The Download: an organ transplant breakthrough, and homegrown Chinese chips

This is today's edition of The Download, our weekday that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Supercooled kidneys have been transplanted into pigs in a “landmark achievement”  When it comes to organ donation, time is everything. As soon as an organ has been removed from a donor’s body, it starts to deteriorate. Surgeons have only a matter of hours to get it into a recipient. In most cases, organs will be kept on ice during that time, at around 4 °C (39 °F). They cannot be frozen—in previous attempts, ice has formed, causing all kinds of damage. But now, scientists have come up with a device that allows organs to be cooled to -4 °C (25 °F) without forming any ice. They’ve tested it with pig organs and shown that kidneys, at least, can be preserved in the device for days then successfully transplanted.  Read our story about their breakthrough, and why it raises hopes for longer-term storage of donated human organs. —Jessica Hamzelou If you want to about this story and its implications for organ preservation and transplantation,  to receive The Checkup, our weekly biotech , later today. In-person events  Well well well, it seems we’ve come full circle. (Bloomberg $) Quote of the day "Call us optimists, call us dreamers. Just as we've always done, we're betting on people."  —The voiceover from a new advert from Meta, which exhorts us to be more optimistic about AI. One More Thing BELL HUTLEY AI is changing how we study bird migration In a warming world increasingly full of human infrastructure that can be deadly to them, like glass skyscrapers and power lines, migratory birds are facing many existential threats.  Scientists rely on a combination of methods to track the timing and location of their migrations, though each has shortcomings. But now, machine-learning tools are unlocking a treasure trove of acoustic data for ecologists.  Read our story about the technology that’s making it easier to detect and identify birds and their movements. —Christian Elliott We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line.) + It’s never too late to live your dreams. Here’s how these late bloomers did it. + Limbs feeling a bit tight? Try these stretches! + These English football fans went to the 1986 World Cup—and loved it so much they never came home. + How the invention of the humble paint tube revolutionized the world of art.