Lifeboat Foundation

An experimental computing system physically modeled after the biological brain has “learned” to identify handwritten numbers with an overall accuracy of 93.4%. The key innovation in the experiment was a new training algorithm that gave the system continuous information about its success at the task in real time while it learned. The study was published in Nature Communications.

The algorithm outperformed a conventional machine-learning approach in which training was performed after a batch of data had been processed, producing 91.4% accuracy. The researchers also showed that memory of past inputs stored in the system itself enhanced learning. In contrast, other computing approaches store memory within software or hardware separate from a device’s processor.

For 15 years, researchers at the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, or CNSI, have been developing a new platform technology for computation. The technology is a brain-inspired system composed of a tangled-up network of wires containing silver, laid on a bed of electrodes. The system receives input and produces output via pulses of electricity. The individual wires are so small that their diameter is measured on the nanoscale, in billionths of a meter.

A recent study found that LLMs are incredibly good steganographers, able to obscure their own thought processes through “encoded reasoning.”

At Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), quantum biology, artificial intelligence, and bioengineering have collided to redefine the landscape of CRISPR Cas9 genome editing tools. This multidisciplinary approach, detailed in the journal Nucleic Acids Research, promises to elevate the precision and efficiency of genetic modifications in organisms, particularly microbes, paving the way for enhanced production of renewable fuels and chemicals.

CRISPR is adept at modifying genetic code to enhance an organism’s performance or correct mutations. CRISPR Cas9 requires a guide RNA (gRNA) to direct the enzyme to its target site to perform these modifications. However, existing computational models for predicting effective guide RNAs in CRISPR tools have shown limited efficiency when applied to microbes. ORNL’s Synthetic Biology group, led by Carrie Eckert, observed these disparities and set out to bridge the gap.

“A lot of the CRISPR tools have been developed for mammalian cells, fruit flies, or other model species. Few have been geared towards microbes where the chromosomal structures and sizes are very different,” explained Eckert.

A controversial new electric propulsion system, which physicists say defies Newton’s Laws of Motion, was launched into space this weekend aboard a Space X rocket.

Developed by electronics prototyping company IVO Ltd, the Quantum Drive took flight Saturday morning, November 11^th, aboard SpaceX’s Transporter 9 mission. This flight included over 80 separate payloads destined for Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

“Launch and deployment were successful!” IVO’s owner and founder, Richard Mansell, told The Debrief in a Sunday email. “We’re getting the satellite’s ‘heartbeat.’ Next step is to establish communication with the satellite.”

Boston, MA—We’ve known for more than a century that women outlive men. But new research led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and UC San Francisco shows that, at least in the United States, the gap has been widening for more than a decade. The trend is being driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid overdose epidemic, among other factors.

In a research paper, to be published online on November 13 in JAMA Internal Medicine, the authors found the difference between how long American men and women live increased to 5.8 years in 2021, the largest it’s been since 1996. This is an increase from 4.8 years in 2010, when the gap was at its smallest in recent history.

The pandemic, which took a disproportionate toll on men, was the biggest contributor to the widening gap from 2019–2021, followed by unintentional injuries and poisonings (mostly drug overdoses), accidents, and suicide.

A pair of studies from the laboratory of Evangelos Kiskinis, Ph.D., associate professor in the Ken and Ruth Davee Department of Neurology’s Division of Neuromuscular Disease and of Neuroscience, have uncovered novel cellular mechanisms that are involved in two types of genetic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

The findings, published in Science Advances and Cell Reports, improve the understanding of ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord, and provides support for the future development of targeted therapies.

An estimated 32,000 individuals are currently living with ALS in the U.S., according to the Les Turner ALS Foundation. There are two types of ALS: sporadic (non-genetic), which makes up more than 90% of all ALS cases, and familial (genetic).

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We’re getting one step closer to wearable Star Trek technology in the form of a new device called the “Ai Pin.” (via Humane). The AI Pin was created by a startup company called Humane, which is primarily led by ex-Apple employees who want to transform how we interact with our devices.

The European Space Agency, Airbus, and Voyager Space have signed an agreement for the Starlab commercial space station launching in 2027.

Three AI godfathers have been arguing about what’s next for the tech they created. One of them, Geoffrey Hinton, has been pondering whether the tech should.