Researchers deleted NSF from D2 receptor-expressing cells in mice, causing striatal cell loss, a ~90% dopamine decline, and an increase in ADHD-like behaviors. Activating D2 receptors alongside methylphenidate reduced hyperactivity and impulsivity.
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Can a machine or AI agent be surprised? Helping autonomous systems respond to the unexpected
Let’s say you ask ChatGPT a question that stumps it, or a Waymo vehicle encounters something unusual in the road, or an autonomous factory faces an unexpected disruption. Most people would recognize that something unexpected has happened and adjust accordingly. For machines, it’s not always that simple.
Researchers at Georgia Tech’s H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE) are addressing this challenge: How can autonomous systems recognize when something unexpected has happened, determine whether it matters and decide how to respond?
In a recent paper published in the INFORMS Journal on Data Science, the research team introduced a new framework called Mutual Information Surprise, designed to help machines identify meaningful surprises in complex environments.
David Wood on the Singularity Principles
Seven weeks before ChatGPT launched, David Wood sat down with me for two hours to make a case few wanted to hear: we are losing control of our technology.
That was October 2022. #AIAlignment was still a niche concern. Now it’s dinner table conversation.
David co-founded Symbian and helped put smartphones into billions of pockets. Then he spent years asking a harder question: what happens when our power grows faster than our wisdom? The Singularity Principles is his attempt at an answer.
We went places I didn’t expect. Why the proactionary principle falls short. What “Demi Moore’s Law” is (yes, really). And what he sees as the single greatest danger to humanity, which is not the one most people would guess.
He also gave me the cleanest definition of the #Singularity I have heard: the profound change in the human condition triggered by the advent of greater-than-human intelligence.
Rewatching it four years later, a couple of his warnings land very differently. One of them made me uncomfortable.
Sustainable memristors from shiitake mycelium for high-frequency bioelectronics
Neuromorphic computing, inspired by the structure of the brain, offers advantages in parallel processing, memory storage, and energy efficiency. However, current semiconductor-based neuromorphic chips require rare-earth materials and costly fabrication processes, whereas neural organoids need complex bioreactor maintenance. In this study, we explored shiitake (Lentinula edodes) fungi as a robust, sustainable alternative, exploiting its adaptive electrical signaling, which is akin to neuronal spiking. We demonstrate fungal computing via mycelial networks interfaced with electrodes, showing that fungal memristors can be grown, trained, and preserved through dehydration, retaining functionality at frequencies up to 5.85 kHz, with an accuracy of 90 ± 1%. Notably, shiitake has exhibited radiation resistance, suggesting its viability for aerospace applications. Our findings show that fungal computers can provide scalable, eco-friendly platforms for neuromorphic tasks, bridging bioelectronics and unconventional computing.
Citation: LaRocco J, Tahmina Q, Petreaca R, Simonis J, Hill J (2025) Sustainable memristors from shiitake mycelium for high-frequency bioelectronics. PLoS One 20(10): e0328965. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.
Editor: Ye Zhou, Shenzhen University, HONG KONG
MycoToilet: Behind UBC’s Mushroom-Powered, Waterless Toilet
A group of researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) have launched a new prototype for a waterless toilet, which uses mushroom root networks to decompose human waste into compost.
The MycoToilet, which opened for use on 26 September in the university’s Botanical Gardens, is the result of several years of development by lead researcher Joseph Dahmen and his team.
The facility was born from early designs that sought to provide refugee camps with functioning toilets where water is not readily accessible.
Mushroom-based composting can cut farm waste, pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes
The intensification of global agriculture results in significant disposal challenges, with 14 billion tons of crop straw and 125 million tons of livestock manure produced annually. Traditional composting often fails due to low lignocellulose degradation efficiency and the persistence of pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Additionally, the use of antibiotics, like oxytetracycline in livestock, increases the transmission of these ARGs and pathogens in soil-plant systems, threatening agricultural safety and the environment.
To tackle this issue, a research team from the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has employed microbial conversion technology to create a closed-loop system that links crop straw, livestock manure, and spent mushroom substrates, promoting the green and efficient use of organic matter to support crop growth. The paper is published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
Taking advantage of Yunnan’s abundant agronomic organic matter and fungal resources, the team selected the rare edible mushroom Stropharia rugosoannulata as the core conversion medium to construct a Livestock-Crop-Mushroom (LCM) cross-domain circular system.