ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Moltbook Was Pure AI TheaterWill Douglas Heaven | MIT Technology Review ($)
“As the hype dies down, Moltbook looks less like a window onto the future and more like a mirror held up to our own obsessions with AI today. It also shows us just how far we still are from anything that resembles general-purpose and fully autonomous AI.”
COMPUTING
‘Quantum Twins’ Simulate What Supercomputers Can’tDina Genkina | IEEE Spectrum
“What analog quantum simulation lacks in flexibility, it makes up for in feasibility: quantum simulators are ready now. ‘Instead of using qubits, as you would typically in a quantum computer, we just directly encode the problem into the geometry and structure of the array itself,’ says Sam Gorman, quantum systems engineering lead at Sydney-based startup Silicon Quantum Computing.”
Artificial Intelligence
A New AI Math Startup Just Cracked 4 Previously Unsolved ProblemsWill Knight | Wired ($)
“‘What AxiomProver found was something that all the humans had missed,’ Ono tells Wired. The proof is one of several solutions to unsolved math problems that Axiom says its system has come up with in recent weeks. The AI has not yet solved any of the most famous (or lucrative) problems in the field of mathematics, but it has found answers to questions that have stumped experts in different areas for years.”
Biotechnology
Nasal Spray Could Prevent Infections From Any Flu StrainAlice Klein | New Scientist ($)
“An antibody nasal spray has shown promise for protecting against flu in preliminary human trials, after first being validated in mice and monkeys. It may be useful for combatting future flu pandemics because it seems to neutralize any kind of influenza virus, including ones that spill over from non-human animals.”
Robotics
A Peek Inside Physical Intelligence, the Startup Building Silicon Valley’s Buzziest Robot BrainsConnie Loizos | TechCrunch
“‘Think of it like ChatGPT, but for robots,’ Sergey Levine tells me, gesturing toward the motorized ballet unfolding across the room. …What I’m watching, he explains, is the testing phase of a continuous loop: data gets collected on robot stations here and at other locations—warehouses, homes, wherever the team can set up shop—and that data trains general-purpose robotic foundation models.”
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
This Is the Most Misunderstood Graph in AIGrace Huckins | MIT Technology Review ($)
“To some, METR’s ‘time horizon plot’ indicates that AI utopia—or apocalypse—is close at hand. The truth is more complicated. …’I think the hype machine will basically, whatever we do, just strip out all the caveats,’ he says. Nevertheless, the METR team does think that the plot has something meaningful to say about the trajectory of AI progress.”
Tech
AI Bots Are Now a Significant Source of Web TrafficWill Knight | Wired ($)
“The viral virtual assistant OpenClaw—formerly known as Moltbot, and before that Clawdbot—is a symbol of a broader revolution underway that could fundamentally alter how the internet functions. Instead of a place primarily inhabited by humans, the web may very soon be dominated by autonomous AI bots.”
Energy
Fast-Charging Quantum Battery Built Inside a Quantum ComputerKarmela Padavic-Callaghan | New Scientist ($)
“Quach and his colleagues have previously theorized that quantum computers powered by quantum batteries could be more efficient and easier to make larger, which would make them more powerful. ‘This was a theoretical idea that we proposed only recently, but the new work could really be used as the basis to power future quantum computers,’ he says.”
Science
Expansion Microscopy Has Transformed How We See the Cellular WorldMolly Herring | Quanta Magazine
“Rather than invest in more powerful and more expensive technologies, some scientists are using an alternative technique called expansion microscopy, which inflates the subject using the same moisture-absorbing material found in diapers. ‘It’s cheap, it’s easy to learn, and indeed, on a cheap microscope, it gives you better images,’ said Omaya Dudin, a cell biologist at the University of Geneva who studies multicellularity.”
Biotechnology
CRISPR Grapefruit Without the Bitterness Are Now in DevelopmentMichael Le Page | New Scientist ($)
“It has been shown that disabling one gene via gene editing can greatly reduce the level of the chemicals that make grapefruit so bitter. …He thinks this approach could even help save the citrus industry. A bacterial disease called citrus greening, also known as huanglongbing, is having a devastating impact on these fruits. The insects that spread the bacteria can’t survive in areas with cold winters, says Carmi, but cold-hardy citrus varieties are so bitter that they are inedible.”
Future
What We’ve Been Getting Wrong About AI’s Truth CrisisJames O’Donnell | MIT Technology Review ($)
“We were well warned of this, but we responded by preparing for a world in which the main danger was confusion. What we’re entering instead is a world in which influence survives exposure, doubt is easily weaponized, and establishing the truth does not serve as a reset button. And the defenders of truth are already trailing way behind.”
