{"id":19000,"date":"2026-07-31T12:48:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=19000"},"modified":"2026-07-31T12:48:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:48:23","slug":"the-download-montanas-new-experimental-drug-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=19000","title":{"rendered":"The Download: Montana\u2019s new experimental drug rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This is today’s edition of <\/em>The Download<\/em>, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

Montana\u2019s plan to become an experimental medical hub just pushed forward\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As of this week in Montana, biotech companies whose drugs have been through preliminary testing\u2014sometimes in as few as 10 healthy people\u2014can pay $12,500 to apply to a newly established review board for approval.<\/p>\n

Once its treatment is rubber-stamped, the company can sell it via experimental treatment clinics, the first of which is likely to be up and running around the end of this year.   <\/p>\n

Montana\u2019s latest right-to-try legislation is unique. Access to drugs is theoretically available to anyone who gives informed consent and can pay. For some, especially people in the longevity community, that\u2019s a hopeful and exciting prospect. But to others, it\u2019s unethical and dangerous. <\/p>\n

Read our story to learn about where this may all be headed. <\/p>\n

\u2014Jessica Hamzelou<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Montana\u2019s new \u201cright to try\u201d law can\u2019t come soon enough for some\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Kris DeVault is desperate.<\/p>\n

His son, Brody, born in March 2023, has something called creatine transporter deficiency\u2014a rare condition in which the brain and muscles lack the energy they need to develop.<\/p>\n

There are no cures for Brody\u2019s condition. But DeVault has learned of a company developing a drug that might help. That drug is still in the early stages of development and has only been tested in animals and a small number of healthy adults. Doctors can\u2019t prescribe it.<\/p>\n

DeVault knows the drug might not work. But he\u2019s doing all he can to access it regardless. Read our story about DeVault\u2019s efforts. <\/p>\n

\u2014Jessica Hamzelou<\/em><\/p>\n

This\u00a0story\u00a0is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter.\u00a0Sign up\u00a0to receive it in your inbox every Thursday.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The must-reads<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve combed the internet to find you today\u2019s most fun\/important\/scary\/fascinating stories about technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

1 Anthropic says its models hacked external organisations during testing<\/strong>
It was prompted to conduct a review after similar issues at OpenAI. (TechCrunch) 
+ Inside OpenAI\u2019s hack of Hugging Face. (<\/em>New Yorker<\/em> $)<\/em>
+ OpenAI called the Hugging Face attack unprecedented. But we\u2019ve been here before.<\/em> (MIT Technology Review)<\/p>\n

2 Europe is bracing itself for an even more fiery future<\/strong>
Countries like France and Spain can expect regimes akin to those in California. (Nature $)
+ Even the UK is experiencing fires now, too.<\/em> (Guardian)
+ El Ni\u00f1o is partly to blame for this year\u2019s grueling heatwaves. <\/em>(Wired $)
+ District cooling could help beat extreme heat in cities.<\/em> (New Scientist $)<\/p>\n

3 Drone warfare is making the skies more dangerous<\/strong>
A fatal plane accident in the US this May, caused by a military GPS jamming exercise, may signal what\u2019s to come. (Wired$)
+ Zelensky asked Trump to secure Musk\u2019s permission for the use of Starlink to guide drone strikes inside Russia this week.<\/em> (The Atlantic $)<\/p>\n

4 As Big Tech\u2019s AI spending grows, so do the jitters<\/strong>
Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft are set to invest $1.5 trillion into AI infrastructure. But who will pay for it? (NYT $)
+ Are investors really getting cold feet about the AI boom? <\/em>(FT $)
+ An AI-focused hedge fund just imploded<\/em>. (CNBC)<\/p>\n

5 How China has changed the sovereign AI playbook<\/strong>
Kimi 3 from Moonshot makes forking out for expensive US models seem foolish. (Rest of World)
+ The US is winning on the cutting edge. But China dominates cheap models.<\/em> (CNBC)
+ Could AI end up too cheap to control? <\/em>(Vox $)<\/p>\n

6 Google\u2019s Gemini can now control a humanoid robot<\/strong>
It was previously restricted to upper body movements. Now, it can manage the entire range of motion. (Bloomberg $)
+ These gig workers are training humanoid robots at home.<\/em> (MIT Technology Review)<\/p>\n

7 Amazon says it\u2019s found \u201ccatastrophically expensive\u201d AI cost overruns<\/strong>
It\u2019s far from alone\u2014and that\u2019s why the \u201ctokenmaxxing\u201d trend disappeared so quickly. (FT $)<\/p>\n

8 How a remote indigenous community built a super fast fiber network<\/strong>
It was a complex, expensive endeavor. But it now outperforms Starlink. (IEEE Spectrum) 
+ Stratospheric internet could finally start taking off this year.<\/em> (MIT Technology Review)<\/p>\n

9 Meet Wikipedia\u2019s most diligent editor<\/strong>
Steven Pruitt is unremarkable in some ways\u2014yet truly amazing in others. (New Yorker $)<\/p>\n

10 You can now report AI slop with a button on LinkedIn<\/strong>
The people have spoken. And they are tired of reading bland nonsense. (404 Media)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Quote of the day<\/strong><\/p>\n

“It\u2019s a shock, thinking that just an hour earlier I\u2019d been in my room and everything\u2026 and now, there\u2019s nothing left.\u201d<\/h2>\n

\u201418-year-old Raphael Fohanno tells\u00a0Reuters\u00a0his reaction to wildfires destroying his parents\u2019 house in the French town of Biscarrosse.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

One More Thing<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"""\"
Some of the 750 reports published by the OTA during its 23-year history.<\/figcaption>
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE VIA PRINCETON UNIVERSITY<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Congress used to evaluate emerging technologies. Let\u2019s do it again.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The US Office of Technology Assessment, an independent office created by Congress in the early 1970s, produced some 750 reports during its 23-year history, assessing technologies as varied as electronic surveillance, genetic engineering, and remote sensing from outer space. <\/p>\n

The office functioned like a debunking arm. It sussed out the snake oil. Its reports saw through the alluring gleam of overhyped technologies. <\/p>\n

Since its unceremonious defunding in 1995, perennial calls have gone out: Rouse the office from the dead! <\/p>\n

Read our story about why, with advances in robotics, big data, and AI systems, these calls have taken on a new level of urgency. <\/p>\n

\u2014Peter Andrey Smith<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

We can still have nice things<\/strong><\/p>\n

A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? <\/em>Drop me a line<\/em>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

+\u00a0Fencing on roller skates\u00a0is the self-defense you didn\u2019t know you needed.
+\u00a0\u00a0Meet Pumpkin, a chubby cat that\u2019s in no mood to lose weight.
+ Discover what the animals near you are probably doing right now at\u00a0Nature This Week.
+ Woodworker extraordinaire Matt Thompson has\u00a0installed a model railroad that runs along his fence.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n