The Download: blended meat, restored sight, and the agentic web

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.

These startups hope “blended” food will cut our appetite for red meat

In the fall of 2025, Jeff Dodge served hungry students steaming marinara sauce and meatballs. The students loved them: 92% of those who tried them wanted them on the menu. Few could guess that mushrooms had been mixed into the meat.

Dodge was testing a new product called 50/Cut from the company Joyn. The blend of seemingly simple ingredients—available as meatballs, burgers, and ground meat—could help solve one of the biggest challenges of the climate crisis: getting people to eat less meat, particularly beef.

Joyn is among a wave of startups creating “blended meat,” which combines plant proteins with the real deal. The logic: The best meat replacement is … better meat.

Get a taste of the startups betting on greener beef.

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