Lifeboat Foundation

Virginia Tech’s study traces early eukaryotic evolution, highlighting life’s diversification since 2 billion years ago.

One used AI to dream up a universe of potential CRISPR gene editors. Inspired by large language models—like those that gave birth to ChatGPT—the AI model in the study eventually designed a gene editing system as accurate as existing CRISPR-based tools when tested on cells. Another AI designed circle-shaped proteins that reliably turned stem cells into different blood vessel cell types. Other AI-generated proteins directed protein “junk” into the lysosome, a waste treatment blob filled with acid inside cells that keeps them neat and tidy.

Outside of medicine, AI designed mineral-forming proteins that, if integrated into aquatic microbes, could potentially soak up excess carbon and transform it into limestone. While still early, the technology could tackle climate change with a carbon sink that lasts millions of years.

It seems imagination is the only limit to AI-based protein design. But there are still a few cases that AI can’t yet fully handle. Nature has a comprehensive list, but these stand out.

Linköping University’s experiment confirms a key theoretical link between quantum mechanics and information theory, highlighting future implications for quantum technology and secure communication.

Researchers at Linköping University and their collaborators have successfully confirmed a decade-old theory linking the complementarity principle—a fundamental concept in quantum mechanics—with information theory. Their study, published in the journal Science Advances, provides valuable insights for understanding future quantum communication, metrology, and cryptography.

“Our results have no clear or direct application right now. It’s basic research that lays the foundation for future technologies in quantum information and quantum computers. There’s enormous potential for completely new discoveries in many different research fields,” says Guilherme B Xavier, researcher in quantum communication at Linköping University, Sweden.

Researchers at Flinders University have developed a low-cost, high-density polymer that can store data efficiently using nanoscale indents and can be erased and reused multiple times.

This innovative material, made from sulfur and dicyclopentadiene, promises greater storage capacities compared to traditional storage devices, and its ability to be quickly recycled offers a sustainable alternative for the future of data storage.

Innovative Data Storage Material

Kayla Barnes-Lentz says she has reversed her age by 11 years. She spends her day optimizing her health and biohacking while running her business.

Sometimes things are a little out of whack, and it turns out to be exactly what you need.

That was the case when orthoferrite crystals turned up at a Rice University laboratory slightly misaligned. Those crystals inadvertently became the basis of a discovery that should resonate with researchers studying spintronics-based quantum technology.

Rice physicist Junichiro Kono, alumnus Takuma Makihara and their collaborators found an orthoferrite material, in this case yttrium iron oxide, placed in a high magnetic field showed uniquely tunable, ultrastrong interactions between magnons in the crystal.

Have you ever thought that light might hold a key to life’s mysteries? One hundred years ago, Alexander Gurwitsch dared to propose that living cells emit faint ultraviolet light, invisible to the naked eye, to communicate with and stimulate one another.

It was an idea so ahead of its time that many dismissed it outright. Without a physical theory to back it up, his idea was relegated to the chronicles of history. Yet when I encountered his work, I couldn’t help but ask the question: What if the UV effect is quantum mechanical? Armed with modern quantum theory, I began to uncover a new quantum dimension to life itself.

In 2014, a team of Googlers (many of whom were former educators) launched Google Classroom as a “mission control” for teachers. With a central place to bring Google’s collaboration tools together, and a constant feedback loop with schools through the Google for Education Pilot Program, Classroom has evolved from a simple assignment distribution tool to a destination for everything a school needs to deliver real learning impact.

Introduction: The integration of ChatGPT, an advanced AI-powered chatbot, into educational settings, has caused mixed reactions among educators. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review to explore the strengths and weaknesses of using ChatGPT and discuss the opportunities and threats of using ChatGPT in teaching and learning.

Methods: Following the PRISMA flowchart guidelines, 51 articles were selected among 819 studies collected from Scopus, ERIC and Google Scholar databases in the period from 2022–2023.

Results: The synthesis of data extracted from the 51 included articles revealed 32 topics including 13 strengths, 10 weaknesses, 5 opportunities and 4 threats of using ChatGPT in teaching and learning. We used Biggs’s Presage-Process-Product (3P) model of teaching and learning to categorize topics into three components of the 3P model.