{"id":20191,"date":"2026-03-27T13:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T13:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/the-download-best-weather-forecasting-app-why-people-freeze-brains\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T13:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T13:09:11","slug":"the-download-best-weather-forecasting-app-why-people-freeze-brains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/the-download-best-weather-forecasting-app-why-people-freeze-brains\/","title":{"rendered":"The Download: the internet\u2019s best weather app, and why people freeze their brains"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This is today\u2019s edition of <\/em>The Download<\/em><\/a>, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what\u2019s going on in the world of technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

How a couple of ski bums built the internet\u2019s best weather app<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n

The best snow-forecasting app for skiers\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0a\u00a0federally-funded\u00a0service or a big-name brand.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0OpenSnow, a startup that uses government data, its own AI models, and decades of alpine-life experience to deliver the best predictions out there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The app has proved especially vital this winter, one of the weirdest on record.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0even made microcelebrities of its forecasters, who sift through reams of data to write \u201cDaily Snow\u201d reports for locations around the world.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

We headed to the Tahoe mountains to hear how two broke ski bums became modern-day snow gods.\u00a0Read the full story<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014Rachel Levin<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s\u00a0why some people choose cryonics to store their bodies and brains after death<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n

\u2014Jessica\u00a0Hamzelou<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

This week I\u00a0reported on<\/a>\u00a0unusual research focused on the frozen brain of L. Stephen Coles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coles, a researcher who studied aging, was interested in cryonics\u2014the long-term storage of human bodies and brains in the hope that they might one day be brought back to life.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a hope shared by many.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the past few years,\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0spoken to people who run cryonics facilities, study cryopreservation, or just want to be cryogenically stored. All of them acknowledge that\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a vanishingly small chance of being brought back to life. So why do they do it?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read the full story to find out<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This\u00a0<\/strong>article<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter.\u00a0<\/strong>Sign up<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to receive it in your inbox every Thursday.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

What\u2019s\u00a0next for space exploration?\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n

Whether\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0the race to find life on Mars, the campaign to outsmart killer asteroids, or the quest to make the moon a permanent home to astronauts, scientists\u2019 efforts in space can tell us more about where humanity is headed. <\/p>\n

To learn more about the progress and possibilities ahead, our features editor Amanda Silverman sat down with Robin George Andrews, an award-winning science journalist and author, on Wednesday. If you missed their conversation, fear not\u2014you can\u00a0catch up and watch the video here<\/a>.\u00a0You\u2019ll\u00a0need to be a subscriber to access\u00a0it,\u00a0but the good news is subscriptions are discounted right now.\u00a0Bag yours if you haven\u2019t already!<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

The must-reads\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve\u00a0combed the internet to find you today\u2019s most fun\/important\/scary\/fascinating stories about technology.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

1 The Pentagon\u2019s ban on Anthropic has been halted<\/strong>\u00a0
A judge has paused its designation as a supply chain risk. (CBS News<\/a>)\u00a0\u00a0
+ She said the government was trying to \u201cchill public debate.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(BBC<\/a>)\u00a0
+ Sam Altman claimed he tried to \u201csave\u201d Anthropic in the clash.<\/em>\u00a0(Axios<\/a>)\u00a0<\/p>\n

2 Elon Musk has lost his lawsuit against an ad boycott on X<\/strong>\u00a0
A judge admonished the \u201cfishing expedition.\u201d (Ars Technica<\/a>)\u00a0
+ Ad revenue fell by more than half as advertisers fled X after Musk took over.<\/em>\u00a0(BBC<\/a>)\u00a0<\/p>\n

3 OpenAI has put plans for an erotic chatbot on hold \u201cindefinitely\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0
Staff and investors had raised concerns. (The Information<\/a>\u00a0$)\u00a0
+ The company is making a sharp strategic pivot.\u00a0<\/em>(FT<\/a>\u00a0$)\u00a0
+ AI companions are the final stage of digital addiction.<\/em>\u00a0(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)\u00a0<\/p>\n

4 A helium shortage has started\u00a0impacting\u00a0tech supply chains<\/strong>\u00a0
The problem stems from the Middle East conflict. (Reuters<\/a>)\u00a0
+ The era of cheap helium is over.\u00a0<\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)\u00a0<\/p>\n

5 Trump\u2019s new science advisers: 12 tech chiefs and just one academic<\/strong>\u00a0
They include at least nine billionaires. (Nature<\/a>)\u00a0
+ David Sacks is stepping down as Trump\u2019s crypto and AI czar.\u00a0<\/em>(TechCrunch<\/a>)\u00a0<\/p>\n

6 Anthropic is mulling an IPO as soon as October<\/strong>\u00a0
It\u2019s racing OpenAI to hold\u00a0an initial\u00a0public offering. (Bloomberg<\/a>\u00a0$)\u00a0<\/p>\n

7 Wikipedia has banned all AI-generated content\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0
LLM-related issues had overwhelmed editors. (404 Media<\/a>)\u00a0
+\u00a0Here\u2019s\u00a0what\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0getting wrong about AI\u2019s truth crisis.\u00a0<\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)\u00a0<\/p>\n

8 OpenAI\u2019s ad pilot generated $100 million in under 2 months<\/strong>\u00a0
More than 600 advertisers are working on the trial. (CNBC<\/a>)\u00a0
+ Ads will arrive on ChatGPT free \u200cand Go in the coming weeks.<\/em>\u00a0(Reuters<\/a>)\u00a0
\u00a0
\u00a09 An Irish village is giving kids a phone-free upbringing<\/strong>\u00a0
The ban works because\u00a0almost\u00a0everyone\u2019s\u00a0bought in. (NYT<\/a>\u00a0$)\u00a0<\/p>\n

10 Chatting with sycophantic AI makes you less kind<\/strong>\u00a0
New research found it encourages \u201cuncouth\u00a0behavior.\u201d (Nature<\/a>)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Quote of the day\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0know if\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0\u2018murder,\u2019 but it looks like an attempt to cripple Anthropic.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n

\u2014Judge Rita Lin rules against the Pentagon\u2019s ban on Anthropic,\u00a0The Verge<\/a>\u00a0reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One More Thing\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"people<\/p>\n
AURELIA INSTITUTE<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

This futuristic space habitat is designed to self-assemble in orbit\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n

More and more\u00a0people are traveling beyond Earth, but the International Space Station can only hold 11 of them at a time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aurelia Institute, an architecture R&D lab based in Cambridge, MA, is building a solution: a habitat that launches in compact stacks of flat tiles\u2014and self-assembles in orbit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The concept may sound far-fetched, but\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0already won support from NASA.\u00a0Read the full story<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014Sarah Ward<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

We can still have\u00a0nice things\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas?\u00a0<\/em>Drop me a line<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

+ These\u00a0optical illusions<\/a>\u00a0are absolute brain-melters.\u00a0
+ The\u00a0web design museum<\/a>\u00a0lovingly visualizes the evolution of the internet.\u00a0
+ Zara Picken\u2019s\u00a0modernist illustrations<\/a>\u00a0are a new window into the mid-20th century.\u00a0
+\u00a0Explore our planet\u2019s connections through the digital\u00a0Knowledge Garden<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is today\u2019s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[226],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20191\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}