $)
7 The AI boom in America is leaving the rest of the globe behind
And it’s consolidating power and wealth among a few companies. (Rest of World)
8 Chinese semiconductor manufacturers have captured nearly half of the domestic market
Nvidia’s dominance is quickly fading. (Reuters $)
9 The first quantum computer capable of breaking encryption is on the horizon
New studies reveal how this could take place. (New Scientist)
10 The world’s oldest tortoise has been caught up in a crypto scam
Reports of Jonathan’s demise at merely 194 years old are thankfully inaccurate. (Guardian)
Quote of the day
—Shay Boloor, chief market strategist at Futurum Equities, explains to Reuters why SpaceX is so optimistic about its IPO.
One More Thing
Dried cells—it’s what’s for dinner. At least that’s what a new wave of biotech startups, equipped with carbon-consuming bacteria and ample funding, are aspiring to convince us.
Their assertions appear almost too incredible to believe: they claim they can generate food from thin air. Yet, this is precisely how specific soil-dwelling bacteria function.
Startups are imitating this process to transform abundant carbon dioxide into nutritious “air protein.” They envision it could significantly reduce farming emissions—and even revolutionize agriculture entirely. Discover the complete article.
—Claire L. Evans
We can still enjoy nice things
A haven for comfort, enjoyment, and diversion to brighten your day. (Have any suggestions? Send me a message.)
+ Want more Artemis II excitement? This site immerses you in the mission.
+ Here’s a captivating look into the recording flaws that enhanced songs.
+ Good news: the rare Nightjar bird is making a resurgence.
+ Lastly, a master chef has concocted clam chowder donuts.
As the conflict in Iran persists, affecting the Middle East and with the Strait of Hormuz remaining shut, one of the most apparent global economic consequences has been the rising fossil-fuel prices. Specifically, the spotlight is on gasoline prices, which have recently surpassed an average of $4 per gallon in the US, reaching their peak since 2022.
However, looking forward, additional ramifications for the global economy may be anticipated in the plastics sector. Plastics are produced from petrochemicals, and the supply chain ramifications stemming from the oil supply crisis near Iran are beginning to accumulate.
Currently, plastic production is responsible for approximately 5% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Our present circumstances highlight just how ingrained oil and gas derivatives are in our daily lives, extending well beyond their primary role in energy production.
As I compose this, I am clad in garments with plastic fibers, engaged in typing on a plastic keyboard, and looking through the plastic lenses of my spectacles. Envisioning a world devoid of plastic is quite challenging. In several respects, shifting away from fossil-fuel-based plastics could be even more intricate than transitioning our energy framework toward decarbonization.
Crude oil prices have experienced fluctuations recently, now exceeding $100 per barrel.
Crude oil houses a diverse array of hydrocarbons and is usually refined through distillation, separating the raw material into various fractions based on their boiling points. These fractions are subsequently processed into myriad products ranging from jet fuel to asphalt binder. Price increases have already been evident for certain products derived from crude oil, including gasoline and jet fuel.
Let’s focus specifically on naphtha. This substance can be blended into gasoline and jet fuel to enhance performance. Additionally, it can function as a solvent or serve as a fundamental component in plastic production.
The Middle East presently contributes around 20% of global naphtha output and dominates approximately 40% of the Asian market, where prices have surged by 50% in the past month.
We are beginning to observe these impacts cascading down the supply chain. The cost of polypropylene (a naphtha derivative used in food packaging, bottle caps, and automotive components) is rising, particularly across Asia.
Generally, manufacturers maintain a certain amount of stock, but that reserve will likely deplete soon, probably within the next few weeks. The leading supplier of bottled water in India has recently declared an 11% price increase following a more than 70% rise in packaging costs, as reported by Reuters. Toys may become pricier this holiday season as manufacturers struggle with supply chain challenges.
If disruptions persist, Americans are likely to experience these consequences particularly intensely. In 2019, the average American utilized over 250 kilograms of new plastics, according to a 2022 study from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. This is an extraordinarily large figure—while the global average is merely 60 kilograms.
The ramifications of increased prices for both fuels and feedstocks could amplify, with few alternatives available. Biodegradable plastics created from materials like plant sugars do exist, yet they represent an insignificantly small segment of the market. As of 2025, global plastics production exceeded 431 million metric tons annually. Bio-based and biodegradable plastics constituted about 0.5% of that total, possibly reaching 1% by 2030.
Bio-based plastics are significantly pricier than their fossil-derived versions. Furthermore, many are produced from agricultural raw materials, so scaling production too rapidly could adversely affect the environment and compete with sectors such as food production.
Recycling is not an uncomplicated solution either. Mechanical recycling is the prevailing method employed for materials like those used in water bottles and disposable coffee cups. However, this process degrades the materials over time, making infinite reuse impossible. Chemical recycling encounters its own challenges—the plants that carry it out can be notably polluting, and currently, plastics sent to advanced recycling facilities largely do not convert back into new plastics.
Recent discussions have addressed how this energy crisis may accelerate the global shift towards renewable energy sources. Solar panels, electric vehicles, and batteries may suddenly seem more appealing as we confront the severe impacts of a disruption in the worldwide fossil-fuel supply.
Yet, regarding plastic, the future appears considerably more complex. Even though the plastics sector is encountering similar disturbances as the energy industry, compelling alternatives for a smooth shift are not readily available. Our existence is interwoven with plastic, from essential items (such as medical apparatus) to everyday products (like my take-out coffee cup). In the near future, our economy may begin to reflect the extent of our dependence on fossil-derived plastics and the challenges associated with replacing them.
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here.
