2026 Climate Tech Companies to Watch

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from MIT Technology Review, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

MIT Technology Review • Amy Nordrum • October 6, 2026

The MIT Technology Review team releases an annual list of promising climate tech companies globally. This year marks the fourth edition of their selection process. The businesses featured range from early-stage startups to multinational corporations. They are developing technologies designed to address climate change or help adapt to a warming world.

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Explaining Hall-effect, TMR, and other new types of “mechanical” switches

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Ars Technica •
Scharon Harding
• October 5, 2026

Over the past six years, keyboards featuring optical, Hall-effect, and other "contactless" switches have become common, often costing more than traditional mechanical boards. While manufacturers promise theoretical advantages for gamers, daily differences can be subtle. Traditional mechanical switches use two metal leaves that touch to close a circuit when pressed. This physical contact can degrade over time due to oxidation or corrosion, though newer standard mechanical switches rated for 100 million keystrokes may last as long as contactless options.

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Russian drones strike Ukraine’s data centers by exploiting air defense gaps

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Ars Technica •
Jeremy Hsu
• October 5, 2026

Russian jet-powered drones have increasingly targeted Ukrainian data centers, causing significant Internet and mobile phone outages for thousands. Since September 23, these strikes have focused on Kyiv, with the nonprofit Reporters Without Borders noting that 100,000 households in the region experienced temporary service disruptions from the initial attacks. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and government officials warn that these disruptions threaten the digital economy and hinder the country’s resistance to Russia’s invasion.

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F1 in Bahrain… in Malaysia: The race needed a software update to start

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Ars Technica •
Jonathan M. Gitlin
• October 5, 2026

The 2026 Formula One Grand Prix in Malaysia faced torrential rain that forced organizers to cancel the start due to a software bug. Heavy rain arrived before the scheduled time, and while drivers circled behind the safety car to clear the track, several cars entered an automatic shutdown. This occurred because slow speeds triggered a hard-coded rule intended to prevent cheating, which cut off their electric motors for 60 seconds. Max Verstappen described the chaos as "like the Lego race," noting that multiple cars crawled at varying speeds before rebooting.

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Mass quarantine issued in Russia after unexplained death of plague researcher

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Ars Technica •
Beth Mole
• October 5, 2026

Roughly 200 people are under medical observation in Russia following the unexplained death of infectious disease researcher Darya Shipilova at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute. According to Rospotrebnadzor, a Russian public health agency, she died last week from pneumonia of an unknown cause. While some reports claimed she accidentally broke a test tube containing Yersinia pestis on September 25, leading to her death between October 1 and October 2, the head of the neighboring region initially stated she likely died of plague before altering that statement.

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AI glasses face their first major government crackdown

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Ars Technica •
Richard Milne, Financial Times
• October 5, 2026

Norway has become the first major country to propose a temporary ban on AI glasses in selected public places due to privacy concerns. The center-left government plans to introduce a law to parliament soon, restricting use in locations such as parks, beaches, schools, and kindergartens. Digitalization minister Torgeir Micaelsen stated that this measure aims to prevent people from being photographed or filmed without their knowledge. He explained that the temporary ban will allow authorities time to conduct a thorough assessment before establishing permanent national rules.

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Cable lobby to sue Trump FCC over repeal of national TV ownership cap

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Ars Technica •
Jon Brodkin
• October 5, 2026

Cable industry groups have notified the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that they will sue the agency to block its decision to repeal the National Television Ownership Rule. This rule limits how many broadcast TV stations a single company can own, currently capping ownership at 39 percent of all US households. The cable lobby argues that removing this limit allows large broadcast groups to demand higher retransmission fees from cable providers, which would lead to increased monthly bills for consumers. They claim the FCC’s decision arbitrarily ignores these potential harms.

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Texas city demands $2M for public records on Flock usage

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Ars Technica •
Ashley Belanger
• October 5, 2026

A Texas city in North Richland Hills demanded $2.3 million before releasing public records on how police use the Flock camera system. Officials claimed searching terabytes of data would take 14 years at $15 per hour. Phil Mynona, representing the Texas Privacy Coalition, called this fee ludicrous and designed to stop searches. He has requested similar records from over 200 agencies across the US, finding fees range from free to $121,000.

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Command-line tool quickly removes Apple Intelligence from macOS 27

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Ars Technica •
Scharon Harding
• October 5, 2026

A new command-line tool called RemoveMacAI allows Mac users to easily turn off Apple Intelligence features and free up storage space. Unlike previous versions of macOS, the latest version known as macOS 27 Golden Gate does not include a built-in toggle for disabling these AI capabilities. Consequently, the necessary AI models occupy disk space even if users do not use them or attempt to disable specific features through settings.

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Controlling the brain with light earns a physiology Nobel

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Ars Technica •
John Timmer
• October 5, 2026

The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel for developing optogenetics, a technique that uses light to control the behavior of specific nerve cells. This method allows scientists to activate or shut down neurons in an intact brain, overcoming the limitations of earlier approaches where cell loss could alter surrounding development. The breakthrough originated from studies of the single-celled algae *Chlamydomonas*, which moves using flagella guided by a light-sensitive eye spot.

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