Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers have shown that high concentrations of key proteins in human breast milk, especially osteopontin and κ-casein, are associated with a greater abundance of two species of bacteria in the gut of babies: Clostridium butyricum and Parabacteroides distasonis, known to be beneficial for human health and used as probiotics. These results suggest that proteins in breast milk influence the abundance of beneficial gut microbes in infants, playing an important role in early immune and metabolic development

More than 320 million years of mammalian evolution has adapted breast milk to meet all the physiological needs of babies: it contains not only nutrients, but also hormones, antimicrobials, digestive enzymes, and growth factors. Furthermore, many of the proteins in breast milk, for example casein and milk fat globule membrane proteins, aren’t just sources of energy and molecular building blocks, but also directly stimulate immunity, at least under preclinical conditions.

Its Outline VPN can now be built directly into apps—making it harder for governments to block internet access, particularly during protests.

Google is launching new anti-censorship technology created in response to actions by Iran’s government during the 2022 protests there, hoping that it will increase access for internet users living under authoritarian regimes all over the world.

Jigsaw, a unit of Google that operates sort of like an internet freedom think tank and that creates related products, already offers a suite of anti-censorship tools including Outline, which provides free, open, and encrypted access to the internet through a VPN. Outline uses a protocol that makes it hard to… More.

Self-driving car startup Wayve can now interrogate its vehicles, asking them questions about their driving decisions—and getting answers back. The idea is to use the same tech behind ChatGPT to help train driverless cars.

The company combined its existing self-driving software with a large language model, creating a hybrid model it calls LINGO-1. LINGO-1 synchs up video data and driving data (the actions that the cars take second by second) with natural-language descriptions that capture what the car sees and what it does.

Large language models are getting better at mimicking human creativity. That doesn’t mean they’re actually being creative, though.

AI is getting better at passing tests designed to measure human creativity. In a study published in Nature Scientific Reports today, AI chatbots achieved higher average scores than humans in the Alternate Uses Task, a test commonly used to assess this ability.

This study will add fuel to an ongoing debate among AI researchers about what it even means for a computer to pass tests devised for humans. The findings do not necessarily indicate that AIs are developing an ability to do something uniquely human. It could just be that AIs can pass creativity tests, not that… More.

A year ago, Pinterest’s then brand-new collage-making app Shuffles was going viral on TikTok as Gen Z users sought out invites in order to create their own inspirational image boards. Now, that collage-making capability is heading over to Pinterest’s main app with the launch of a new feature that lets users leverage the platform’s advanced visual technology to cut out images and build interactive collages of favorite products and other visual content they find inspiring.

The idea is clearly lifted from Shuffles, which uses similar image cutout tech. On the app, users could build their own collages using photos from Pinterest’s own library or by snapping photos with their phone’s camera. When they found an image they like, they could cut out objects from the foreground of the photo — a feature that was also introduced with iOS 16 and now is being used to make image stickers for iMessage in iOS 17.

Not only did these collages serve as inspirational mood boards, the objects in the completed work were also shoppable. Users could tap on the items and be redirected to Pinterest where they can find out if the item can be purchased on a retailer’s website.

Spotify announced today the launch of “Songwriter Promo Cards,” a promotional tool for songwriters to highlight their songs and get discovered by new listeners and potential collaborators.

Songwriter Promo Cards are customizable social media assets that songwriters can create on promocards.byspotify.com. Songwriters search for their name, select their profile and choose a background color to fit their aesthetic. The promo card is linked to the songwriter’s Spotify page and can be directly shared on social media.

Plus, the creation site doesn’t require a login so anyone can make a card, meaning fans have a new way of sharing and celebrating their favorite songwriters.

A wild, compelling idea without a direct, practical test, the Multiverse is highly controversial. But its supporting pillars sure are stable.

A new image from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) captures a cosmic wildflower in space.

Using the ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers photographed a distant galaxy surrounded by what appear to be four light-blue flower petals.

SpaceX’s Starship can seemingly get Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) clearance for its second flight test as early as next month.

What Happened: “We’re working well with them and have been in good discussions. Teams are working together and I think we’re optimistic sometime next month,” Acting FAA Administrator Polly Trottenberg said on Wednesday, as reported by Reuters.

Earlier this week, CEO Elon Musk confirmed that SpaceX has implemented all the fixes demanded by the FAA for Starship ahead of its second flight test.