The Download: good climate news, and promising pixels

Scientists are loudly warning that the world is working out of time to keep away from harmful warming ranges. The image is grim. But when you already know the place to look, there are just a few vivid spots shining by means of the darkness.

New applied sciences that may assist deal with local weather change, from warmth pumps to photo voltaic panels to EVs, are coming to the market and getting cheaper. Local weather coverage can also be growing, from incentives to assist new expertise to rule-making round air pollution. 

And efforts to assist essentially the most weak nations adapt to local weather change are rising. Read on for a few of those bright spots that our climate reporters saw in 2023. 

—Casey Crownhart, James Temple & June Kim

These minuscule pixels are poised to take augmented actuality by storm

Google Glass, a prototype augmented-reality headset launched in April 2013, had the makings of a success. However Glass was awkward to put on and struggled to ship a pointy, vivid picture outdoor. Then got here the “glasshole” backlash.

The implications have been clear. Fingers-free augmented actuality (AR) was enjoyable on paper, however with tensions over Large Tech’s affect mounting, it couldn’t overcome the stigma of creating individuals seem like extras in a cyberpunk flick.  

Now, greater than a decade later, the longer term Google envisioned—and far more—is getting ready to turning into actuality. Tiny new shows, some sufficiently small to suit on the tip of your finger, will comprise micro-LEDs and micro-OLEDs—they usually’re set to ship a wave of headsets that will convert even essentially the most ardent AR skeptics. Read the full story.