Lifeboat Foundation

The human brain, it turns out, can be surprisingly resistant to the ravages of time.

A new study has cataloged human brains that have been found on the archaeological record around the world and discovered that this remarkable organ resists decomposition far more than we thought – even when the rest of the body’s soft tissues have completely melted away.

Led by molecular taphonomist Alexandra Morton-Hayward of the University of Oxford, a team of scientists has identified more than 4,400 preserved human brains, dating back as far as 12,000 years ago. The results contradict previous evidence that the human brain is among the first organs to decay after death.

The software development sector stands at the dawn of a transformation powered by artificial intelligence (AI), where AI agents perform development tasks. This transformation is not just about incremental enhancements but a radical reimagining of how software engineering tasks are approached, executed, and delivered. Central to this shift is introducing AI-driven frameworks that transcend traditional code assistance tools, marking a leap toward more autonomous, efficient, and secure software development methodologies.

The integration of AI in software development has been confined largely to providing code suggestions and aiding in file manipulation. This approach, while beneficial, barely scratches the surface of what is technologically feasible. AI-powered tools operate within a constrained scope, missing out on Integrated Development Environments (IDEs)’ vast capabilities, such as comprehensive code building, testing, and version control operations. This limitation underscores a critical gap in the software development toolkit, where the potential for AI to contribute more profoundly to the development lifecycle remains largely untapped.

Microsoft researchers present AutoDev, which empowers AI agents to tackle a broad spectrum of software engineering tasks autonomously, from intricate code editing and comprehensive testing to advanced git operations. This framework is designed to focus on autonomy, efficiency, and security. By housing operations within Docker containers, AutoDev ensures that development processes are streamlined and secure, safeguarding user privacy and project integrity through meticulously designed guardrails.

In this episode, Peter and Will dive into satellite technology, what it takes to create a company like Planet, and its effect on ecosystems across the world.

Will Marshall, Chairman, Co-Founder, and CEO of Planet, transitioned from a scientist at NASA to an entrepreneur, leading the company from its inception in a garage to a public entity with over 800 staff. With a background in physics and extensive experience in space technology, he has been instrumental in steering Planet towards its mission of propelling humanity towards sustainability and security, as outlined in its Public Benefit Corporation charter. Recognized for his contributions to the field, Marshall serves on the board of the Open Lunar Foundation and was honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Continue reading “Building The World’s Most Powerful Satellites w/ Will Marshall | EP #90” »

A publication in Nature reports the data release of around 245,000 clinical-grade whole-genome sequences as part of the NIH’s All of Us Research Programme. Several companion papers highlight the value of better capturing global genomic diversity.

Scientists have discovered that, when a DNA-reading enzyme moves backwards along a gene, it may do so to help control when the gene is turned on.

Utilizing high-resolution three-dimensional radiation hydrodynamics simulations and a detailed supernova physics model run on supercomputers, a research team led by Dr. Ke-Jung Chen from the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (ASIAA) has revealed that the physical properties of the first galaxies are critically determined by the masses of the first stars. Their study is published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Researchers claim to have combined the benefits of rolling robots with those of flying drones by creating a device that rotates along the ground but hops over obstacles.

By Matthew Sparkes

Can a computer therefore replicate the way a discretionary trader reads the Financial Times, to harvest alpha from the FT?

This research demonstrates how equity traders can use machine-readable FT news articles to create systematic trading strategies for large-cap US stocks.

Astronomers have created the largest yet cosmic 3D map of quasars: bright and active centres of galaxies powered by supermassive black holes. This map shows the location of about 1.3 million quasars in space and time, with the furthest shining bright when the Universe was only 1.5 billion years old.

The new map has been made with data from ESA’s Gaia space telescope. While Gaia’s main objective is to map the stars in our own galaxy, in the process of scanning the sky it also spots objects outside the Milky Way, such as quasars and other galaxies.

The graphic representation of the map (bottom right on the infographic) shows us the location of quasars from our vantage point, the centre of the sphere. The regions empty of quasars are where the disc of our galaxy blocks our view.