The Download: understanding deep matter, and AI jailbreak protection

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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.

How the Rubin Observatory will help us understand dark matter and dark energy

We can put a good figure on how much we know about the universe: 5%. That’s how much of what’s floating about in the cosmos is ordinary matter—planets and stars and galaxies and the dust and gas between them. The other 95% is dark matter and dark energy, two mysterious entities aptly named for our inability to shed light on their true nature.

Previous work has begun pulling apart these dueling forces, but dark matter and dark energy remain shrouded in a blanket of questions—critically, what exactly are they?

Enter the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, one of our 10 breakthrough technologies for 2025. Boasting the largest digital camera ever created, Rubin is expected to study the cosmos in the highest resolution yet once it begins observations later this year. And with a better window on the cosmic battle between dark matter and dark energy, Rubin might narrow down existing theories on what they are made of. Here’s a look at how.—Jenna Ahart

This story is part of MIT Technology Review Explains, our series untangling the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next.

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