Artificial Intelligence
DeepMind has predicted the structure of every protein known to science
Melissa Heikkilä MIT Technology Review
“Starting today, Alphabet’s proprietary AI lab is making its database of over 200 million proteins available to anyone for free. …The update includes the structures of ‘plants, bacteria, animals and many, many other organisms, opening up huge opportunities for Alpha Fold to impact areas such as sustainability, fuel, food insecurity and neglected diseases,’ Demis Hassabis, DeepMind’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. As he told reporters on a weekly call.
Transportation
Now you can buy a flying car for $92,000.
Christine House | Think big
“Jetson One can’t fly at night, in city traffic or in restricted airspace, so it’s now more like an expensive, cool toy than an alternative transportation option.” But if we can do it Thiswhat prevents the launch of flying cars? can Will it replace our daily commute?
Sensors
This postage stamp-sized ultrasound patch can image internal organs.
Maggie Chen | Wired
“In the newspaper published today ScienceZhao and his team describe their development of a tiny ultrasound patch that can provide high-resolution images when attached to the skin. The scientists hope the technology could lead to ultrasound for long-term follow-up, perhaps at home rather than in the doctor’s office.Archive page
Cryptocurrency
Ethereum promises that this time, it will move to proof of stake
Kyle Barr | Gizmodo
“There is a day. That date is September 19th. They were placed on top of the Ethereum blockchain as royalty when they finally announced that they would be moving their proof-of-stake blockchain system to proof-of-stake. They’ve promised and regularly pushed back deadlines in the past, but now they have a date, and so far, everyone involved seems to agree that this is the time to make it happen.
Ethics
Is DALL-E’s art borrowed or stolen?
D. Cooper | participative
“Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAIs) are systems that create works that can be technically, if not objectively, equal to previous masters. But there’s a problem, since these systems are trained on existing material, they often use content pulled from the Internet. We. So is it right that future AIs will be able to produce magic on the back of our labor without our consent or compensation?”
Health
Buck Institute, where aging research does not give hope for longevity
Grace Rubenstein | Neo. Life
“The leaders of the Beck Institute for Aging Research want you to know that they can’t make you immortal. Even if they can, they don’t necessarily want to. Because extending life to spend a few more years on earth is not the point. But if their field is deeper and has something better to offer, it’s time to prove it right—which they’re working furiously to do.
SPACE
SpaceX’s Propulsion CTO has retired. Now he wants to go to Mars.
Aria Alamalhodai | TechCrunch
“Much of Muller’s vision for Impulse is that it’s very low-cost at the start, and because of that there are a lot of payloads that need to be moved around in space. Fully reusable heavy-lift rockets such as Starship, Terran R, and RocketLab’s Neutron were synchronized with the Internet in the early 90s. ‘People don’t know what it does or what it’s about or what the real killer apps are,’ he said.
Energy
After I left the sun, I felt a sudden surge of happiness.
Clive Thompson | Wired
“Given all the political hurdles renewable reforms face, it may seem strange to talk about them. Emotional impact. But emotion drives politics. That’s why some renewables advocates are trying to say as loudly as possible—that a world powered entirely by renewable energy will be a horn of plenty, with fast, sporty cars and comfortable homes. ‘It’s an agenda of abundance’ [Saul] Griffith says.
in the future
A 3-story space residence is designed to fit inside SpaceX’s Starship rockets.
Kevin Hurler | Gizmodo
“For students at a boarding school in Switzerland, the curriculum now includes extraterrestrial architecture. The school installed a 23-foot-tall 3D-printed space habitat prototype designed with SpaceX rockets in mind. …Institute of Dame Rosenberg wants to put sustainability at the forefront of this project. To that end, the residence is powered by wind trees (a type of wind turbine), and the polymer used to print the main tower can be dismantled and reused in other 3D printed structures.
Science
In two weeks, the Webb Space Telescope will be recording astronomy.
Jonathan O’Callaghan | Quanta
“In the days since the Mega Telescope began delivering data, astronomers have reported new discoveries about galaxies, stars, exoplanets, and even Jupiter. … ‘Healthy competition’ underlines the high volume of science coming from JWST, just days after scientists began receiving data from the long-awaited Infrared Sensing Mega Telescope, according to Mahler.
Image credit: DeepMind/Unsplash
