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Canteen Workers at Exxon Refinery Suspend Strike
In a statement sent to Rigzone on Friday, UK union Unite announced that workers employed by the Compass Group at ExxonMobil’s Fawley oil refinery who were due to take strike action this weekend have suspended their industrial action. The statement highlighted that the workers were due to go on strike from July 25 until 28 July but noted that they will now not take industrial action in order to consult on a pay offer. Unite added that strike action scheduled for August 1-4 will go ahead as scheduled if workers reject the current pay offer. “Unite has paused its industrial action to allow our members to consult on a pay offer,” Unite Regional Officer Rebeca Johns-Lawrence said in the statement. “If the offer is rejected then the strikes planned for early next month will go ahead as planned,” Unite added. Rigzone has contacted Compass Group and ExxonMobil for comment on Unite’s statement. Rigzone has also contacted Bram Frankhuijzen, EMEA Procurement Director at CBRE Global Workplace Solutions (GWS) EMEA, for comment on Unite’s statement. ExxonMobil previously directed Rigzone to Frankhuijzen, describing him as the staff’s employer. At the time of writing, none of the above have responded to Rigzone. In a statement sent to Rigzone last week, Unite revealed that canteen workers employed by Compass Group at ExxonMobil’s Fawley complex in the UK were due to strike. “Fawley workers will be famished when the oil refinery’s canteen staff strike over poverty pay,” Unite noted in that statement. “The predominantly female workers, employed by catering outsourcer Compass, are paid only slightly more than the minimum wage,” it added. “They are demanding a pay rise that reflects the rising cost of living and ensures the gap between their wages and the absolute legal minimum does not shrink,” it went on to state. Unite
Karoon CEO Julian Fowles Stepping Down; Search for Replacement Starts
Karoon Energy Ltd said that its Managing Director and CEO Julian Fowles will be leaving the company by mid-2026. The move follows the company’s decision to relocate key corporate teams and roles to Brazil and the USA, Karoon said in a news release. The company said its board, supported by an international search firm, is leading a global search process to appoint a Houston-based CEO / managing director to succeed Fowles. Fowles will remain in his role until the appointment of the new CEO / managing director or the end of the year. He will then serve a notice period through to mid-2026, where he will be available to provide continuity, if required, the company said. Karoon Chair Peter Botten said, “Following discussions with the Board, Julian will not be relocating as part of the planned transition of key corporate roles, including senior management, from Melbourne to Brazil and the USA”. “The decision to relocate these roles has not been taken lightly. The Board expects that this change, which includes simplifying Karoon’s structure, will increase efficiency and facilitate collaboration between the business units in Brazil and the USA. It will also reduce duplication and allow the Company to source high quality, local talent in our operational locations. The relocation of our corporate teams and roles, which has been carefully planned, will be phased over a period of 12 to 18 months to ensure that a meticulous handover of roles and responsibilities can be undertaken,” Botten continued. “On behalf of the Board, I would like to sincerely thank Julian for all his hard work over the past five years. Joining Karoon in 2020, Julian was instrumental in developing and delivering Karoon’s 2021 Strategic Plan. This included the successful Baúna intervention campaign, the development of the Patola field and the strategic Who
How nonprofits and academia are stepping up to salvage US climate programs
Nonprofits are striving to preserve a US effort to modernize greenhouse-gas measurements, amid growing fears that the Trump administration’s dismantling of federal programs will obscure the nation’s contributions to climate change. The Data Foundation, a Washington, DC, nonprofit that advocates for open data, is fundraising for an initiative that will coordinate efforts among nonprofits, technical experts, and companies to improve the accuracy and accessibility of climate emissions information. It will build on an effort to improve the collection of emissions data that former president Joe Biden launched in 2023—and which President Trump nullified on his first day in office. The initiative will help prioritize responses to changes in federal greenhouse-gas monitoring and measurement programs, but the Data Foundation stresses that it will primarily serve a “long-standing need for coordination” of such efforts outside of government agencies. The new greenhouse-gas coalition is one of a growing number of nonprofit and academic groups that have spun up or shifted focus to keep essential climate monitoring and research efforts going amid the Trump administration’s assault on environmental funding, staffing, and regulations. Those include efforts to ensure that US scientists can continue to contribute to the UN’s major climate report and publish assessments of the rising domestic risks of climate change. Otherwise, the loss of these programs will make it increasingly difficult for communities to understand how more frequent or severe wildfires, droughts, heat waves, and floods will harm them—and how dire the dangers could become.
Few believe that nonprofits or private industry can come close to filling the funding holes that the Trump administration is digging. But observers say it’s essential to try to sustain efforts to understand the risks of climate change that the federal government has historically overseen, even if the attempts are merely stopgap measures. If we give up these sources of emissions data, “we’re flying blind,” says Rachel Cleetus, senior policy director with the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “We’re deliberating taking away the very information that would help us understand the problem and how to address it best.”
Improving emissions estimates The Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the US Forest Service, and other agencies have long collected information about greenhouse gases in a variety of ways. These include self-reporting by industry; shipboard, balloon, and aircraft readings of gas concentrations in the atmosphere; satellite measurements of the carbon dioxide and methane released by wildfires; and on-the-ground measurements of trees. The EPA, in turn, collects and publishes the data from these disparate sources as the Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks. But that report comes out on a two-year lag, and studies show that some of the estimates it relies on could be way off—particularly the self-reported ones. A recent analysis using satellites to measure methane pollution from four large landfills found they produce, on average, six times more emissions than the facilities had reported to the EPA. Likewise, a 2018 study in Science found that the actual methane leaks from oil and gas infrastructure were about 60% higher than the self-reported estimates in the agency’s inventory. The Biden administration’s initiative—the National Strategy to Advance an Integrated US Greenhouse Gas Measurement, Monitoring, and Information System—aimed to adopt state-of-the-art tools and methods to improve the accuracy of these estimates, including satellites and other monitoring technologies that can replace or check self-reported information. The administration specifically sought to achieve these improvements through partnerships between government, industry, and nonprofits. The initiative called for the data collected across groups to be published to an online portal in formats that would be accessible to policymakers and the public. Moving toward a system that produces more current and reliable data is essential for understanding the rising risks of climate change and tracking whether industries are abiding by government regulations and voluntary climate commitments, says Ben Poulter, a former NASA scientist who coordinated the Biden administration effort as a deputy director in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. “Once you have this operational system, you can provide near-real-time information that can help drive climate action,” Poulter says. He is now a senior scientist at Spark Climate Solutions, a nonprofit focused on accelerating emerging methods of combating climate change, and he is advising the Data Foundation’s Climate Data Collaborative, which is overseeing the new greenhouse-gas initiative. Slashed staffing and funding But the momentum behind the federal strategy deflated when Trump returned to office. On his first day, he signed an executive order that effectively halted it. The White House has since slashed staffing across the agencies at the heart of the effort, sought to shut down specific programs that generate emissions data, and raised uncertainties about the fate of numerous other program components.
In April, the administration missed a deadline to share the updated greenhouse-gas inventory with the United Nations, for the first time in three decades, as E&E News reported. It eventually did release the report in May, but only after the Environmental Defense Fund filed a Freedom of Information Act request. There are also indications that the collection of emissions data might be in jeopardy. In March, the EPA said it would “reconsider” the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which requires thousands of power plants, refineries, and other industrial facilities to report emissions each year. In addition, the tax and spending bill that Trump signed into law earlier this month rescinds provisions in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act that provided incentives or funding for corporate greenhouse-gas reporting and methane monitoring. Meanwhile, the White House has also proposed slashing funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and shuttering a number of its labs. Those include the facility that supports the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, the world’s longest-running carbon dioxide measuring program, as well as the Global Monitoring Laboratory, which operates a global network of collection flasks that capture air samples used to measure concentrations of nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other greenhouse gases. Under the latest appropriations negotiations, Congress seems set to spare NOAA and other agencies the full cuts pushed by the Trump administration, but that may or may not protect various climate programs within them. As observers have noted, the loss of experts throughout the federal government, coupled with the priorities set by Trump-appointed leaders of those agencies, could still prevent crucial emissions data from being collected, analyzed, and published. “That’s a huge concern,” says David Hayes, a professor at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, who previously worked on the effort to upgrade the nation’s emissions measurement and monitoring as special assistant to President Biden for climate policy. It’s not clear “whether they’re going to continue and whether the data availability will drop off.” ‘A natural disaster’ Amid all these cutbacks and uncertainties, those still hoping to make progress toward an improved system for measuring greenhouse gases have had to adjust their expectations: It’s now at least as important to simply preserve or replace existing federal programs as it is to move toward more modern tools and methods. But Ryan Alexander, executive director of the Data Foundation’s Climate Data Collaborative, is optimistic that there will be opportunities to do both.
She says the new greenhouse-gas coalition will strive to identify the highest-priority needs and help other nonprofits or companies accelerate the development of new tools or methods. It will also aim to ensure that these organizations avoid replicating one another’s efforts and deliver data with high scientific standards, in open and interoperable formats. The Data Foundation declines to say what other nonprofits will be members of the coalition or how much money it hopes to raise, but it plans to make a formal announcement in the coming weeks.
Nonprofits and companies are already playing a larger role in monitoring emissions, including organizations like Carbon Mapper, which operates satellites and aircraft that detect and measure methane emissions from particular facilities. The EDF also launched a satellite last year, known as MethaneSAT, that could spot large and small sources of emissions—though it lost power earlier this month and probably cannot be recovered. Alexander notes that shifting from self-reported figures to observational technology like satellites could not just replace but perhaps also improve on the EPA reporting program that the Trump administration has moved to shut down. Given the “dramatic changes” brought about by this administration, “the future will not be the past,” she says. “This is like a natural disaster. We can’t think about rebuilding in the way that things have been in the past. We have to look ahead and say, ‘What is needed? What can people afford?’” Organizations can also use this moment to test and develop emerging technologies that could improve greenhouse-gas measurements, including novel sensors or artificial intelligence tools, Hayes says. “We are at a time when we have these new tools, new technologies for measurement, measuring, and monitoring,” he says. “To some extent it’s a new era anyway, so it’s a great time to do some pilot testing here and to demonstrate how we can create new data sets in the climate area.” Saving scientific contributions It’s not just the collection of emissions data that nonprofits and academic groups are hoping to save. Notably, the American Geophysical Union and its partners have taken on two additional climate responsibilities that traditionally fell to the federal government.
The US State Department’s Office of Global Change historically coordinated the nation’s contributions to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s major reports on climate risks, soliciting and nominating US scientists to help write, oversee, or edit sections of the assessments. The US Global Change Research Program, an interagency group that ran much of the process, also covered the cost of trips to a series of in-person meetings with international collaborators. But the US government seems to have relinquished any involvement as the IPCC kicks off the process for the Seventh Assessment Report. In late February, the administration blocked federal scientists including NASA’s Katherine Calvin, who was previously selected as a cochair for one of the working groups, from attending an early planning meeting in China. (Calvin was the agency’s chief scientist at the time but was no longer serving in that role as of April, according to NASA’s website.) The agency didn’t respond to inquiries from interested scientists after the UN panel issued a call for nominations in March, and it failed to present a list of nominations by the deadline in April, scientists involved in the process say. The Trump administration also canceled funding for the Global Change Research Program and, earlier this month, fired the last remaining staffers working at the Office of Global Change. In response, 10 universities came together in March to form the US Academic Alliance for the IPCC, in partnership with the AGU, to request and evalute applications from US researchers. The universities—which include Yale, Princeton, and the University of California, San Diego—together nominated nearly 300 scientists, some of whom the IPCC has since officially selected. The AGU is now conducting a fundraising campaign to help pay for travel expenses.
Pamela McElwee, a professor at Rutgers who helped establish the academic coalition, says it’s crucial for US scientists to continue participating in the IPCC process. “It is our flagship global assessment report on the state of climate, and it plays a really important role in influencing country policies,” she says. “To not be part of it makes it much more difficult for US scientists to be at the cutting edge and advance the things we need to do.” The AGU also stepped in two months later, after the White House dismissed hundreds of researchers working on the National Climate Assessment, an annual report analyzing the rising dangers of climate change across the country. The AGU and American Meteorological Society together announced plans to publish a “special collection” to sustain the momentum of that effort. “It’s incumbent on us to ensure our communities, our neighbors, our children are all protected and prepared for the mounting risks of climate change,” said Brandon Jones, president of the AGU, in an earlier statement. The AGU declined to discuss the status of the project. Stopgap solution The sheer number of programs the White House is going after will require organizations to make hard choices about what they attempt to save and how they go about it. Moreover, relying entirely on nonprofits and companies to take over these federal tasks is not viable over the long term. Given the costs of these federal programs, it could prove prohibitive to even keep a minimum viable version of some essential monitoring systems and research programs up and running. Dispersing across various organizations the responsibility of calculating the nation’s emissions sources and sinks also creates concerns about the scientific standards applied and the accessibility of that data, Cleetus says. Plus, moving away from the records that NOAA, NASA, and other agencies have collected for decades would break the continuity of that data, undermining the ability to detect or project trends. More basically, publishing national emissions data should be a federal responsibility, particularly for the government of the world’s second-largest climate polluter, Cleetus adds. Failing to calculate and share its contributions to climate change sidesteps the nation’s global responsibilities and sends a terrible signal to other countries. Poulter stresses that nonprofits and the private sector can do only so much, for so long, to keep these systems up and running. “We don’t want to give the impression that this greenhouse-gas coalition, if it gets off the ground, is a long-term solution,” he says. “But we can’t afford to have gaps in these data sets, so somebody needs to step in and help sustain those measurements.”
The deadly saga of the controversial gene therapy Elevidys
It has been a grim few months for the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) community. There had been some excitement when, a couple of years ago, a gene therapy for the disorder was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the first time. That drug, Elevidys, has now been implicated in the deaths of two teenage boys. The drug’s approval was always controversial—there was a lack of evidence that it actually worked, for starters. But the agency that once rubber-stamped the drug has now turned on its manufacturer, Sarepta Therapeutics. In a remarkable chain of events, the FDA asked the company to stop shipping the drug on July 18. Sarepta refused to comply. In the days since, the company has acquiesced. But its reputation has already been hit. And the events have dealt a devastating blow to people desperate for treatments that might help them, their children, or other family members with DMD. DMD is a rare genetic disorder that causes muscles to degenerate over time. It’s caused by a mutation in a gene that codes for a protein called dystrophin. That protein is essential for muscles—without it, muscles weaken and waste away. The disease mostly affects boys, and symptoms usually start in early childhood.
At first, affected children usually start to find it hard to jump or climb stairs. But as the disease progresses, other movements become difficult too. Eventually, the condition might affect the heart and lungs. The life expectancy of a person with DMD has recently improved, but it is still only around 30 or 40 years. There is no cure. It’s a devastating diagnosis. Elevidys was designed to replace missing dystrophin with a shortened, engineered version of the protein. In June 2023, the FDA approved the therapy for eligible four- and five-year-olds. It came with a $3.2 million price tag.
The approval was celebrated by people affected by DMD, says Debra Miller, founder of CureDuchenne, an organization that funds research into the condition and offers support to those affected by it. “We’ve not had much in the way of meaningful therapies,” she says. “The excitement was great.” But the approval was controversial. It came under an “accelerated approval” program that essentially lowers the bar of evidence for drugs designed to treat “serious or life-threatening diseases where there is an unmet medical need.” Elevidys was approved because it appeared to increase levels of the engineered protein in patients’ muscles. But it had not been shown to improve patient outcomes: It had failed a randomized clinical trial. The FDA approval was granted on the condition that Sarepta complete another clinical trial. The topline results of that trial were described in October 2023 and were published in detail a year later. Again, the drug failed to meet its “primary endpoint”—in other words, it didn’t work as well as hoped. In June 2024, the FDA expanded the approval of Elevidys. It granted traditional approval for the drug to treat people with DMD who are over the age of four and can walk independently, and another accelerated approval for those who can’t. Some experts were appalled at the FDA’s decision—even some within the FDA disagreed with it. But things weren’t so simple for people living with DMD. I spoke to some parents of such children a couple of years ago. They pointed out that drug approvals can help bring interest and investment to DMD research. And, above all, they were desperate for any drug that might help their children. They were desperate for hope. Unfortunately, the treatment does not appear to be delivering on that hope. There have always been questions over whether it works. But now there are serious questions over how safe it is. In March 2025, a 16-year-old boy died after being treated with Elevidys. He had developed acute liver failure (ALF) after having the treatment, Sarepta said in a statement. On June 15, the company announced a second death—a 15-year-old who also developed ALF following Elevidys treatment. The company said it would pause shipments of the drug, but only for patients who are not able to walk.
The following day, Sarepta held an online presentation in which CEO Doug Ingram said that the company was exploring ways to make the treatment safer, perhaps by treating recipients with another drug that dampens their immune systems. But that same day, the company announced that it was laying off 500 employees—36% of its workforce. Sarepta did not respond to a request for comment. On June 24, the FDA announced that it was investigating the risks of serious outcomes “including hospitalization and death” associated with Elevidys, and “evaluating the need for further regulatory action.” There was more tragic news on July 18, when there were reports that a third patient had died following a Sarepta treatment. This patient, a 51-year-old, hadn’t been taking Elevidys but was enrolled in a clinical trial for a different Sarepta gene therapy designed to treat limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. The same day, the FDA asked Sarepta to voluntarily pause all shipments of Elevidys. Sarepta refused to do so. The refusal was surprising, says Michael Kelly, chief scientific officer at CureDuchenne: “It was an unusual step to take.” After significant media coverage, including reporting that the FDA was “deeply troubled” by the decision and would use its “full regulatory authority,” Sarepta backed down a few days later. On July 21, the company announced its decision to “voluntarily and temporarily” pause all shipments of Elevidys in the US. Sarepta says it will now work with the FDA to address safety and labeling concerns. But in the meantime, the saga has left the DMD community grappling with “a mix of disappointment and concern,” says Kelly. Many are worried about the risks of taking the treatment. Others are devastated that they are no longer able to access it. Miller says she knows of families who have been working with their insurance providers to get authorization for the drug. “It’s like the rug has been pulled out from under them,” she says. Many families have no other treatment options. “And we know what happens when you do nothing with Duchenne,” she says. Others, particularly those with teenage children with DMD, are deciding against trying the drug, she adds. The decision over whether to take Elevidys was already a personal one based on several factors, he says. People with DMD and their families deserve clear and transparent information about the treatment in order to make that decision.
The FDA’s decision to approve Elevidys was made on limited data, says Kelly. But as things stand today, over 900 people have been treated with Elevidys. “That gives the FDA… an opportunity to look at real data and make informed decisions,” he says. “Families facing Duchenne do not have time to waste,” Kelly says. “They must navigate a landscape where hope is tempered by the realities of medical complexity.” A version of 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.
UK Gov Announces ‘Tailored Support for Aberdeen Oil Workers’
The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has announced “tailored support for Aberdeen oil and gas workers” in a release posted on its website recently. According to the release, “around 200 Aberdeen oil and gas workers are set to benefit from a tailored skills program” launched this week, which the release said “will support them to take advantage of the high-quality job opportunities in Scotland’s growing clean energy sector”. DESNZ noted in the release that the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund, which it said is backed by GBP 900,000 ($1.2 million) of UK government funding, “will help build the pipeline of skilled workers needed to make Britain a clean energy superpower as part of the government’s Plan for Change”. The program is open to current and former oil and gas workers who live in or are employed in Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire and are interested in moving into roles within clean energy, the release stated, adding that successful applicants will receive careers advice and funding towards training courses. DESNZ highlighted in the release that the program will be delivered in partnership between the UK government, the Scottish government, and Skills Development Scotland, which describes itself as Scotland’s national skills body. “Aberdeen has been the energy capital of Britain for decades and while oil and gas will be with us for decades to come, we are determined to make sure that workers are supported to access the thousands of jobs in industries such as offshore wind and carbon capture,” Minister for Energy Michael Shanks said in the release. “This funding will help deliver a fair and prosperous transition in the North Sea, unlocking the full potential of renewable energy and reaping the economic benefits from the skills and experiences of Aberdeen’s workforce,” he added. Secretary of State for Scotland
Eni, Sonatrach to Bolster Energy Cooperation
Italy’s Eni SpA and Algeria’s Sonatrach SpA have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen collaboration in hydrocarbons and renewable energy. “Eni and Sonatrach undertake to consolidate cooperation for the enhancement of Algerian energy resources through new contracts aimed at encouraging an increase in gas production, and the extension of gas supply contracts for export to Italy”, Eni said in a statement online. “In addition, the two companies will strengthen collaboration in the field of renewable energy and energy transition, namely through the definition of new initiatives”. The MoU was signed during the Italy-Algeria intergovernmental summit in the presence of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “This protocol follows the recent signing between Eni and Sonatrach of the agreement of the Zemoul El Kbar area and the allocation of the Reggane II area, which together with the initiatives covered by the protocol will contribute to increasing gas production up to 5.5 billion cubic meters per year by 2028, with total investments of more than $8 billion”, Eni said. “With an equity production of about 137,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2024, Eni stands as the most important international company operating in the country [Algeria]”, it added. Sonatrach said in a press release July 21 that under the 2024 bidding round, Reggane II in the province of Adrar has been awarded to Sonatrach, Eni and Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Public Co. Ltd. Sonatrach announced four other awards. Ahara in the province of Illizi was signed with QatarEnergy and TotalEnergies SE. Guern El Guessa II in the provinces of Bechar, Beni Abbes, El Bayadh and Timimoun was signed with China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. Toual II in the provinces of Ouargla and Illizi was signed with Austria’s Zangas Hoch- und Tiefbau GmbH and Switzerland’s
Canteen Workers at Exxon Refinery Suspend Strike
In a statement sent to Rigzone on Friday, UK union Unite announced that workers employed by the Compass Group at ExxonMobil’s Fawley oil refinery who were due to take strike action this weekend have suspended their industrial action. The statement highlighted that the workers were due to go on strike from July 25 until 28 July but noted that they will now not take industrial action in order to consult on a pay offer. Unite added that strike action scheduled for August 1-4 will go ahead as scheduled if workers reject the current pay offer. “Unite has paused its industrial action to allow our members to consult on a pay offer,” Unite Regional Officer Rebeca Johns-Lawrence said in the statement. “If the offer is rejected then the strikes planned for early next month will go ahead as planned,” Unite added. Rigzone has contacted Compass Group and ExxonMobil for comment on Unite’s statement. Rigzone has also contacted Bram Frankhuijzen, EMEA Procurement Director at CBRE Global Workplace Solutions (GWS) EMEA, for comment on Unite’s statement. ExxonMobil previously directed Rigzone to Frankhuijzen, describing him as the staff’s employer. At the time of writing, none of the above have responded to Rigzone. In a statement sent to Rigzone last week, Unite revealed that canteen workers employed by Compass Group at ExxonMobil’s Fawley complex in the UK were due to strike. “Fawley workers will be famished when the oil refinery’s canteen staff strike over poverty pay,” Unite noted in that statement. “The predominantly female workers, employed by catering outsourcer Compass, are paid only slightly more than the minimum wage,” it added. “They are demanding a pay rise that reflects the rising cost of living and ensures the gap between their wages and the absolute legal minimum does not shrink,” it went on to state. Unite
Karoon CEO Julian Fowles Stepping Down; Search for Replacement Starts
Karoon Energy Ltd said that its Managing Director and CEO Julian Fowles will be leaving the company by mid-2026. The move follows the company’s decision to relocate key corporate teams and roles to Brazil and the USA, Karoon said in a news release. The company said its board, supported by an international search firm, is leading a global search process to appoint a Houston-based CEO / managing director to succeed Fowles. Fowles will remain in his role until the appointment of the new CEO / managing director or the end of the year. He will then serve a notice period through to mid-2026, where he will be available to provide continuity, if required, the company said. Karoon Chair Peter Botten said, “Following discussions with the Board, Julian will not be relocating as part of the planned transition of key corporate roles, including senior management, from Melbourne to Brazil and the USA”. “The decision to relocate these roles has not been taken lightly. The Board expects that this change, which includes simplifying Karoon’s structure, will increase efficiency and facilitate collaboration between the business units in Brazil and the USA. It will also reduce duplication and allow the Company to source high quality, local talent in our operational locations. The relocation of our corporate teams and roles, which has been carefully planned, will be phased over a period of 12 to 18 months to ensure that a meticulous handover of roles and responsibilities can be undertaken,” Botten continued. “On behalf of the Board, I would like to sincerely thank Julian for all his hard work over the past five years. Joining Karoon in 2020, Julian was instrumental in developing and delivering Karoon’s 2021 Strategic Plan. This included the successful Baúna intervention campaign, the development of the Patola field and the strategic Who
How nonprofits and academia are stepping up to salvage US climate programs
Nonprofits are striving to preserve a US effort to modernize greenhouse-gas measurements, amid growing fears that the Trump administration’s dismantling of federal programs will obscure the nation’s contributions to climate change. The Data Foundation, a Washington, DC, nonprofit that advocates for open data, is fundraising for an initiative that will coordinate efforts among nonprofits, technical experts, and companies to improve the accuracy and accessibility of climate emissions information. It will build on an effort to improve the collection of emissions data that former president Joe Biden launched in 2023—and which President Trump nullified on his first day in office. The initiative will help prioritize responses to changes in federal greenhouse-gas monitoring and measurement programs, but the Data Foundation stresses that it will primarily serve a “long-standing need for coordination” of such efforts outside of government agencies. The new greenhouse-gas coalition is one of a growing number of nonprofit and academic groups that have spun up or shifted focus to keep essential climate monitoring and research efforts going amid the Trump administration’s assault on environmental funding, staffing, and regulations. Those include efforts to ensure that US scientists can continue to contribute to the UN’s major climate report and publish assessments of the rising domestic risks of climate change. Otherwise, the loss of these programs will make it increasingly difficult for communities to understand how more frequent or severe wildfires, droughts, heat waves, and floods will harm them—and how dire the dangers could become.
Few believe that nonprofits or private industry can come close to filling the funding holes that the Trump administration is digging. But observers say it’s essential to try to sustain efforts to understand the risks of climate change that the federal government has historically overseen, even if the attempts are merely stopgap measures. If we give up these sources of emissions data, “we’re flying blind,” says Rachel Cleetus, senior policy director with the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “We’re deliberating taking away the very information that would help us understand the problem and how to address it best.”
Improving emissions estimates The Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the US Forest Service, and other agencies have long collected information about greenhouse gases in a variety of ways. These include self-reporting by industry; shipboard, balloon, and aircraft readings of gas concentrations in the atmosphere; satellite measurements of the carbon dioxide and methane released by wildfires; and on-the-ground measurements of trees. The EPA, in turn, collects and publishes the data from these disparate sources as the Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks. But that report comes out on a two-year lag, and studies show that some of the estimates it relies on could be way off—particularly the self-reported ones. A recent analysis using satellites to measure methane pollution from four large landfills found they produce, on average, six times more emissions than the facilities had reported to the EPA. Likewise, a 2018 study in Science found that the actual methane leaks from oil and gas infrastructure were about 60% higher than the self-reported estimates in the agency’s inventory. The Biden administration’s initiative—the National Strategy to Advance an Integrated US Greenhouse Gas Measurement, Monitoring, and Information System—aimed to adopt state-of-the-art tools and methods to improve the accuracy of these estimates, including satellites and other monitoring technologies that can replace or check self-reported information. The administration specifically sought to achieve these improvements through partnerships between government, industry, and nonprofits. The initiative called for the data collected across groups to be published to an online portal in formats that would be accessible to policymakers and the public. Moving toward a system that produces more current and reliable data is essential for understanding the rising risks of climate change and tracking whether industries are abiding by government regulations and voluntary climate commitments, says Ben Poulter, a former NASA scientist who coordinated the Biden administration effort as a deputy director in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. “Once you have this operational system, you can provide near-real-time information that can help drive climate action,” Poulter says. He is now a senior scientist at Spark Climate Solutions, a nonprofit focused on accelerating emerging methods of combating climate change, and he is advising the Data Foundation’s Climate Data Collaborative, which is overseeing the new greenhouse-gas initiative. Slashed staffing and funding But the momentum behind the federal strategy deflated when Trump returned to office. On his first day, he signed an executive order that effectively halted it. The White House has since slashed staffing across the agencies at the heart of the effort, sought to shut down specific programs that generate emissions data, and raised uncertainties about the fate of numerous other program components.
In April, the administration missed a deadline to share the updated greenhouse-gas inventory with the United Nations, for the first time in three decades, as E&E News reported. It eventually did release the report in May, but only after the Environmental Defense Fund filed a Freedom of Information Act request. There are also indications that the collection of emissions data might be in jeopardy. In March, the EPA said it would “reconsider” the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which requires thousands of power plants, refineries, and other industrial facilities to report emissions each year. In addition, the tax and spending bill that Trump signed into law earlier this month rescinds provisions in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act that provided incentives or funding for corporate greenhouse-gas reporting and methane monitoring. Meanwhile, the White House has also proposed slashing funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and shuttering a number of its labs. Those include the facility that supports the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, the world’s longest-running carbon dioxide measuring program, as well as the Global Monitoring Laboratory, which operates a global network of collection flasks that capture air samples used to measure concentrations of nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other greenhouse gases. Under the latest appropriations negotiations, Congress seems set to spare NOAA and other agencies the full cuts pushed by the Trump administration, but that may or may not protect various climate programs within them. As observers have noted, the loss of experts throughout the federal government, coupled with the priorities set by Trump-appointed leaders of those agencies, could still prevent crucial emissions data from being collected, analyzed, and published. “That’s a huge concern,” says David Hayes, a professor at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, who previously worked on the effort to upgrade the nation’s emissions measurement and monitoring as special assistant to President Biden for climate policy. It’s not clear “whether they’re going to continue and whether the data availability will drop off.” ‘A natural disaster’ Amid all these cutbacks and uncertainties, those still hoping to make progress toward an improved system for measuring greenhouse gases have had to adjust their expectations: It’s now at least as important to simply preserve or replace existing federal programs as it is to move toward more modern tools and methods. But Ryan Alexander, executive director of the Data Foundation’s Climate Data Collaborative, is optimistic that there will be opportunities to do both.
She says the new greenhouse-gas coalition will strive to identify the highest-priority needs and help other nonprofits or companies accelerate the development of new tools or methods. It will also aim to ensure that these organizations avoid replicating one another’s efforts and deliver data with high scientific standards, in open and interoperable formats. The Data Foundation declines to say what other nonprofits will be members of the coalition or how much money it hopes to raise, but it plans to make a formal announcement in the coming weeks.
Nonprofits and companies are already playing a larger role in monitoring emissions, including organizations like Carbon Mapper, which operates satellites and aircraft that detect and measure methane emissions from particular facilities. The EDF also launched a satellite last year, known as MethaneSAT, that could spot large and small sources of emissions—though it lost power earlier this month and probably cannot be recovered. Alexander notes that shifting from self-reported figures to observational technology like satellites could not just replace but perhaps also improve on the EPA reporting program that the Trump administration has moved to shut down. Given the “dramatic changes” brought about by this administration, “the future will not be the past,” she says. “This is like a natural disaster. We can’t think about rebuilding in the way that things have been in the past. We have to look ahead and say, ‘What is needed? What can people afford?’” Organizations can also use this moment to test and develop emerging technologies that could improve greenhouse-gas measurements, including novel sensors or artificial intelligence tools, Hayes says. “We are at a time when we have these new tools, new technologies for measurement, measuring, and monitoring,” he says. “To some extent it’s a new era anyway, so it’s a great time to do some pilot testing here and to demonstrate how we can create new data sets in the climate area.” Saving scientific contributions It’s not just the collection of emissions data that nonprofits and academic groups are hoping to save. Notably, the American Geophysical Union and its partners have taken on two additional climate responsibilities that traditionally fell to the federal government.
The US State Department’s Office of Global Change historically coordinated the nation’s contributions to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s major reports on climate risks, soliciting and nominating US scientists to help write, oversee, or edit sections of the assessments. The US Global Change Research Program, an interagency group that ran much of the process, also covered the cost of trips to a series of in-person meetings with international collaborators. But the US government seems to have relinquished any involvement as the IPCC kicks off the process for the Seventh Assessment Report. In late February, the administration blocked federal scientists including NASA’s Katherine Calvin, who was previously selected as a cochair for one of the working groups, from attending an early planning meeting in China. (Calvin was the agency’s chief scientist at the time but was no longer serving in that role as of April, according to NASA’s website.) The agency didn’t respond to inquiries from interested scientists after the UN panel issued a call for nominations in March, and it failed to present a list of nominations by the deadline in April, scientists involved in the process say. The Trump administration also canceled funding for the Global Change Research Program and, earlier this month, fired the last remaining staffers working at the Office of Global Change. In response, 10 universities came together in March to form the US Academic Alliance for the IPCC, in partnership with the AGU, to request and evalute applications from US researchers. The universities—which include Yale, Princeton, and the University of California, San Diego—together nominated nearly 300 scientists, some of whom the IPCC has since officially selected. The AGU is now conducting a fundraising campaign to help pay for travel expenses.
Pamela McElwee, a professor at Rutgers who helped establish the academic coalition, says it’s crucial for US scientists to continue participating in the IPCC process. “It is our flagship global assessment report on the state of climate, and it plays a really important role in influencing country policies,” she says. “To not be part of it makes it much more difficult for US scientists to be at the cutting edge and advance the things we need to do.” The AGU also stepped in two months later, after the White House dismissed hundreds of researchers working on the National Climate Assessment, an annual report analyzing the rising dangers of climate change across the country. The AGU and American Meteorological Society together announced plans to publish a “special collection” to sustain the momentum of that effort. “It’s incumbent on us to ensure our communities, our neighbors, our children are all protected and prepared for the mounting risks of climate change,” said Brandon Jones, president of the AGU, in an earlier statement. The AGU declined to discuss the status of the project. Stopgap solution The sheer number of programs the White House is going after will require organizations to make hard choices about what they attempt to save and how they go about it. Moreover, relying entirely on nonprofits and companies to take over these federal tasks is not viable over the long term. Given the costs of these federal programs, it could prove prohibitive to even keep a minimum viable version of some essential monitoring systems and research programs up and running. Dispersing across various organizations the responsibility of calculating the nation’s emissions sources and sinks also creates concerns about the scientific standards applied and the accessibility of that data, Cleetus says. Plus, moving away from the records that NOAA, NASA, and other agencies have collected for decades would break the continuity of that data, undermining the ability to detect or project trends. More basically, publishing national emissions data should be a federal responsibility, particularly for the government of the world’s second-largest climate polluter, Cleetus adds. Failing to calculate and share its contributions to climate change sidesteps the nation’s global responsibilities and sends a terrible signal to other countries. Poulter stresses that nonprofits and the private sector can do only so much, for so long, to keep these systems up and running. “We don’t want to give the impression that this greenhouse-gas coalition, if it gets off the ground, is a long-term solution,” he says. “But we can’t afford to have gaps in these data sets, so somebody needs to step in and help sustain those measurements.”
The deadly saga of the controversial gene therapy Elevidys
It has been a grim few months for the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) community. There had been some excitement when, a couple of years ago, a gene therapy for the disorder was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the first time. That drug, Elevidys, has now been implicated in the deaths of two teenage boys. The drug’s approval was always controversial—there was a lack of evidence that it actually worked, for starters. But the agency that once rubber-stamped the drug has now turned on its manufacturer, Sarepta Therapeutics. In a remarkable chain of events, the FDA asked the company to stop shipping the drug on July 18. Sarepta refused to comply. In the days since, the company has acquiesced. But its reputation has already been hit. And the events have dealt a devastating blow to people desperate for treatments that might help them, their children, or other family members with DMD. DMD is a rare genetic disorder that causes muscles to degenerate over time. It’s caused by a mutation in a gene that codes for a protein called dystrophin. That protein is essential for muscles—without it, muscles weaken and waste away. The disease mostly affects boys, and symptoms usually start in early childhood.
At first, affected children usually start to find it hard to jump or climb stairs. But as the disease progresses, other movements become difficult too. Eventually, the condition might affect the heart and lungs. The life expectancy of a person with DMD has recently improved, but it is still only around 30 or 40 years. There is no cure. It’s a devastating diagnosis. Elevidys was designed to replace missing dystrophin with a shortened, engineered version of the protein. In June 2023, the FDA approved the therapy for eligible four- and five-year-olds. It came with a $3.2 million price tag.
The approval was celebrated by people affected by DMD, says Debra Miller, founder of CureDuchenne, an organization that funds research into the condition and offers support to those affected by it. “We’ve not had much in the way of meaningful therapies,” she says. “The excitement was great.” But the approval was controversial. It came under an “accelerated approval” program that essentially lowers the bar of evidence for drugs designed to treat “serious or life-threatening diseases where there is an unmet medical need.” Elevidys was approved because it appeared to increase levels of the engineered protein in patients’ muscles. But it had not been shown to improve patient outcomes: It had failed a randomized clinical trial. The FDA approval was granted on the condition that Sarepta complete another clinical trial. The topline results of that trial were described in October 2023 and were published in detail a year later. Again, the drug failed to meet its “primary endpoint”—in other words, it didn’t work as well as hoped. In June 2024, the FDA expanded the approval of Elevidys. It granted traditional approval for the drug to treat people with DMD who are over the age of four and can walk independently, and another accelerated approval for those who can’t. Some experts were appalled at the FDA’s decision—even some within the FDA disagreed with it. But things weren’t so simple for people living with DMD. I spoke to some parents of such children a couple of years ago. They pointed out that drug approvals can help bring interest and investment to DMD research. And, above all, they were desperate for any drug that might help their children. They were desperate for hope. Unfortunately, the treatment does not appear to be delivering on that hope. There have always been questions over whether it works. But now there are serious questions over how safe it is. In March 2025, a 16-year-old boy died after being treated with Elevidys. He had developed acute liver failure (ALF) after having the treatment, Sarepta said in a statement. On June 15, the company announced a second death—a 15-year-old who also developed ALF following Elevidys treatment. The company said it would pause shipments of the drug, but only for patients who are not able to walk.
The following day, Sarepta held an online presentation in which CEO Doug Ingram said that the company was exploring ways to make the treatment safer, perhaps by treating recipients with another drug that dampens their immune systems. But that same day, the company announced that it was laying off 500 employees—36% of its workforce. Sarepta did not respond to a request for comment. On June 24, the FDA announced that it was investigating the risks of serious outcomes “including hospitalization and death” associated with Elevidys, and “evaluating the need for further regulatory action.” There was more tragic news on July 18, when there were reports that a third patient had died following a Sarepta treatment. This patient, a 51-year-old, hadn’t been taking Elevidys but was enrolled in a clinical trial for a different Sarepta gene therapy designed to treat limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. The same day, the FDA asked Sarepta to voluntarily pause all shipments of Elevidys. Sarepta refused to do so. The refusal was surprising, says Michael Kelly, chief scientific officer at CureDuchenne: “It was an unusual step to take.” After significant media coverage, including reporting that the FDA was “deeply troubled” by the decision and would use its “full regulatory authority,” Sarepta backed down a few days later. On July 21, the company announced its decision to “voluntarily and temporarily” pause all shipments of Elevidys in the US. Sarepta says it will now work with the FDA to address safety and labeling concerns. But in the meantime, the saga has left the DMD community grappling with “a mix of disappointment and concern,” says Kelly. Many are worried about the risks of taking the treatment. Others are devastated that they are no longer able to access it. Miller says she knows of families who have been working with their insurance providers to get authorization for the drug. “It’s like the rug has been pulled out from under them,” she says. Many families have no other treatment options. “And we know what happens when you do nothing with Duchenne,” she says. Others, particularly those with teenage children with DMD, are deciding against trying the drug, she adds. The decision over whether to take Elevidys was already a personal one based on several factors, he says. People with DMD and their families deserve clear and transparent information about the treatment in order to make that decision.
The FDA’s decision to approve Elevidys was made on limited data, says Kelly. But as things stand today, over 900 people have been treated with Elevidys. “That gives the FDA… an opportunity to look at real data and make informed decisions,” he says. “Families facing Duchenne do not have time to waste,” Kelly says. “They must navigate a landscape where hope is tempered by the realities of medical complexity.” A version of 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.
UK Gov Announces ‘Tailored Support for Aberdeen Oil Workers’
The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has announced “tailored support for Aberdeen oil and gas workers” in a release posted on its website recently. According to the release, “around 200 Aberdeen oil and gas workers are set to benefit from a tailored skills program” launched this week, which the release said “will support them to take advantage of the high-quality job opportunities in Scotland’s growing clean energy sector”. DESNZ noted in the release that the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund, which it said is backed by GBP 900,000 ($1.2 million) of UK government funding, “will help build the pipeline of skilled workers needed to make Britain a clean energy superpower as part of the government’s Plan for Change”. The program is open to current and former oil and gas workers who live in or are employed in Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire and are interested in moving into roles within clean energy, the release stated, adding that successful applicants will receive careers advice and funding towards training courses. DESNZ highlighted in the release that the program will be delivered in partnership between the UK government, the Scottish government, and Skills Development Scotland, which describes itself as Scotland’s national skills body. “Aberdeen has been the energy capital of Britain for decades and while oil and gas will be with us for decades to come, we are determined to make sure that workers are supported to access the thousands of jobs in industries such as offshore wind and carbon capture,” Minister for Energy Michael Shanks said in the release. “This funding will help deliver a fair and prosperous transition in the North Sea, unlocking the full potential of renewable energy and reaping the economic benefits from the skills and experiences of Aberdeen’s workforce,” he added. Secretary of State for Scotland
Eni, Sonatrach to Bolster Energy Cooperation
Italy’s Eni SpA and Algeria’s Sonatrach SpA have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen collaboration in hydrocarbons and renewable energy. “Eni and Sonatrach undertake to consolidate cooperation for the enhancement of Algerian energy resources through new contracts aimed at encouraging an increase in gas production, and the extension of gas supply contracts for export to Italy”, Eni said in a statement online. “In addition, the two companies will strengthen collaboration in the field of renewable energy and energy transition, namely through the definition of new initiatives”. The MoU was signed during the Italy-Algeria intergovernmental summit in the presence of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “This protocol follows the recent signing between Eni and Sonatrach of the agreement of the Zemoul El Kbar area and the allocation of the Reggane II area, which together with the initiatives covered by the protocol will contribute to increasing gas production up to 5.5 billion cubic meters per year by 2028, with total investments of more than $8 billion”, Eni said. “With an equity production of about 137,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2024, Eni stands as the most important international company operating in the country [Algeria]”, it added. Sonatrach said in a press release July 21 that under the 2024 bidding round, Reggane II in the province of Adrar has been awarded to Sonatrach, Eni and Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Public Co. Ltd. Sonatrach announced four other awards. Ahara in the province of Illizi was signed with QatarEnergy and TotalEnergies SE. Guern El Guessa II in the provinces of Bechar, Beni Abbes, El Bayadh and Timimoun was signed with China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. Toual II in the provinces of Ouargla and Illizi was signed with Austria’s Zangas Hoch- und Tiefbau GmbH and Switzerland’s
TotalEnergies Sees Tough Oil Market Outlook
TotalEnergies SE reported a big jump in net debt in the second quarter as the French energy major posted falling profit and pointed to an oil market that’s being hurt by slower economic growth. Net debt rose 29% from the previous quarter to $25.9 billion and nearly doubled from a year earlier as the company raised spending including on acquisitions and working capital increased. Its adjusted net income dropped to $3.58 billion, a 23% decline from a year earlier, missing the average analyst estimate of $3.67 billion. “In an unstable geopolitical and macroeconomic environment (tariff war), oil markets remain volatile,” Total said in its earnings statement Thursday. “The market is facing an abundant supply that is fueled by OPEC+’s decision to unwind some voluntary production cuts and weak demand that’s linked to the slowdown in global economic growth.” Having lured investors with hefty payouts in recent boom years, Big Oil companies are now treading a fine line between investment, shareholder returns and mounting debt as oil prices come under pressure from global trade tensions and rising output by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies. Total, the first oil major to report quarterly earnings, said it will maintain its target level for share buybacks of as much as $2 billion in the third quarter. However, it disclosed that it only repurchased $1.7 billion of shares in the three months through June, down $300 million from prior quarters. The company’s shares fell as much as 2.5% and were at 52.33 euros, a drop of 1.8% from the close, at 10:36 a.m. in Paris. Net investments amounted to $11.6 billion in the first half notably due to $2.2 billion of net acquisitions of companies such as German renewable producer VSB. It will be in the range of $17 billion to
Meta to power Texas data centers with 600MW solar plant
Dive Brief: Meta announced a deal Tuesday to purchase 100% of the power generated by a Texas solar plant owned by energy developer Enbridge to support its data center operations in the state. The power purchase agreement accompanied a decision by Enbridge to invest $900 million to finish the 600 megawatt utility-scale Clear Fork solar plant near San Antonio. The final greenlight on the project comes a few weeks after the signing of Congressional Republicans’ reconciliation package, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which contained a speedy wind-down for solar and wind credits created by the Inflation Reduction Act. Dive Insight: Meta — the tech and social media conglomerate behind platforms Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — is one of the largest corporate purchasers of renewable energy and had the largest operating U.S. renewable energy portfolio of corporate buyers in 2023, according to its 2024 environmental report. The company has touted reaching net-zero emissions across its operational portfolio — scope 1 and 2 emissions — since 2020, “primarily” by matching 100% of its data center usage with renewable energy across that same span, according to the report. “We are thrilled to partner with Enbridge to bring new renewable energy to Texas and help support our operations with 100% clean energy,” Meta Head of Global Energy Urvi Parekh said in the release. The Clear Fork solar plant is currently in construction and expected to be completed and “enter in service” in the summer of 2027, the July 22 release said. Canada-based Enbridge expects the project to lead to growth in the company’s cash flow and earnings per share beginning in 2027, the company said in the release. “Clear Fork demonstrates the growing demand for renewable power across North America from blue-chip companies who are involved in technology and data center operations,” said
DOE’s national labs reportedly consider layoffs amid budget cuts
Dive Brief: The Department of Energy budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration are leading national labs like the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to each consider laying off up to 1,000 employees, according to recent reports. The group Friends of PNNL, which includes several former PNNL employees, said July 13 in the Tri-City Herald that the lab is considering laying off around 1,100 employees, and Politico reported Wednesday that NREL could let more than 1,000 people go. DOE’s congressional budget justification for 2026 suggests dropping NREL’s total budget from $686 million to $299 million, and dropping PNNL’s from $829 million to $548 million. Dive Insight: DOE spokesperson Ben Dietderich noted that “most of the national labs are operated by third-party contractors” and have discretion with personnel decisions, so the department can’t “confirm anonymously leaked ‘estimations’ of layoffs made by third-party contractors.” “As Secretary Wright has said repeatedly, the Department of Energy is committed to making the American people’s government more efficient while also growing the output of top-quality science at our national labs,” Dietderich said. For nearly all national labs, the Trump administration’s proposed budget would zero out the funding they receive from DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. For NREL, the budget proposes the lab receive $268 million in EERE funding next year, compared with $589 million this year. NREL is “primarily funded” by EERE, said Heather Lammers, a public and media relations manager at the laboratory. “We are currently working with DOE to understand the impacts of the FY25 spend plan,” Lammers said, referring to the president’s megabill. “At the same time, the FY26 appropriations process continues to move forward. We remain committed to our mission of delivering integrated solutions for an affordable, secure and sustainable energy future.” Under the proposed budget, PNNL
China’s Fossil Fuel Imports from US Tank before Trade Talks
China’s imports of three major energy products from the US hit almost zero in June – a potentially sensitive shift as Beijing and Washington resume talks to resolve their differences on trade. Deliveries of American crude oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal have been subject to Chinese tariffs of 10 percent-15 percent since February. The levies were imposed in one of the opening salvos of the trade war launched by the Trump administration, and flows from the US to China have steadily dwindled as purchases have become less economically viable. That came to a head last month, when China didn’t import any crude oil from the US for the first time in almost three years, according to the latest Chinese customs data. Crude is the most heavily traded commodity in the world and China the biggest buyer. In June last year, its purchases from the US were worth nearly $800 million. Last month’s deliveries of gas, increasingly a prime US export, were zero for a fourth consecutive month, a collapse that’s partly due to Chinese firms reselling American shipments to more profitable markets in Europe and Asia. Coal purchases, which in June last year were worth over $90 million, shrank to just a few hundred dollars for a second straight month. In the deal reached to end Trump’s first trade war in 2020, China pledged to buy more US energy and farm goods to help shrink its trade surplus. However, Beijing failed to meet its obligations after the pandemic struck and the imbalance worsened, setting up the present round of conflict once Trump had reclaimed the presidency. In the interim, China has been busy diversifying its commodities imports. Most of its crude comes from Saudi Arabia and Russia, with the US just about making the top-10 in the monthly reports from customs.
BP’s Castrol Unit Gets One Rock Bid
One Rock Capital Partners, a US mid-market private equity firm, is one of the few remaining bidders for BP Plc’s Castrol lubricants business, people familiar with the matter said, illustrating the potential challenges for the key asset disposal by the oil major. Several big-name energy companies and financial suitors have dropped out and valuation expectations have slipped, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. One Rock is bidding for the entire asset, while Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is only interested in taking a minority stake, the people said. The asset initially drew interest from Saudi Aramco, Reliance Industries Ltd., Apollo Global Management Inc., Lone Star Funds, Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. and Stonepeak Partners, among others, Bloomberg News has reported. The earlier bids valued the lubricants business at $6 billion to $8 billion, the people said. A sale was initially expected to fetch as much as $10 billion. Given the lackluster response, BP has also given access of Castrol’s financials to another potential suitor, which wasn’t around at the initial bidding stages, one of the people said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if BP didn’t hit their $8 billion target, given the pressures buyers know the company is under to deliver divestment progress,” said Will Hares, senior energy analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. Deliberations are ongoing and One Rock and CPPIB could decide against proceeding with their offers, the people said. BP may also opt to keep the asset for longer, they said. Representatives for BP, CPPIB and One Rock declined to comment. Shares of BP fell as much as 1.4% on Thursday morning in London after the Bloomberg News report. The stock is down about 0.5% as of 10:09 a.m. local time. Activist Pressure A sale of the lubricants business is part of BP Chief
Energy Department’s flawed grid study props up expensive, zombie power plants
Matthias Fripp is director of global policy research and Brendan Pierpont is director of electricity modeling at Energy Innovation. The U.S. Department of Energy recently issued a report warning that if aging power plants retire as planned, much of the country could face hundreds of hours of blackouts annually by 2030. This outlandish claim is built on a deeply flawed analysis: the DOE assumes that the power sector will stop building new resources after 2026, even as demand rises and old generators retire. This defies how utilities and grid operators actually plan for future needs, and could result in higher utility bills for Americans. Supply and demand, without the supply There is no question that electricity demand is growing faster than it has in decades, and utilities and grid operators around the country are meeting the moment with plans to build more and faster. The DOE’s analysis uses aggressive but plausible forecasts for electricity demand growth from data centers and other drivers, and potential retirements of aging generators. But unlike any actual utility planner faced with rapidly growing grid needs, the DOE assumes the U.S. power sector will effectively stop building new resources after 2026. It does this by only accounting for those projects already under construction or with signed contracts. This paints a distorted picture of the grid in 2030: a gap between supply and demand so large that widespread shortfalls are a foregone conclusion. Keeping zombie power plants online Earlier this year, the Trump administration issued “emergency” orders to keep the J.H. Campbell and Eddystone power plants open — plants that are so expensive and unreliable that their owners had decided it was time to shut them down. These orders, however, were not based on a credible reliability need. Dan Scripps, chair of the Michigan Public Service Commission, was
West of Orkney developers helped support 24 charities last year
The developers of the 2GW West of Orkney wind farm paid out a total of £18,000 to 24 organisations from its small donations fund in 2024. The money went to projects across Caithness, Sutherland and Orkney, including a mental health initiative in Thurso and a scheme by Dunnet Community Forest to improve the quality of meadows through the use of traditional scythes. Established in 2022, the fund offers up to £1,000 per project towards programmes in the far north. In addition to the small donations fund, the West of Orkney developers intend to follow other wind farms by establishing a community benefit fund once the project is operational. West of Orkney wind farm project director Stuart McAuley said: “Our donations programme is just one small way in which we can support some of the many valuable initiatives in Caithness, Sutherland and Orkney. “In every case we have been immensely impressed by the passion and professionalism each organisation brings, whether their focus is on sport, the arts, social care, education or the environment, and we hope the funds we provide help them achieve their goals.” In addition to the local donations scheme, the wind farm developers have helped fund a £1 million research and development programme led by EMEC in Orkney and a £1.2m education initiative led by UHI. It also provided £50,000 to support the FutureSkills apprenticeship programme in Caithness, with funds going to employment and training costs to help tackle skill shortages in the North of Scotland. The West of Orkney wind farm is being developed by Corio Generation, TotalEnergies and Renewable Infrastructure Development Group (RIDG). The project is among the leaders of the ScotWind cohort, having been the first to submit its offshore consent documents in late 2023. In addition, the project’s onshore plans were approved by the
Biden bans US offshore oil and gas drilling ahead of Trump’s return
US President Joe Biden has announced a ban on offshore oil and gas drilling across vast swathes of the country’s coastal waters. The decision comes just weeks before his successor Donald Trump, who has vowed to increase US fossil fuel production, takes office. The drilling ban will affect 625 million acres of federal waters across America’s eastern and western coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea. The decision does not affect the western Gulf of Mexico, where much of American offshore oil and gas production occurs and is set to continue. In a statement, President Biden said he is taking action to protect the regions “from oil and natural gas drilling and the harm it can cause”. “My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses, and beachgoers have known for a long time: that drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs,” Biden said. “It is not worth the risks. “As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we are transitioning to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren.” Offshore drilling ban The White House said Biden used his authority under the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which allows presidents to withdraw areas from mineral leasing and drilling. However, the law does not give a president the right to unilaterally reverse a drilling ban without congressional approval. This means that Trump, who pledged to “unleash” US fossil fuel production during his re-election campaign, could find it difficult to overturn the ban after taking office. Sunset shot of the Shell Olympus platform in the foreground and the Shell Mars platform in the background in the Gulf of Mexico Trump
The Download: our 10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2025
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. Introducing: MIT Technology Review’s 10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2025 Each year, we spend months researching and discussing which technologies will make the cut for our 10 Breakthrough Technologies list. We try to highlight a mix of items that reflect innovations happening in various fields. We look at consumer technologies, large industrial-scale projects, biomedical advances, changes in computing, climate solutions, the latest in AI, and more.We’ve been publishing this list every year since 2001 and, frankly, have a great track record of flagging things that are poised to hit a tipping point. It’s hard to think of another industry that has as much of a hype machine behind it as tech does, so the real secret of the TR10 is really what we choose to leave off the list.Check out the full list of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2025, which is front and center in our latest print issue. It’s all about the exciting innovations happening in the world right now, and includes some fascinating stories, such as: + How digital twins of human organs are set to transform medical treatment and shake up how we trial new drugs.+ What will it take for us to fully trust robots? The answer is a complicated one.+ Wind is an underutilized resource that has the potential to steer the notoriously dirty shipping industry toward a greener future. Read the full story.+ After decades of frustration, machine-learning tools are helping ecologists to unlock a treasure trove of acoustic bird data—and to shed much-needed light on their migration habits. Read the full story.
+ How poop could help feed the planet—yes, really. Read the full story.
Roundtables: Unveiling the 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2025 Last week, Amy Nordrum, our executive editor, joined our news editor Charlotte Jee to unveil our 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2025 in an exclusive Roundtable discussion. Subscribers can watch their conversation back here. And, if you’re interested in previous discussions about topics ranging from mixed reality tech to gene editing to AI’s climate impact, check out some of the highlights from the past year’s events. This international surveillance project aims to protect wheat from deadly diseases For as long as there’s been domesticated wheat (about 8,000 years), there has been harvest-devastating rust. Breeding efforts in the mid-20th century led to rust-resistant wheat strains that boosted crop yields, and rust epidemics receded in much of the world.But now, after decades, rusts are considered a reemerging disease in Europe, at least partly due to climate change. An international initiative hopes to turn the tide by scaling up a system to track wheat diseases and forecast potential outbreaks to governments and farmers in close to real time. And by doing so, they hope to protect a crop that supplies about one-fifth of the world’s calories. Read the full story. —Shaoni Bhattacharya
The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Meta has taken down its creepy AI profiles Following a big backlash from unhappy users. (NBC News)+ Many of the profiles were likely to have been live from as far back as 2023. (404 Media)+ It also appears they were never very popular in the first place. (The Verge) 2 Uber and Lyft are racing to catch up with their robotaxi rivalsAfter abandoning their own self-driving projects years ago. (WSJ $)+ China’s Pony.ai is gearing up to expand to Hong Kong. (Reuters)3 Elon Musk is going after NASA He’s largely veered away from criticising the space agency publicly—until now. (Wired $)+ SpaceX’s Starship rocket has a legion of scientist fans. (The Guardian)+ What’s next for NASA’s giant moon rocket? (MIT Technology Review) 4 How Sam Altman actually runs OpenAIFeaturing three-hour meetings and a whole lot of Slack messages. (Bloomberg $)+ ChatGPT Pro is a pricey loss-maker, apparently. (MIT Technology Review) 5 The dangerous allure of TikTokMigrants’ online portrayal of their experiences in America aren’t always reflective of their realities. (New Yorker $) 6 Demand for electricity is skyrocketingAnd AI is only a part of it. (Economist $)+ AI’s search for more energy is growing more urgent. (MIT Technology Review) 7 The messy ethics of writing religious sermons using AISkeptics aren’t convinced the technology should be used to channel spirituality. (NYT $)
8 How a wildlife app became an invaluable wildfire trackerWatch Duty has become a safeguarding sensation across the US west. (The Guardian)+ How AI can help spot wildfires. (MIT Technology Review) 9 Computer scientists just love oracles 🔮 Hypothetical devices are a surprisingly important part of computing. (Quanta Magazine)
10 Pet tech is booming 🐾But not all gadgets are made equal. (FT $)+ These scientists are working to extend the lifespan of pet dogs—and their owners. (MIT Technology Review) Quote of the day “The next kind of wave of this is like, well, what is AI doing for me right now other than telling me that I have AI?” —Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy, tells Wired a lot of companies’ AI claims are overblown.
The big story Broadband funding for Native communities could finally connect some of America’s most isolated places September 2022 Rural and Native communities in the US have long had lower rates of cellular and broadband connectivity than urban areas, where four out of every five Americans live. Outside the cities and suburbs, which occupy barely 3% of US land, reliable internet service can still be hard to come by.
The covid-19 pandemic underscored the problem as Native communities locked down and moved school and other essential daily activities online. But it also kicked off an unprecedented surge of relief funding to solve it. Read the full story. —Robert Chaney 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.) + Rollerskating Spice Girls is exactly what your Monday morning needs.+ It’s not just you, some people really do look like their dogs!+ I’m not sure if this is actually the world’s healthiest meal, but it sure looks tasty.+ Ah, the old “bitten by a rabid fox chestnut.”
Equinor Secures $3 Billion Financing for US Offshore Wind Project
Equinor ASA has announced a final investment decision on Empire Wind 1 and financial close for $3 billion in debt financing for the under-construction project offshore Long Island, expected to power 500,000 New York homes. The Norwegian majority state-owned energy major said in a statement it intends to farm down ownership “to further enhance value and reduce exposure”. Equinor has taken full ownership of Empire Wind 1 and 2 since last year, in a swap transaction with 50 percent co-venturer BP PLC that allowed the former to exit the Beacon Wind lease, also a 50-50 venture between the two. Equinor has yet to complete a portion of the transaction under which it would also acquire BP’s 50 percent share in the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal lease, according to the latest transaction update on Equinor’s website. The lease involves a terminal conversion project that was intended to serve as an interconnection station for Beacon Wind and Empire Wind, as agreed on by the two companies and the state of New York in 2022. “The expected total capital investments, including fees for the use of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, are approximately $5 billion including the effect of expected future tax credits (ITCs)”, said the statement on Equinor’s website announcing financial close. Equinor did not disclose its backers, only saying, “The final group of lenders includes some of the most experienced lenders in the sector along with many of Equinor’s relationship banks”. “Empire Wind 1 will be the first offshore wind project to connect into the New York City grid”, the statement added. “The redevelopment of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal and construction of Empire Wind 1 will create more than 1,000 union jobs in the construction phase”, Equinor said. On February 22, 2024, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced
USA Crude Oil Stocks Drop Week on Week
U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), decreased by 1.2 million barrels from the week ending December 20 to the week ending December 27, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) highlighted in its latest weekly petroleum status report, which was released on January 2. Crude oil stocks, excluding the SPR, stood at 415.6 million barrels on December 27, 416.8 million barrels on December 20, and 431.1 million barrels on December 29, 2023, the report revealed. Crude oil in the SPR came in at 393.6 million barrels on December 27, 393.3 million barrels on December 20, and 354.4 million barrels on December 29, 2023, the report showed. Total petroleum stocks – including crude oil, total motor gasoline, fuel ethanol, kerosene type jet fuel, distillate fuel oil, residual fuel oil, propane/propylene, and other oils – stood at 1.623 billion barrels on December 27, the report revealed. This figure was up 9.6 million barrels week on week and up 17.8 million barrels year on year, the report outlined. “At 415.6 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about five percent below the five year average for this time of year,” the EIA said in its latest report. “Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 7.7 million barrels from last week and are slightly below the five year average for this time of year. Finished gasoline inventories decreased last week while blending components inventories increased last week,” it added. “Distillate fuel inventories increased by 6.4 million barrels last week and are about six percent below the five year average for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories decreased by 0.6 million barrels from last week and are 10 percent above the five year average for this time of year,” it went on to state. In the report, the EIA noted
More telecom firms were breached by Chinese hackers than previously reported
Broader implications for US infrastructure The Salt Typhoon revelations follow a broader pattern of state-sponsored cyber operations targeting the US technology ecosystem. The telecom sector, serving as a backbone for industries including finance, energy, and transportation, remains particularly vulnerable to such attacks. While Chinese officials have dismissed the accusations as disinformation, the recurring breaches underscore the pressing need for international collaboration and policy enforcement to deter future attacks. The Salt Typhoon campaign has uncovered alarming gaps in the cybersecurity of US telecommunications firms, with breaches now extending to over a dozen networks. Federal agencies and private firms must act swiftly to mitigate risks as adversaries continue to evolve their attack strategies. Strengthening oversight, fostering industry-wide collaboration, and investing in advanced defense mechanisms are essential steps toward safeguarding national security and public trust.
Aeneas transforms how historians connect the past
Research
Published
23 July 2025
Authors
The Aeneas team
Writing was everywhere in the Roman world — etched onto everything from imperial monuments to everyday objects. From political graffiti, love poems and epitaphs to business transactions, birthday invitations and magical spells, inscriptions offer modern historians rich insights into the diversity of everyday life across the Roman world.Often, these texts are fragmentary, weathered or deliberately defaced. Restoring, dating and placing them is nearly impossible without contextual information, especially when comparing similar inscriptions.Today, we’re publishing a paper in Nature introducing Aeneas, the first artificial intelligence (AI) model for contextualizing ancient inscriptions.When working with ancient inscriptions, historians traditionally rely on their expertise and specialized resources to identify “parallels” — which are texts that share similarities in wording, syntax, standardized formulas or provenance.Aeneas greatly accelerates this complex and time-consuming work. It reasons across thousands of Latin inscriptions, retrieving textual and contextual parallels in seconds that allow historians to interpret and build upon the model’s findings.
Our model can also be adapted to other ancient languages, scripts and media, from papyri to coinage, expanding its capabilities to help draw connections across a wider range of historical evidence.We co-developed Aeneas with the University of Nottingham, and in partnership with researchers at the Universities of Warwick, Oxford and Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB). This work was part of a wider effort to explore how generative AI can help historians better identify and interpret parallels at scale.We want this research to benefit as many people as possible, so we’re making an interactive version of Aeneas freely-available to researchers, students, educators, museum professionals and more at predictingthepast.com. To support further research, we’re also open-sourcing our code and dataset.Aeneas’ advanced capabilitiesNamed after the wandering hero of Graeco-Roman mythology, Aeneas builds upon Ithaca, our earlier work using AI to restore, date and place ancient Greek inscriptions.Aeneas goes a step further, helping historians interpret and contextualize a text, give meaning to isolated fragments, draw richer conclusions and piece together a better understanding of ancient history.Our model’s advanced capabilities include:Parallels search: It searches for parallels across a vast collection of Latin inscriptions. By turning each text into a kind of historical fingerprint, Aeneas identifies deep connections that can help historians situate inscriptions within their broader historical context.Processing multimodal input: Aeneas is the first model to determine a text’s geographical provenance using multimodal inputs. It analyzes both text and visual information, like images of an inscription.Restoring gaps of unknown length: For the first time, Aeneas can restore gaps in texts where the missing length is unknown. This makes it a more versatile tool for historians dealing with heavily damaged material.State-of-the-art performance: Aeneas sets a new state-of-the-art benchmark in restoring damaged texts and predicting when and where they were written.
Animation of a restored bronze military diploma from Sardinia 113/14 C.E. (CIL XVI, 60).
How Aeneas worksAeneas is a multimodal generative neural network that takes an inscription’s text and image as input. To train Aeneas, we curated a large and reliable dataset, drawing from decades of work by historians to create digital collections, especially the Epigraphic Database Roma (EDR), Epigraphic Database Heidelberg (EDH) and Epigraphic Database Clauss Slaby (EDCS-ELT).We cleaned, harmonized and linked these records into a single machine-actionable dataset that we refer to as the Latin Epigraphic Dataset (LED), comprising over 176,000 Latin inscriptions from across the ancient Roman world.Our model uses a transformer-based decoder to process the textual input of an inscription. Specialized networks handle character restoration and dating using text, while geographical attribution also uses images of the inscriptions as input. The decoder retrieves similar inscriptions from the LED, ranked by relevance.For each inscription, Aeneas’ contextualization mechanism retrieves a list of parallels using a technique called “embeddings” — encoding the textual and contextual information of each inscription into a kind of historical fingerprint containing details of what the text says, its language, when and where it came from, and how it relates to other inscriptions.
Diagram of Aeneas’ architecture showing how the model takes text and image input to generate province, date and restoration predictions.
State-of-the-art performanceAeneas groups inscriptions by date of writing far more clearly than other general-purpose models also trained on Latin, as shown in the visualization below.
Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) visualization illustrating the chronological attribution of Aeneas’ historically rich embeddings compared to generic large language model textual embeddings.
Aeneas restores damaged inscriptions with a Top-20 accuracy of 73% in gaps of up to ten characters. This only decreases to 58% when the restoration length is unknown – itself an incredibly challenging task. It also shows its reasoning in an interpretable way, providing saliency maps that highlight which parts of the inputs influenced its predictions. Thanks to its use of visual data, our model can attribute an inscription to one of 62 ancient Roman provinces with 72% accuracy. For dating, Aeneas places a text within 13 years of the date ranges provided by historians.A new lens on historical debatesTo test Aeneas’ capabilities on an ongoing research debate, we gave it one of the most famous Roman inscriptions: the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, Emperor Augustus’ first-person account of his achievements.Historians have long-argued about the dating of this inscription. Rather than predicting a single fixed date, Aeneas produced a detailed distribution of possible dates, showing two distinct peaks, with one smaller peak around 10-1 BCE and a larger, more confident peak between 10-20 CE. These results captured both prevailing dating hypotheses in a quantitative way.
Histogram showing Aeneas’ chronological attribution prediction for the Res Gestae, which models scholarly debates around dating this famous inscription.
Aeneas based its predictions on subtle linguistic features and historical markers such as official titles and monuments mentioned in the text. By turning the dating question into a probabilistic estimate grounded in linguistic and contextual data, our model offers a new, quantitative way of engaging with long-standing historical debates.Most importantly, Aeneas also retrieved many relevant parallels from imperial legal texts tied to Augustus’ legacy, highlighting how the ideology of empire was reproduced across media and geography.Advancing historical research collaborativelyTo assess Aeneas’ impact as an aid for research, we conducted a large-scale Historian and AI collaborative study. We invited twenty-three historians who regularly work with inscriptions to restore, date and place a set of texts using Aeneas.Our evaluation, summarized in the table below, shows how the most effective results were achieved when historians used Aeneas’ contextual information alongside its predictions for restoring and attributing Roman inscriptions.
Table showing historians’ performance on three epigraphic tasks (restoration, geographical attribution, dating) using 60 inscriptions from our database test set. Tasks were first performed independently, then with Aeneas’ parallels information, or parallels and predictions together.
Aeneas helped the historians in our study identify new parallels and increased their confidence when tackling complex epigraphic tasks. Historians consistently highlighted Aeneas’ value in accelerating their work and expanding the range of most relevant parallel inscriptions.
“
Aeneas’ parallels completely changed my perception of the inscription. It noticed details that made all the difference for restoring and chronologically attributing the text.
Anonymised historian from our study
Sharing the tools, shaping the futureAeneas is designed to integrate within historians’ existing research workflows. By combining expert knowledge with machine learning, it opens up a collaborative process, offering interpretable suggestions that serve as valuable starting points for historical inquiry.As part of today’s release, we’re upgrading Ithaca, our ancient Greek model, to be powered by Aeneas and include the contextualization function, restorations of unknown length and better performance overall.We’ve also co-designed a new teaching syllabus for bridging technical skills with historical thinking in the classroom. This syllabus aligns with AI literacy initiatives, including the European Commission’s Digital Competences Framework for Citizens (DigComp 2.2), UNESCO’s AI Competency Framework for Students, and the preview of European Commission and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) AILit Framework.The Aeneas team is continuing to partner with diverse subject matter experts, using Aeneas to help shed light to our ancient past — with more to come.
Learn more about Aeneas
AcknowledgementsThe research was co-led by Yannis Assael and Thea Sommerschield.Contributors include: Alison Cooley, Brendan Shillingford, John Pavlopoulos, Priyanka Suresh, Bailey Herms, Jonathan Prag, Alex Mullen and Shakir Mohamed. The Aeneas web interface was developed by Justin Grayston, Benjamin Maynard, and Nicholas Dietrich, and is powered by Google Cloud.The syllabus was developed by Robbe Wulgaert, Sint-Lievenscollege, Ghent, Belgium.
The Download: what’s next for AI agents, and how Trump protects US tech companies overseas
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. Navigating the rise of AI agents AI agents is a buzzy term that essentially refers to AI models and algorithms that can not only provide you with information, but take actions on your behalf. Companies like OpenAI and Anthropic have launched ‘agentic’ products that can do things for you like making bookings, filling in forms, and collaborating with you on coding projects. On a LinkedIn Live event yesterday our editor-in-chief Mat Honan, senior editor for AI Will Douglas Heaven, and senior AI reporter Grace Huckins discussed what’s exciting about agents and where the technology will go next, but also its limitations, and the risks that currently come with adopting it. Check out what they had to say!
And if you’re interested in learning more about AI agents, read our stories: + Are we ready to hand AI agents the keys? We’re starting to give AI agents real autonomy, and we’re not prepared for what could happen next. Read the full story.+ Anthropic’s chief scientist on 4 ways agents will get even better. Read the full story.+ Cyberattacks by AI agents are coming. Agents could make it easier and cheaper for criminals to hack systems at scale. We need to be ready.+ When AIs bargain, a less advanced agent could cost you. In AI-to-AI price negotiations, weaker models often lose out—costing users real money and raising concerns about growing digital inequality. Read the full story.+ There’s been huge hype about a new general AI agent from China called Manus. We put it to the test.
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 is seeking to protect US tech firms abroad It’s using its global trade wars as a way to prevent other countries from imposing new taxes, regulations and tariffs on American tech companies. (WSJ $)+ Tech firms are increasingly trying to shape US AI policy. (FT $) 2 UK border officials plan to use AI to assess child asylum seekers A pilot scheme will estimate the age of new arrivals to the country. (The Guardian)+ US border patrol is arresting immigrants nowhere near the US-Mexico border. (WP $)+ The US wants to use facial recognition to identify migrant children as they age. (MIT Technology Review) 3 AI is hitting web traffic hardGoogle’s AI Overviews are causing a massive drop in clicks to actual websites. (Ars Technica)+ It’s good news for Google, bad news for everyone else. (The Register)+ AI means the end of internet search as we’ve known it. (MIT Technology Review) 4 Dozens of Iranians’ iPhones have been targeted with government spyware But the actual total number of targets is likely to be far higher. (Bloomberg $)5 Amazon is shutting down its AI lab in ShanghaiIt’s the latest in a line of US tech giants to scale back their research in the country. (FT $) 6 Californian billionaires have set their sights on building an industrial parkAfter their plans to create a brand new city didn’t get off the ground. (Gizmodo) 7 Tesla’s robotaxi launch didn’t quite go to planProspective customers appear to be a bit freaked out. (Wired $)+ Ride-hailing companies aren’t meeting their EV adoption targets. (Rest of World)
8 Why AI slop could finally help us to log offIf AI garbage renders a lot of the web unusable, it could be our only option. (The Atlantic $)+ How to fix the internet. (MIT Technology Review) 9 You may regrow your own teeth in the future 🦷The age of dentures and implants could be nearly over. (New Scientist $)+ Humanlike “teeth” have been grown in mini pigs. (MIT Technology Review) 10 Inside one man’s hunt for an elusive Chinese typewriterIt made it possible to type tens of thousands of characters using just 72 keys. (NYT $)+ How the quest to type Chinese on a QWERTY keyboard created autocomplete. (MIT Technology Review) Quote of the day “The truth is, China’s really doing ‘007’ now—midnight to midnight, seven days a week.” —Venture capitalist Harry Stebbings explains how Chinese startups have moved from ‘996’ work schedules (9am to 9pm, six days a week) to a routine that’s even more punishing, Wired reports.
One more thing Inside a new quest to save the “doomsday glacier”
The Thwaites glacier is a fortress larger than Florida, a wall of ice that reaches nearly 4,000 feet above the bedrock of West Antarctica, guarding the low-lying ice sheet behind it. But a strong, warm ocean current is weakening its foundations and accelerating its slide into the sea. Scientists fear the waters could topple the walls in the coming decades, kick-starting a runaway process that would crack up the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, marking the start of a global climate disaster. As a result, they are eager to understand just how likely such a collapse is, when it could happen, and if we have the power to stop it. Scientists at MIT and Dartmouth College founded the Arête Glacier Initiative last year in the hope of providing clearer answers to these questions. The nonprofit research organization will officially unveil itself, launch its website, and post requests for research proposals today, timed to coincide with the UN’s inaugural World Day for Glaciers, MIT Technology Review can report exclusively. Read the full story. —James Temple 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.)+ A fun-looking major retrospect of David Bailey’s starry career is opening in Spain.+ Creepy new horror flick Weapons is getting rave reviews.+ This amazing website takes you through Apollo 11’s first landing on the moon in real time.+ Rest in power Ozzy Osbourne, the first ever heavy metal frontman, and the undisputed Prince of Darkness.
Mixture-of-recursions delivers 2x faster inference—Here’s how to implement it
Want smarter insights in your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get only what matters to enterprise AI, data, and security leaders. Subscribe Now Researchers at KAIST AI and Mila have introduced a new Transformer architecture that makes large language models (LLMs) more memory- and compute-efficient. The architecture, called Mixture-of-Recursions (MoR), significantly improves model accuracy and delivers higher throughput compared with vanilla transformers, even when constrained by the same parameter count and compute budget. The scaling challenges of LLMs The impressive capabilities of today’s LLMs are directly tied to their ever-increasing size. But as these models scale, their memory footprints and computational requirements often become untenable, making both training and deployment challenging for organizations outside of hyperscale data centers. This has led to a search for more efficient designs. Efforts to improve LLM efficiency have focused mainly on two methods: parameter sharing and adaptive computation. Parameter sharing techniques reduce the total number of unique parameters by reusing weights across different parts of the model, thereby reducing the overall computational complexity. For example, “layer tying” is a technique that reuses a model’s weights across several layers. Adaptive computation methods adjust models so that they only use as much inference resources as they need. For example, “early exiting” dynamically allocates compute by allowing the model to stop processing “simpler” tokens early in the network. However, creating an architecture that effectively unifies both parameter efficiency and adaptive computation remains elusive. The AI Impact Series Returns to San Francisco – August 5 The next phase of AI is here – are you ready? Join leaders from Block, GSK, and SAP for an exclusive look at how autonomous agents are reshaping enterprise workflows – from real-time decision-making to end-to-end automation. Secure your spot now – space is limited: https://bit.ly/3GuuPLF How Mixture-of-Recursions works Mixture-of-Recursions
Intuit brings agentic AI to the mid-market saving organizations 17 to 20 hours a month
Want smarter insights in your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get only what matters to enterprise AI, data, and security leaders. Subscribe Now One of the fastest-growing segments of the business market faces a technology paradox. They’ve outgrown small business tools but sometimes remain too small for many types of traditional enterprise solutions. That’s the domain of the mid-market, which Intuit defines as companies that generate anywhere from $2.5 million to $100 million in annual revenue. Mid-market organizations tend to operate differently from both small businesses and large enterprises. Small businesses might run on seven applications. Mid-market companies typically juggle 25 or more disconnected software tools as they scale. Unlike enterprises with dedicated IT teams and consolidated platforms, mid-market organizations often lack resources for complex system integration projects. This creates a unique AI deployment challenge. How do you deliver intelligent automation across fragmented, multi-entity business structures without requiring expensive platform consolidation? It’s a challenge that Intuit, the company behind popular small business services including QuickBooks, Credit Karma, Turbotax and Mailchimp, is aiming to solve. In June, Intuit announced the debut of a series of AI agents designed to help small businesses get paid faster and operate more efficiently. An expanded set of AI agents is now being introduced to the Intuit Enterprise Suite, which is designed to help meet the needs of mid-market organizations. The AI Impact Series Returns to San Francisco – August 5 The next phase of AI is here – are you ready? Join leaders from Block, GSK, and SAP for an exclusive look at how autonomous agents are reshaping enterprise workflows – from real-time decision-making to end-to-end automation. Secure your spot now – space is limited: https://bit.ly/3GuuPLF The enterprise suite introduces four key AI agents – finance, payments, accounting and project management –
Anthropic researchers discover the weird AI problem: Why thinking longer makes models dumber
Want smarter insights in your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get only what matters to enterprise AI, data, and security leaders. Subscribe Now Artificial intelligence models that spend more time “thinking” through problems don’t always perform better — and in some cases, they get significantly worse, according to new research from Anthropic that challenges a core assumption driving the AI industry’s latest scaling efforts. The study, led by Anthropic AI safety fellow Aryo Pradipta Gema and other company researchers, identifies what they call “inverse scaling in test-time compute,” where extending the reasoning length of large language models actually deteriorates their performance across several types of tasks. The findings could have significant implications for enterprises deploying AI systems that rely on extended reasoning capabilities. “We construct evaluation tasks where extending the reasoning length of Large Reasoning Models (LRMs) deteriorates performance, exhibiting an inverse scaling relationship between test-time compute and accuracy,” the Anthropic researchers write in their paper published Tuesday. New Anthropic Research: “Inverse Scaling in Test-Time Compute” We found cases where longer reasoning leads to lower accuracy.Our findings suggest that naïve scaling of test-time compute may inadvertently reinforce problematic reasoning patterns. ? pic.twitter.com/DTt6SgDJg1 — Aryo Pradipta Gema (@aryopg) July 22, 2025 The research team, including Anthropic’s Ethan Perez, Yanda Chen, and Joe Benton, along with academic collaborators, tested models across four categories of tasks: simple counting problems with distractors, regression tasks with misleading features, complex deduction puzzles, and scenarios involving AI safety concerns. The AI Impact Series Returns to San Francisco – August 5 The next phase of AI is here – are you ready? Join leaders from Block, GSK, and SAP for an exclusive look at how autonomous agents are reshaping enterprise workflows – from real-time decision-making to end-to-end automation. Secure your spot now – space is
Open-source MCPEval makes protocol-level agent testing plug-and-play
Want smarter insights in your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get only what matters to enterprise AI, data, and security leaders. Subscribe Now Enterprises are beginning to adopt the Model Context Protocol (MCP) primarily to facilitate the identification and guidance of agent tool use. However, researchers from Salesforce discovered another way to utilize MCP technology, this time to aid in evaluating AI agents themselves. The researchers unveiled MCPEval, a new method and open-source toolkit built on the architecture of the MCP system that tests agent performance when using tools. They noted current evaluation methods for agents are limited in that these “often relied on static, pre-defined tasks, thus failing to capture the interactive real-world agentic workflows.” “MCPEval goes beyond traditional success/failure metrics by systematically collecting detailed task trajectories and protocol interaction data, creating unprecedented visibility into agent behavior and generating valuable datasets for iterative improvement,” the researchers said in the paper. “Additionally, because both task creation and verification are fully automated, the resulting high-quality trajectories can be immediately leveraged for rapid fine-tuning and continual improvement of agent models. The comprehensive evaluation reports generated by MCPEval also provide actionable insights towards the correctness of agent-platform communication at a granular level.” MCPEval differentiates itself by being a fully automated process, which the researchers claimed allows for rapid evaluation of new MCP tools and servers. It both gathers information on how agents interact with tools within an MCP server, generates synthetic data and creates a database to benchmark agents. Users can choose which MCP servers and tools within those servers to test the agent’s performance on. The AI Impact Series Returns to San Francisco – August 5 The next phase of AI is here – are you ready? Join leaders from Block, GSK, and SAP for an exclusive look at
Canteen Workers at Exxon Refinery Suspend Strike
In a statement sent to Rigzone on Friday, UK union Unite announced that workers employed by the Compass Group at ExxonMobil’s Fawley oil refinery who were due to take strike action this weekend have suspended their industrial action. The statement highlighted that the workers were due to go on strike from July 25 until 28 July but noted that they will now not take industrial action in order to consult on a pay offer. Unite added that strike action scheduled for August 1-4 will go ahead as scheduled if workers reject the current pay offer. “Unite has paused its industrial action to allow our members to consult on a pay offer,” Unite Regional Officer Rebeca Johns-Lawrence said in the statement. “If the offer is rejected then the strikes planned for early next month will go ahead as planned,” Unite added. Rigzone has contacted Compass Group and ExxonMobil for comment on Unite’s statement. Rigzone has also contacted Bram Frankhuijzen, EMEA Procurement Director at CBRE Global Workplace Solutions (GWS) EMEA, for comment on Unite’s statement. ExxonMobil previously directed Rigzone to Frankhuijzen, describing him as the staff’s employer. At the time of writing, none of the above have responded to Rigzone. In a statement sent to Rigzone last week, Unite revealed that canteen workers employed by Compass Group at ExxonMobil’s Fawley complex in the UK were due to strike. “Fawley workers will be famished when the oil refinery’s canteen staff strike over poverty pay,” Unite noted in that statement. “The predominantly female workers, employed by catering outsourcer Compass, are paid only slightly more than the minimum wage,” it added. “They are demanding a pay rise that reflects the rising cost of living and ensures the gap between their wages and the absolute legal minimum does not shrink,” it went on to state. Unite
Karoon CEO Julian Fowles Stepping Down; Search for Replacement Starts
Karoon Energy Ltd said that its Managing Director and CEO Julian Fowles will be leaving the company by mid-2026. The move follows the company’s decision to relocate key corporate teams and roles to Brazil and the USA, Karoon said in a news release. The company said its board, supported by an international search firm, is leading a global search process to appoint a Houston-based CEO / managing director to succeed Fowles. Fowles will remain in his role until the appointment of the new CEO / managing director or the end of the year. He will then serve a notice period through to mid-2026, where he will be available to provide continuity, if required, the company said. Karoon Chair Peter Botten said, “Following discussions with the Board, Julian will not be relocating as part of the planned transition of key corporate roles, including senior management, from Melbourne to Brazil and the USA”. “The decision to relocate these roles has not been taken lightly. The Board expects that this change, which includes simplifying Karoon’s structure, will increase efficiency and facilitate collaboration between the business units in Brazil and the USA. It will also reduce duplication and allow the Company to source high quality, local talent in our operational locations. The relocation of our corporate teams and roles, which has been carefully planned, will be phased over a period of 12 to 18 months to ensure that a meticulous handover of roles and responsibilities can be undertaken,” Botten continued. “On behalf of the Board, I would like to sincerely thank Julian for all his hard work over the past five years. Joining Karoon in 2020, Julian was instrumental in developing and delivering Karoon’s 2021 Strategic Plan. This included the successful Baúna intervention campaign, the development of the Patola field and the strategic Who
How nonprofits and academia are stepping up to salvage US climate programs
Nonprofits are striving to preserve a US effort to modernize greenhouse-gas measurements, amid growing fears that the Trump administration’s dismantling of federal programs will obscure the nation’s contributions to climate change. The Data Foundation, a Washington, DC, nonprofit that advocates for open data, is fundraising for an initiative that will coordinate efforts among nonprofits, technical experts, and companies to improve the accuracy and accessibility of climate emissions information. It will build on an effort to improve the collection of emissions data that former president Joe Biden launched in 2023—and which President Trump nullified on his first day in office. The initiative will help prioritize responses to changes in federal greenhouse-gas monitoring and measurement programs, but the Data Foundation stresses that it will primarily serve a “long-standing need for coordination” of such efforts outside of government agencies. The new greenhouse-gas coalition is one of a growing number of nonprofit and academic groups that have spun up or shifted focus to keep essential climate monitoring and research efforts going amid the Trump administration’s assault on environmental funding, staffing, and regulations. Those include efforts to ensure that US scientists can continue to contribute to the UN’s major climate report and publish assessments of the rising domestic risks of climate change. Otherwise, the loss of these programs will make it increasingly difficult for communities to understand how more frequent or severe wildfires, droughts, heat waves, and floods will harm them—and how dire the dangers could become.
Few believe that nonprofits or private industry can come close to filling the funding holes that the Trump administration is digging. But observers say it’s essential to try to sustain efforts to understand the risks of climate change that the federal government has historically overseen, even if the attempts are merely stopgap measures. If we give up these sources of emissions data, “we’re flying blind,” says Rachel Cleetus, senior policy director with the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “We’re deliberating taking away the very information that would help us understand the problem and how to address it best.”
Improving emissions estimates The Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the US Forest Service, and other agencies have long collected information about greenhouse gases in a variety of ways. These include self-reporting by industry; shipboard, balloon, and aircraft readings of gas concentrations in the atmosphere; satellite measurements of the carbon dioxide and methane released by wildfires; and on-the-ground measurements of trees. The EPA, in turn, collects and publishes the data from these disparate sources as the Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks. But that report comes out on a two-year lag, and studies show that some of the estimates it relies on could be way off—particularly the self-reported ones. A recent analysis using satellites to measure methane pollution from four large landfills found they produce, on average, six times more emissions than the facilities had reported to the EPA. Likewise, a 2018 study in Science found that the actual methane leaks from oil and gas infrastructure were about 60% higher than the self-reported estimates in the agency’s inventory. The Biden administration’s initiative—the National Strategy to Advance an Integrated US Greenhouse Gas Measurement, Monitoring, and Information System—aimed to adopt state-of-the-art tools and methods to improve the accuracy of these estimates, including satellites and other monitoring technologies that can replace or check self-reported information. The administration specifically sought to achieve these improvements through partnerships between government, industry, and nonprofits. The initiative called for the data collected across groups to be published to an online portal in formats that would be accessible to policymakers and the public. Moving toward a system that produces more current and reliable data is essential for understanding the rising risks of climate change and tracking whether industries are abiding by government regulations and voluntary climate commitments, says Ben Poulter, a former NASA scientist who coordinated the Biden administration effort as a deputy director in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. “Once you have this operational system, you can provide near-real-time information that can help drive climate action,” Poulter says. He is now a senior scientist at Spark Climate Solutions, a nonprofit focused on accelerating emerging methods of combating climate change, and he is advising the Data Foundation’s Climate Data Collaborative, which is overseeing the new greenhouse-gas initiative. Slashed staffing and funding But the momentum behind the federal strategy deflated when Trump returned to office. On his first day, he signed an executive order that effectively halted it. The White House has since slashed staffing across the agencies at the heart of the effort, sought to shut down specific programs that generate emissions data, and raised uncertainties about the fate of numerous other program components.
In April, the administration missed a deadline to share the updated greenhouse-gas inventory with the United Nations, for the first time in three decades, as E&E News reported. It eventually did release the report in May, but only after the Environmental Defense Fund filed a Freedom of Information Act request. There are also indications that the collection of emissions data might be in jeopardy. In March, the EPA said it would “reconsider” the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which requires thousands of power plants, refineries, and other industrial facilities to report emissions each year. In addition, the tax and spending bill that Trump signed into law earlier this month rescinds provisions in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act that provided incentives or funding for corporate greenhouse-gas reporting and methane monitoring. Meanwhile, the White House has also proposed slashing funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and shuttering a number of its labs. Those include the facility that supports the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, the world’s longest-running carbon dioxide measuring program, as well as the Global Monitoring Laboratory, which operates a global network of collection flasks that capture air samples used to measure concentrations of nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other greenhouse gases. Under the latest appropriations negotiations, Congress seems set to spare NOAA and other agencies the full cuts pushed by the Trump administration, but that may or may not protect various climate programs within them. As observers have noted, the loss of experts throughout the federal government, coupled with the priorities set by Trump-appointed leaders of those agencies, could still prevent crucial emissions data from being collected, analyzed, and published. “That’s a huge concern,” says David Hayes, a professor at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, who previously worked on the effort to upgrade the nation’s emissions measurement and monitoring as special assistant to President Biden for climate policy. It’s not clear “whether they’re going to continue and whether the data availability will drop off.” ‘A natural disaster’ Amid all these cutbacks and uncertainties, those still hoping to make progress toward an improved system for measuring greenhouse gases have had to adjust their expectations: It’s now at least as important to simply preserve or replace existing federal programs as it is to move toward more modern tools and methods. But Ryan Alexander, executive director of the Data Foundation’s Climate Data Collaborative, is optimistic that there will be opportunities to do both.
She says the new greenhouse-gas coalition will strive to identify the highest-priority needs and help other nonprofits or companies accelerate the development of new tools or methods. It will also aim to ensure that these organizations avoid replicating one another’s efforts and deliver data with high scientific standards, in open and interoperable formats. The Data Foundation declines to say what other nonprofits will be members of the coalition or how much money it hopes to raise, but it plans to make a formal announcement in the coming weeks.
Nonprofits and companies are already playing a larger role in monitoring emissions, including organizations like Carbon Mapper, which operates satellites and aircraft that detect and measure methane emissions from particular facilities. The EDF also launched a satellite last year, known as MethaneSAT, that could spot large and small sources of emissions—though it lost power earlier this month and probably cannot be recovered. Alexander notes that shifting from self-reported figures to observational technology like satellites could not just replace but perhaps also improve on the EPA reporting program that the Trump administration has moved to shut down. Given the “dramatic changes” brought about by this administration, “the future will not be the past,” she says. “This is like a natural disaster. We can’t think about rebuilding in the way that things have been in the past. We have to look ahead and say, ‘What is needed? What can people afford?’” Organizations can also use this moment to test and develop emerging technologies that could improve greenhouse-gas measurements, including novel sensors or artificial intelligence tools, Hayes says. “We are at a time when we have these new tools, new technologies for measurement, measuring, and monitoring,” he says. “To some extent it’s a new era anyway, so it’s a great time to do some pilot testing here and to demonstrate how we can create new data sets in the climate area.” Saving scientific contributions It’s not just the collection of emissions data that nonprofits and academic groups are hoping to save. Notably, the American Geophysical Union and its partners have taken on two additional climate responsibilities that traditionally fell to the federal government.
The US State Department’s Office of Global Change historically coordinated the nation’s contributions to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s major reports on climate risks, soliciting and nominating US scientists to help write, oversee, or edit sections of the assessments. The US Global Change Research Program, an interagency group that ran much of the process, also covered the cost of trips to a series of in-person meetings with international collaborators. But the US government seems to have relinquished any involvement as the IPCC kicks off the process for the Seventh Assessment Report. In late February, the administration blocked federal scientists including NASA’s Katherine Calvin, who was previously selected as a cochair for one of the working groups, from attending an early planning meeting in China. (Calvin was the agency’s chief scientist at the time but was no longer serving in that role as of April, according to NASA’s website.) The agency didn’t respond to inquiries from interested scientists after the UN panel issued a call for nominations in March, and it failed to present a list of nominations by the deadline in April, scientists involved in the process say. The Trump administration also canceled funding for the Global Change Research Program and, earlier this month, fired the last remaining staffers working at the Office of Global Change. In response, 10 universities came together in March to form the US Academic Alliance for the IPCC, in partnership with the AGU, to request and evalute applications from US researchers. The universities—which include Yale, Princeton, and the University of California, San Diego—together nominated nearly 300 scientists, some of whom the IPCC has since officially selected. The AGU is now conducting a fundraising campaign to help pay for travel expenses.
Pamela McElwee, a professor at Rutgers who helped establish the academic coalition, says it’s crucial for US scientists to continue participating in the IPCC process. “It is our flagship global assessment report on the state of climate, and it plays a really important role in influencing country policies,” she says. “To not be part of it makes it much more difficult for US scientists to be at the cutting edge and advance the things we need to do.” The AGU also stepped in two months later, after the White House dismissed hundreds of researchers working on the National Climate Assessment, an annual report analyzing the rising dangers of climate change across the country. The AGU and American Meteorological Society together announced plans to publish a “special collection” to sustain the momentum of that effort. “It’s incumbent on us to ensure our communities, our neighbors, our children are all protected and prepared for the mounting risks of climate change,” said Brandon Jones, president of the AGU, in an earlier statement. The AGU declined to discuss the status of the project. Stopgap solution The sheer number of programs the White House is going after will require organizations to make hard choices about what they attempt to save and how they go about it. Moreover, relying entirely on nonprofits and companies to take over these federal tasks is not viable over the long term. Given the costs of these federal programs, it could prove prohibitive to even keep a minimum viable version of some essential monitoring systems and research programs up and running. Dispersing across various organizations the responsibility of calculating the nation’s emissions sources and sinks also creates concerns about the scientific standards applied and the accessibility of that data, Cleetus says. Plus, moving away from the records that NOAA, NASA, and other agencies have collected for decades would break the continuity of that data, undermining the ability to detect or project trends. More basically, publishing national emissions data should be a federal responsibility, particularly for the government of the world’s second-largest climate polluter, Cleetus adds. Failing to calculate and share its contributions to climate change sidesteps the nation’s global responsibilities and sends a terrible signal to other countries. Poulter stresses that nonprofits and the private sector can do only so much, for so long, to keep these systems up and running. “We don’t want to give the impression that this greenhouse-gas coalition, if it gets off the ground, is a long-term solution,” he says. “But we can’t afford to have gaps in these data sets, so somebody needs to step in and help sustain those measurements.”
The deadly saga of the controversial gene therapy Elevidys
It has been a grim few months for the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) community. There had been some excitement when, a couple of years ago, a gene therapy for the disorder was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the first time. That drug, Elevidys, has now been implicated in the deaths of two teenage boys. The drug’s approval was always controversial—there was a lack of evidence that it actually worked, for starters. But the agency that once rubber-stamped the drug has now turned on its manufacturer, Sarepta Therapeutics. In a remarkable chain of events, the FDA asked the company to stop shipping the drug on July 18. Sarepta refused to comply. In the days since, the company has acquiesced. But its reputation has already been hit. And the events have dealt a devastating blow to people desperate for treatments that might help them, their children, or other family members with DMD. DMD is a rare genetic disorder that causes muscles to degenerate over time. It’s caused by a mutation in a gene that codes for a protein called dystrophin. That protein is essential for muscles—without it, muscles weaken and waste away. The disease mostly affects boys, and symptoms usually start in early childhood.
At first, affected children usually start to find it hard to jump or climb stairs. But as the disease progresses, other movements become difficult too. Eventually, the condition might affect the heart and lungs. The life expectancy of a person with DMD has recently improved, but it is still only around 30 or 40 years. There is no cure. It’s a devastating diagnosis. Elevidys was designed to replace missing dystrophin with a shortened, engineered version of the protein. In June 2023, the FDA approved the therapy for eligible four- and five-year-olds. It came with a $3.2 million price tag.
The approval was celebrated by people affected by DMD, says Debra Miller, founder of CureDuchenne, an organization that funds research into the condition and offers support to those affected by it. “We’ve not had much in the way of meaningful therapies,” she says. “The excitement was great.” But the approval was controversial. It came under an “accelerated approval” program that essentially lowers the bar of evidence for drugs designed to treat “serious or life-threatening diseases where there is an unmet medical need.” Elevidys was approved because it appeared to increase levels of the engineered protein in patients’ muscles. But it had not been shown to improve patient outcomes: It had failed a randomized clinical trial. The FDA approval was granted on the condition that Sarepta complete another clinical trial. The topline results of that trial were described in October 2023 and were published in detail a year later. Again, the drug failed to meet its “primary endpoint”—in other words, it didn’t work as well as hoped. In June 2024, the FDA expanded the approval of Elevidys. It granted traditional approval for the drug to treat people with DMD who are over the age of four and can walk independently, and another accelerated approval for those who can’t. Some experts were appalled at the FDA’s decision—even some within the FDA disagreed with it. But things weren’t so simple for people living with DMD. I spoke to some parents of such children a couple of years ago. They pointed out that drug approvals can help bring interest and investment to DMD research. And, above all, they were desperate for any drug that might help their children. They were desperate for hope. Unfortunately, the treatment does not appear to be delivering on that hope. There have always been questions over whether it works. But now there are serious questions over how safe it is. In March 2025, a 16-year-old boy died after being treated with Elevidys. He had developed acute liver failure (ALF) after having the treatment, Sarepta said in a statement. On June 15, the company announced a second death—a 15-year-old who also developed ALF following Elevidys treatment. The company said it would pause shipments of the drug, but only for patients who are not able to walk.
The following day, Sarepta held an online presentation in which CEO Doug Ingram said that the company was exploring ways to make the treatment safer, perhaps by treating recipients with another drug that dampens their immune systems. But that same day, the company announced that it was laying off 500 employees—36% of its workforce. Sarepta did not respond to a request for comment. On June 24, the FDA announced that it was investigating the risks of serious outcomes “including hospitalization and death” associated with Elevidys, and “evaluating the need for further regulatory action.” There was more tragic news on July 18, when there were reports that a third patient had died following a Sarepta treatment. This patient, a 51-year-old, hadn’t been taking Elevidys but was enrolled in a clinical trial for a different Sarepta gene therapy designed to treat limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. The same day, the FDA asked Sarepta to voluntarily pause all shipments of Elevidys. Sarepta refused to do so. The refusal was surprising, says Michael Kelly, chief scientific officer at CureDuchenne: “It was an unusual step to take.” After significant media coverage, including reporting that the FDA was “deeply troubled” by the decision and would use its “full regulatory authority,” Sarepta backed down a few days later. On July 21, the company announced its decision to “voluntarily and temporarily” pause all shipments of Elevidys in the US. Sarepta says it will now work with the FDA to address safety and labeling concerns. But in the meantime, the saga has left the DMD community grappling with “a mix of disappointment and concern,” says Kelly. Many are worried about the risks of taking the treatment. Others are devastated that they are no longer able to access it. Miller says she knows of families who have been working with their insurance providers to get authorization for the drug. “It’s like the rug has been pulled out from under them,” she says. Many families have no other treatment options. “And we know what happens when you do nothing with Duchenne,” she says. Others, particularly those with teenage children with DMD, are deciding against trying the drug, she adds. The decision over whether to take Elevidys was already a personal one based on several factors, he says. People with DMD and their families deserve clear and transparent information about the treatment in order to make that decision.
The FDA’s decision to approve Elevidys was made on limited data, says Kelly. But as things stand today, over 900 people have been treated with Elevidys. “That gives the FDA… an opportunity to look at real data and make informed decisions,” he says. “Families facing Duchenne do not have time to waste,” Kelly says. “They must navigate a landscape where hope is tempered by the realities of medical complexity.” A version of 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.
UK Gov Announces ‘Tailored Support for Aberdeen Oil Workers’
The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has announced “tailored support for Aberdeen oil and gas workers” in a release posted on its website recently. According to the release, “around 200 Aberdeen oil and gas workers are set to benefit from a tailored skills program” launched this week, which the release said “will support them to take advantage of the high-quality job opportunities in Scotland’s growing clean energy sector”. DESNZ noted in the release that the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund, which it said is backed by GBP 900,000 ($1.2 million) of UK government funding, “will help build the pipeline of skilled workers needed to make Britain a clean energy superpower as part of the government’s Plan for Change”. The program is open to current and former oil and gas workers who live in or are employed in Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire and are interested in moving into roles within clean energy, the release stated, adding that successful applicants will receive careers advice and funding towards training courses. DESNZ highlighted in the release that the program will be delivered in partnership between the UK government, the Scottish government, and Skills Development Scotland, which describes itself as Scotland’s national skills body. “Aberdeen has been the energy capital of Britain for decades and while oil and gas will be with us for decades to come, we are determined to make sure that workers are supported to access the thousands of jobs in industries such as offshore wind and carbon capture,” Minister for Energy Michael Shanks said in the release. “This funding will help deliver a fair and prosperous transition in the North Sea, unlocking the full potential of renewable energy and reaping the economic benefits from the skills and experiences of Aberdeen’s workforce,” he added. Secretary of State for Scotland
Eni, Sonatrach to Bolster Energy Cooperation
Italy’s Eni SpA and Algeria’s Sonatrach SpA have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen collaboration in hydrocarbons and renewable energy. “Eni and Sonatrach undertake to consolidate cooperation for the enhancement of Algerian energy resources through new contracts aimed at encouraging an increase in gas production, and the extension of gas supply contracts for export to Italy”, Eni said in a statement online. “In addition, the two companies will strengthen collaboration in the field of renewable energy and energy transition, namely through the definition of new initiatives”. The MoU was signed during the Italy-Algeria intergovernmental summit in the presence of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “This protocol follows the recent signing between Eni and Sonatrach of the agreement of the Zemoul El Kbar area and the allocation of the Reggane II area, which together with the initiatives covered by the protocol will contribute to increasing gas production up to 5.5 billion cubic meters per year by 2028, with total investments of more than $8 billion”, Eni said. “With an equity production of about 137,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2024, Eni stands as the most important international company operating in the country [Algeria]”, it added. Sonatrach said in a press release July 21 that under the 2024 bidding round, Reggane II in the province of Adrar has been awarded to Sonatrach, Eni and Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Public Co. Ltd. Sonatrach announced four other awards. Ahara in the province of Illizi was signed with QatarEnergy and TotalEnergies SE. Guern El Guessa II in the provinces of Bechar, Beni Abbes, El Bayadh and Timimoun was signed with China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. Toual II in the provinces of Ouargla and Illizi was signed with Austria’s Zangas Hoch- und Tiefbau GmbH and Switzerland’s
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