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Depending on how bright C/2022 E3 (ZTF) becomes, it could even be visible to the naked eye.

Scientists recently discovered a green comet that was last visible in the night sky 50,000 years ago — that’s so long ago that the Earth was in the midst of the Ice Age.

Now, a NASA blog post points out the fact that the comet will make its closest approach to the sun on January 12. It will be close enough to Earth that it may be visible to the naked eye.

NASA / Dan Bartlett.

The comet was discovered on March 2, 2022, by astronomers using the Zwicky Transient Facility’s wide-field survey camera at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California.

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Galactic shock is changing Stephan’s Quintet in enigmatic ways, according to ALMA and JWST.

New observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) allowed researchers to see the complex interactions within the multi-galaxy collision event known as Stephan’s Quintet.

Stephan’s Quintet is a group of five galaxies-NGC 7,317, NGC 7318a, NGC 7318b, NGC 7,319, and NGC 7,320, located about 270 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus.

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Time to reverse your age and restore youth.

Scientists at a San Diego-based biotech company Rejuvenate Bio claim to have increased the age of mice by reprogramming their genes. They believe their gene therapy actually works like a reverse aging technique that one day might be used for rejuvenating humans.

Their lifespan increased by about seven percent after the introduction of the genes.

National Science Foundation.

The researchers introduced three reprogramming genes into mice that had a remaining lifespan of about nine weeks. Interestingly, the mice survived for 18 weeks after the gene therapy. The tested mice were like 77-year-old humans before the gene therapy.

Continue reading “Scientists reprogrammed mice’s genes to live longer, and it worked!” | >

Back in 2002, the science fiction film Minority Report once again reignited futuristic imaginations about a world and police state gone too far. At the time, the movie inspired plenty of speculation about the future of our society, how computers would interact with us, and how law enforcement would be carried out proactively based on intent. In the movie, they combined technology with the psychic abilities of the “precogs,” to proactively prevent crimes.

The precogs had the ability to predict when crimes were about to be committed ahead of time, enabling law enforcement to act early.

Twenty years later, in a climate of abundant data, almost limitless processing, and at a point in history where law enforcement is frequently discussed, some of these technologies are beginning to look more feasible than ever.

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You have probably heard of ChatGPT and DALLE-E, a new class of AI-powered software tools that can create new images or write text. The algorithm brings to life any idea you may have by putting together fragments of what it has previously seen — such as images annotated with meta-descriptions of what they represent — to generate original content from user-defined input. But now generative AI technology is revolutionizing drug discovery. Absci Corporation (Nasdaq: ABSI) is using machine learning to transform the field of antibody therapeutics: Absci has put out a press release today announcing the ability to create new antibodies with the use of generative AI.

GenerativeAI: You’ve seen it with images like DALL-E, you’ve seen it with text like ChatGPT. Now you can see it with protein design as well.

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Apple today shared an update on its subscription businesses and global App Store, noting that the tech company has now paid out a record $320 billion to app developers since 2008 — a number that reflects the revenue apps have generated, minus Apple’s commission. In addition, the tech giant said it now has more than 900 million paid subscriptions across Apple services, with subscriptions on the App Store driving a “significant” part of that figure.

The company’s App Store in 2022 faced one of its tougher years since its founding, with lawsuits and antitrust actions aimed at limiting its market power.

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Google has warned that growth in the use of Android in India may stall due to an antitrust order issued by the Indian antitrust watchdog last year over the U.S. company’s domination in the country.

The order, which was issued by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in September, found that Google had abused its dominant position in the market for mobile operating systems by imposing restrictive contracts on mobile manufacturers.

The CCI ordered Google to change its contracts with manufacturers, allowing them more freedom to install rival apps and services on Android devices. According to a Reuters report, Google filed a challenge with India’s Supreme Court and said that the order would require some modifications of its existing contracts and new license agreements. It would alter the company’s existing arrangements with over 1,100 device manufacturers and thousands of app developers.

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Apple will apparently start with a chip that replaces the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip it already uses from Broadcom, but down the line, it might make a chip that includes cellular functionality, too.

Apple is working on a new in-house chip that would power cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth functionality on its devices, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Bloomberg also shared some new information about Apple’s efforts to develop its own cellular modems to replace Qualcomm’s.

Apple might be moving away from Broadcom.

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Anthropic, the startup co-founded by ex-OpenAI employees that’s raised over $700 million in funding to date, has developed an AI system similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT that appears to improve upon the original in key ways.

Called Claude, Anthropic’s system is accessible through a Slack integration as part of a closed beta. TechCrunch wasn’t able to gain access — we’ve reached out to Anthropic — but those in the beta have been detailing their interactions with Claude on Twitter over the past weekend, after an embargo on media coverage lifted.

Claude was created using a technique Anthropic developed called “constitutional AI.” As the company explains in a recent Twitter thread, “constitutional AI” aims to provide a “principle-based” approach to aligning AI systems with human intentions, letting AI similar to ChatGPT respond to questions using a simple set of principles as a guide.

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