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Jul 20, 2023

Engineers Create Bacteria That Can Synthesize an Unnatural Amino Acid

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food, genetics

Amino acids serve as the foundational elements of proteins, vital to the optimal functioning of biological structures. Proteins in all life forms are composed of 20 core amino acids.

<div class=””> <div class=””><br />Amino acids are a set of organic compounds used to build proteins. There are about 500 naturally occurring known amino acids, though only 20 appear in the genetic code. Proteins consist of one or more chains of amino acids called polypeptides. The sequence of the amino acid chain causes the polypeptide to fold into a shape that is biologically active. The amino acid sequences of proteins are encoded in the genes. Nine proteinogenic amino acids are called “essential” for humans because they cannot be produced from other compounds by the human body and so must be taken in as food.<br /></div> </div>

Jul 20, 2023

Neuroscientists discover new brain cells that help correct navigational errors

Posted by in categories: mapping, neuroscience

During routine navigation in daily life, our brains use spatial mapping and memory to guide us from point A to point B. Just as routine: making a mistake in navigation that requires a course correction.

Now, researchers at Harvard Medical School have identified a specific group of neurons in a brain region involved in navigation that undergo bursts of activity when mice running a maze veer off course and correct their error.

The findings, published July 19 in Nature, bring scientists a step closer to understanding how navigation works, while raising new questions. These questions include the specific role these neurons play during navigation, and what they are doing in other brain regions where they are found.

Jul 20, 2023

Fossil reveals the unexpected moment a cat-size mammal took on a dinosaur three times its size

Posted by in category: food

Sometime during the Cretaceous Period, 125 million years ago, a feisty mammal the size of a domestic cat encountered a dinosaur three times its size and thought it looked like a tasty meal.

A fossil unearthed in northeastern China captures the two creatures — a badgerlike animal called Repenomamus robustus and a species of plant-eating dinosaur known as Psittacosaurus — forever locked in mortal combat.

It’s a dramatic instant in time that challenges the idea that the earliest mammals lived in the shadows of dinosaurs, said paleobiologist Jordan Mallon, a research scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature.

Jul 20, 2023

To Move Fast, Quantum Maze Solvers Must Forget the Past

Posted by in categories: information science, quantum physics

Quantum algorithms can find their way out of mazes exponentially faster than classical ones, at the cost of forgetting the path they took. A new result suggests that the trade-off may be inevitable.

Jul 20, 2023

Genetic engineering giants: is China poised to lead the way?

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics, law enforcement

For many people, when they hear China and genetic engineering in the same sentence, it is often synonymous with scandal, and gene-edited babies may spring to mind.

And, although it is true that nearly five years ago, researcher He Jiankui infamously claimed he had created the first ever gene-edited babies, before going to prison for three years, China has continued to pour a lot of money into genetic engineering research, and aims to become a global leader in the field.

“The accumulative amount of financing in the gene therapy field in China has exceeded $3.3 billion. Also, according to a Frost & Sullivan study, it is estimated that by 2025, gene therapy will reach a scale of nearly $17.89 billion in China,” said Fiona Gao, founding partner of Chinsiders.

Jul 20, 2023

Centuries on, Newton’s gravitational constant still can’t be pinned down

Posted by in category: futurism

A new experiment could finally answer the question ‘What is the strength of gravity?’ But it’s a hard test to do.

Jul 20, 2023

An A.I. Supercomputer Whirs to Life, Powered by Giant Computer Chips

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, supercomputing

The new supercomputer, made by the Silicon Valley start-up Cerebras, was unveiled as the A.I. boom drives demand for chips and computing power.

Jul 20, 2023

Tesla is building a custom $1 billion A.I. supercomputer because it cannot get enough Nvidia chips

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, robotics/AI, supercomputing, transportation

Elon Musk is pushing hard to complete development of its Full Self-Driving software and power forward with its Optimus robot program as it looks to celebrate its own “ChatGPT moment”.

Jul 20, 2023

Russian scientists present to Putin the nation’s ‘most powerful’ quantum computer

Posted by in categories: computing, encryption, quantum physics

Various reports say the claim is far from true.

Russian scientists are claiming that they have created the most powerful quantum computer in the history of their nation. They even presented the computer to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited the exhibition of quantum technology achievements by Rosatom, the State Nuclear Energy Corporation.

But as per a report, the claim is far from true and the computer won’t be breaking modern encryption codes anytime soon.

Continue reading “Russian scientists present to Putin the nation’s ‘most powerful’ quantum computer” »

Jul 20, 2023

Apple is quietly working on ‘Apple GPT’ to rival OpenAI

Posted by in categories: mobile phones, robotics/AI

It is believed that Apple is creating its large language model in competition with OpenAI’s GPT-3 and GPT-4, Google’s Bert and LaMDA, Meta’s LLaMa-1 and LLaMa-2, among others.

Whenever Apple launches a new product, its competitors, developers, and starry-eyed consumers take it very seriously. And with the veritable craze over artificial intelligence (AI) tools, it was only a matter of time before the iPhone creator came up with something explosive.

It is believed that Apple is creating its large language model (LLM) in competition with OpenAI’s GPT-3 and GPT-4, Google’s Bert and LaMDA, Meta’s LLaMa-1 and LLaMa-2, among others. It is also being learned that Apple has created a chatbot service… More.

Continue reading “Apple is quietly working on ‘Apple GPT’ to rival OpenAI” »