Lifeboat Foundation

Quanta Magazine’s full list of the major computer science discoveries from 2023.

In 2023, artificial intelligence dominated popular culture — showing up in everything from internet memes to Senate hearings. Large language models such as those behind ChatGPT fueled a lot of this excitement, even as researchers still struggled to pry open the “black box” that describes their inner workings. Image generation systems also routinely impressed and unsettled us with their artistic abilities, yet these were explicitly founded on concepts borrowed from physics.

Continue reading “The Biggest Discoveries in Computer Science in 2023” »

ICYMI: In a groundbreaking achievement, researchers have successfully created a chimeric monkey with two different sets of DNA through the injection of stem cells from one monkey embryo into another of the same species.

[Source]

Scientists based in China have successfully created a chimeric monkey.

Continue reading “China creates world’s first chimeric monkey with fluorescent eyes, fingertips” »

For many people struggling with obesity, the drug is a potential lifesaver. Excess weight is associated with higher incidences of stroke, heart and liver disease, sleep apnea, joint problems, and some cancers. A major clinical trial this year in tens of thousands of overweight people without diabetes found the main ingredient in Ozempic, semaglutide, reduced the risk of stroke and heart attack, while lowering the chances of death due to cardiovascular problems.

Perhaps even more importantly, the drug is gradually changing societal views on obesity—it’s not due to lack of will power, but a chronic medical condition that can be treated.

But Ozempic and similar drugs—like Wegovy, another semaglutide-based medication that has been FDA-approved for weight loss—are already set for the next chapter: tackling a wide range of brain disorders, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Clinical trials are underway for addiction, and the drugs are showing early promise battling bipolar disorder and depression.

SpaceX does a Static Fire test with Starship 28! How did it go? Booster 10 is ready as well. What did SpaceX achieve in 2023? #SpaceX #starship #elonmusk #starbase

Elon Musk discusses various topics including the declining legacy media market, the success of X platform, the importance of free speech and accurate information propagation, the challenges of public companies, the future of AI, the impact of cryptocurrency, and the potential of autonomous vehicles.

Questions to inspire discussion.

Continue reading “Elon Musk’s Explosive Insights on Media, X Platform, AI, and Cryptocurrency” »

The race to develop quantum computers has really heated up over the past few years. State-of-the-art systems can now run simple algorithms using dozens of qubits—or quantum bits—which are the building blocks of quantum computers.

CATL’s CIIC chassis has 1,000 km range and 10.5 kWh/100km energy consumption. To start manufacturing in Q3 2024.

Occam’s razor—the principle that when faced with competing explanations, we should choose the simplest that fits the facts—is not just a tool of science. Occam’s razor is science, insists a renowned molecular geneticist from the University of Surrey.

In a paper published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Professor Johnjoe McFadden argues Occam’s razor—attributed to the Surrey-born Franciscan friar William of Occam (1285–1347)—is the only feature that differentiates science from superstition, pseudoscience or fake news.

Professor McFadden said, “What is science? The rise of issues such as vaccine hesitancy, climate skepticism, alternative medicine, and mysticism reveals significant levels of distrust or misunderstanding of science among the general public. The ongoing COVID inquiry also highlights how scientific ignorance extends into the heart of government. Part of the problem is that most people, even most scientists, have no clear idea of what science is actually about.”

The snow globe–esque image was created with Hubble data from 2006 to 2021.