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This summary covers The Economist’s May 9th, 2026 China article listed in the contents as US-China AI negotiations and published under the headline A MAD problem.

The article argues that artificial intelligence is becoming a strategic problem of the sort usually associated with nuclear weapons: both America and China fear the danger, but neither wants to slow down if the other might race ahead. That tension is what makes AI diplomacy urgent and difficult. The technology promises economic power, military leverage and scientific advantage. It also raises the prospect of cyberattacks, biological misuse and systems that become hard for humans to control.

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This summary covers The Economist’s May 9th, 2026 Science & technology article on artificial intelligence and biosecurity, published under the headline Bio hazards and listed in the contents as How AI could enable bioterrorism.

The article’s central warning is not that artificial intelligence has already made biological terrorism easy. It is that the barrier is falling in a field where even a small mistake could be catastrophic. Modern biology has already made genetic information easier to obtain, biological tools cheaper to buy and technical knowledge more widely available. Large language models add a new layer: they can translate difficult scientific literature into usable guidance, help troubleshoot experiments and, in some tests, perform at or above human experts on specialized biosecurity questions.

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A Bright Spot In A Weak Drinks Market

The article uses whisky to explain a surprising corner of Chinese consumption. Most alcohol categories in China are struggling. Beer is weak, wine has faded since its peak, and even baijiu, the country’s dominant spirit, has suffered falling sales as younger consumers drink less and overall spending remains sluggish. Yet whisky is moving in the opposite direction.

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This summary covers The Economist’s April 25th, 2026 Science & technology item listed in the contents as Well Informed: Bone broth's benefits and published under the headline Is bone broth good for you?.

The article treats bone broth as a useful case study in wellness marketing. The drink has become fashionable because it sounds both ancient and scientific: simmer bones and connective tissue for long enough, and the result contains protein, collagen, amino acids and other compounds associated with the body. That makes it easy to sell as a shortcut to weight loss, better skin, stronger bones, joint health and gut repair.

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The article argues that American corporate profits have become the strongest rebuttal to the gloom around the United States. Investors have spent weeks trying to price war in the Gulf, tariffs, erratic presidential threats and fears about American decline. Yet the earnings data tell a different story: big American companies are still producing striking profit growth, and Wall Street is treating that strength as more important than the political noise.

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A Brand Ages Out Of Its Moment

The article uses Allbirds’ strange reinvention to mark the end of an era in consumer goods. The wool-sneaker company became a symbol of Silicon Valley taste in the 2010s. In April 2026 it announced that it would rename itself NewBird AI and turn toward AI-computing infrastructure instead. Investors rewarded the pivot with a sharp jump in the share price, which says as much about the weakness of the old business as it does about excitement for the new one.

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Bluster Meets Markets

The article argues that America under Donald Trump can look more statist than it really is. The president talks as if prices, companies and capital flows should obey political command. Business leaders increasingly speak about industrial policy as a weapon in the contest with China. Yet markets have often proved harder to bend than the rhetoric suggests. Mortgage rates, petrol prices and share prices do not move simply because the White House wants them to.

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This summary covers The Economist’s April 25th, 2026 Science & technology article listed in the contents as Grouse and chairlifts and published under the headline Last resorts.

The article turns a small Alpine conservation problem into a useful lesson about design. Black grouse have been flying into chair-lift cables at ski resorts for years, often fatally. Resorts tried to help by hanging warning markers from the cables. The trouble was that many of those markers were red, and new research suggests red is precisely the wrong signal for the birds.

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Clean power’s crisis dividend

The article argues that the new Gulf war has made clean energy look less like a climate preference and more like a security asset. The immediate temptation is to assume coal will be the main beneficiary of disrupted energy markets, especially in countries that have domestic coal but rely on imported liquefied natural gas. Coal is indeed getting a short-term lift. But The Economist’s sharper point is that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz strengthens the case for solar, wind and other renewables even more.

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This summary covers The Economist’s April 25th, 2026 Business article listed in the contents as Trumpian psychedelics and published under the headline Altered state.

The article argues that Donald Trump’s sudden embrace of psychedelic medicines could accelerate a promising field, but in a way that exposes a deeper problem in American drug policy. Psychedelics may help treat depression, PTSD, addiction and anxiety. The issue is not whether the field deserves attention. It does. The issue is whether treatments should be pushed forward because the evidence is strong, or because they have caught the eye of the president and his circle.