ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Hugging Face’s New AI Biology Model Lets You Chat With DNAEmily Mullin | Wired ($)
“The AI platform Hugging Face on Thursday released a new open model for understanding DNA that can run locally on a laptop. Developed in collaboration with researchers at Zhongguancun Academy in China and the University of Naples Federico II in Italy, the model is trained on genomic sequences and natural language so that people can ask questions about the effects of DNA changes on gene activity and health and get conversational answers in return.”
BIOTECHNOLOGY
A First for CRISPR: Powerful Prime Editing Alters DNA Directly in the Human BodyHeidi Ledford | Nature
“The milestone treatment is part of a clinical trial of prime editing, a technique that can alter DNA with more precision than standard CRISPR–Cas9 methods can. In this case, prime editing was used to treat a condition called Wilson’s disease by rewriting DNA in liver cells, to erase a mutation that prevents them from eliminating excess copper.”
FUTURE
Welcome to the Valley of PainMatteo Wong | The Atlantic ($)
“This week could go down as the worst in the history of cybersecurity. …Yet what’s most alarming about the past few days is that by next year, this stretch of incidents—which some security experts are calling ‘Black October’—may be remembered as normal, or even tame. ‘It’s going to feel like, over and over and over again, we’re finding more and more bugs in very critical pieces of software,’ Matthew Prince, the CEO of the internet infrastructure and security company Cloudflare, told me.
Biotechnology
Moderna and Merck Say Their mRNA Cancer Vaccine Cut Death, Recurrence by 42%Beth Mole | Ars Technica
“The results are a significant advance in melanoma treatment; Merck and Moderna are already engaging with regulatory authorities to get the vaccine approved. More broadly, the vaccine’s success bolsters hope that mRNA vaccines and individualized cancer-targeting medicines offer a new paradigm for cancer therapies.”
ENERGY
Startup Taps Underwater Volcano as Energy Source in ‘Proof Point’ TestJeremy Hsu | Ars Technica
“The world’s first demonstration of a subsea geothermal power plant has taken place near an active underwater volcano almost a mile below the ocean surface. It generated less than 10 seconds of net-positive electricity but showed the technical feasibility of tapping another form of renewable energy underwater.”
FUTURE
Is a Job Guarantee the Solution to Mass AI Unemployment?Nick Romeo | The Guardian
“In its most ambitious form, such a program would ensure that anyone who wants work is guaranteed a meaningful, decently paid job. By creating a public option for employment, its supporters argue, a job guarantee could protect millions of people from the financial and psychological damage of joblessness and mobilize a vast labor force to tackle urgent societal problems, from infrastructure and climate adaptation to elder care and childcare.”
Tech
This Touchscreen Is Made From Thread, and Scientists Want to Put It in Your ClothesVarun Mirchandani | Digital Trends
“Forget smartwatches. Scientists have developed a touchscreen that can be woven directly into clothing, letting users interact with digital content without carrying a rigid display. Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have integrated 54 specialized fibers into a sleeve to create what they describe as the world’s first touchscreen built into a garment.”
Biotechnology
Cool, Cool, Cool, Palmer Luckey and Ben Lamm Made a Genetically Modified Military Dog StartupKate Knibbs | Wired ($)
“A new startup launched today with the definitely not terrifying mission of creating genetically enhanced dogs for the United States military, law enforcement, and emergency first responders. Warhound is the brainchild of Anduril’s Palmer Luckey and Colossal Biosciences cofounder Ben Lamm. The startup has raised $200 million to ‘rebuild America’s domestic supply of elite working dogs’ and reduce dependency on European dog breeders for military canines.”
Artificial Intelligence
‘Reverse-Engineer Anything’ Is the New Wild West of AIJason Koebler | 404 Media
“What we’re seeing is vibe coding, but instead of making something from scratch, people are using AI to take an existing piece of software and replicate its features, its functionality, or cloning it wholesale. In some cases, people are using AI to take a proprietary piece of hardware and install some version of open source software on it. All of this is some mix of ‘decompiling,’ ‘reverse-engineering,’ ‘hacking,’ vibe coding, AI slop, and stealing.”
Space
Japan Launches Mission to Bring Home a Piece of the Martian Moon PhobosStephen Clark | Ars Technica
“The mission to the Martian moons builds on Japan’s success in leading the Hayabusa and Hayabusa 2 missions, the world’s first two spacecraft to bring back pristine specimens from asteroids. Scientists believe Phobos could itself be an asteroid that was captured into orbit around Mars billions of years ago. One of MMX’s science goals is finding out if that theory is correct.”
Future
How a Legal Backlash Against Big Tech Is Forcing Big ChangesCecilia Kang | The New York Times ($)
“For decades, tech giants grew at breakneck speeds as Congress struggled to keep pace with the consequences of the companies’ rapidly booming businesses. But a new de facto regulatory regime has emerged over the past year as courts clobber the biggest internet companies. And for the first time, their product designs and advertising models—which critics say treat users as products—are costing the companies serious money.”
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