The Download: polycrisis support networks and a hydrogen gold rush

Key Highlights

• 1 Republicans fear anger over data centers will cost them in electionsThey’ve warned AI companies to stem the backlash.
• " --A memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee says Democrats have made data centers a "centerpiece" of their campaign to defeat Ohio Senator Jon Husted--and that it's working.
• August 20, 2026 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.
• It was the first time she recognized that humans could alter the world for the worse.
• The next big thing in hydrogen could be underground --Casey Crownhart There’s a hunt for new sources of hydrogen, and the gas (or at least the right conditions to make it) could be hiding beneath our feet.

Plus: Republicans fear anger over data centers will cost them in elections.

August 20, 2026 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.

Support networks aim to help kids through the polycrisis Sometime in the late 2000s, six-year-old Pim Sullivan-Tailyour was sitting in the back of a car in Thailand when she saw a mountain that had been quarried away.

It was the first time she recognized that humans could alter the world for the worse.

She carried that knowledge with her, later joining an online group for young people worried about climate change.

“I realized that I wasn’t alone,” she says.

She was right: global surveys have found that most kids are anxious about the state of the world.

They are growing up in a time of what some are calling a “polycrisis”: the planet is warming, conflicts keep erupting, housing is growing impossibly expensive, and there’s rampant worry AI will take people’s jobs.

That’s a lot.

And it’s why online support networks like Force of Nature and the Good Grief Network have gained thousands of participants.

Find out how these groups are helping kids navigate the polycrisis, and why questions remain about their effectiveness.

--Sarah Scoles This story is from the next issue of our print magazine, which is all about kids.

Subscribe now to read it when it lands.

The next big thing in hydrogen could be underground --Casey Crownhart There’s a hunt for new sources of hydrogen, and the gas (or at least the right conditions to make it) could be hiding beneath our feet.

In a new story for our latest print issue, freelance reporter James Dineen took a look at the 21st-century gold rush for naturally occurring hydrogen gas, which is often hailed as a climate solution.

This is an area of research I’ve been fascinated by lately, so let’s take a look at the potential to capture the gas underground, as well as the questions that still linger, from how much is produced naturally to whether it can be effectively captured, moved, and stored.

Dive into why underground hydrogen could be the next 21st-century gold rush.

This story is from The Spark, our weekly climate tech newsletter.

This story is from The Spark, our weekly climate tech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Republicans fear anger over data centers will cost them in elections
They’ve warned AI companies to stem the backlash. (Axios)
+ And that it could cost Ohio’s Republican senator his seat. (WP $)
+ Voters are trying to recall officials due to data center controversies. (NYT $)
+ Could we just put data centers in space? (MIT Technology Review)