Lifeboat Foundation

Advances in technology raise questions about the need to send people to space — and the risks and cost.

Ancient evidence suggests a new twist in how we all got here.

Studying a diverse and peculiar genus of mice offers researchers a window into the genetic and neural underpinnings of behavior.

Summary: A new study has identified a biomarker, DTI-ALPS, which connects glymphatic system dysfunction to vascular dementia. By analyzing over 3,750 participants, researchers found that lower DTI-ALPS scores correlated with worse executive function, highlighting the glymphatic system’s role in clearing brain waste.

The study also uncovered a potential pathway linking impaired waste clearance to cognitive decline, mediated by free water accumulation in white matter. These findings provide a robust tool for clinical trials and potential interventions, including lifestyle changes and medications, to enhance glymphatic function and treat vascular dementia.

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Multimodal retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) is transforming how AI applications handle complex information by merging retrieval and generation capabilities across diverse data types, such as text, images, and video.

Unlike traditional RAG, which typically focuses on text-based retrieval and generation, multimodal RAG systems can pull in relevant content from both text and visual sources to generate more contextually rich, comprehensive responses.

This article outlines examples of where AI has been utilized to predict disease outbreaks and how AI models could help inform future strategies for controlling the spread of infectious diseases to prevent possible pandemics.

AI’s contribution to pandemic preparedness

In August 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) updated its list of pathogens that could spark the next pandemic, which grew to include more than 30 pathogens. The microorganisms were selected based on available evidence showing them to be highly transmissible and virulent, with limited access to vaccines and treatments. While some pathogens on the list may never cause an epidemic, the growing number of pathogens of concern highlights the need for new tools to help predict and control the spread of infectious diseases.

But there’s a quantum catch.

John Larison’s new novel The Ancients suggests some societies are built for cataclysm.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also announced new AI tools for creating autonomous agents during a keynote address at CES.