⁣A New Brain Mapping Study Reveals Depression’s Signature in the Brain

Depression doesn’t mean you’re always feeling low. Sure, most times it’s hard to crawl out of bed or get motivated. Once in a while, however, you feel a spark of your old self—only to get sucked back into an emotional black hole. There’s a reason for this variability. Depression changes brain connections, even when the...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/06/a-brain-signature-of-depression-revealed-by-new-brain-mapping-study/

⁣This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through September 7)

ROBOTICS This Could Be the Start of Amazon’s Next Robot Revolution Will Knight | Wired “In 2012, Amazon quietly acquired a robotics startup called Kiva Systems, a move that dramatically improved the efficiency of its ecommerce operations and kickstarted a wider revolution in warehouse automation. Last week, the ecommerce giant announced another deal that could prove similarly profound,...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/07/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-september-7-2/

⁣Meta Looks to Next-Gen Geothermal to Fuel Ravenous Data Centers

Concerns about the environmental impact of AI have prompted big tech firms to explore exotic options for reducing their emissions. Now, Meta plans to try fueling its data centers with geothermal power. Today’s largest AI models consume vast amounts of electricity. This is significantly increasing energy bills for the tech firms building these models and...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/09/meta-looks-to-next-gen-geothermal-to-fuel-increasingly-ravenous-data-centers/

⁣Life on Alien Planets Probably Wouldn’t Experience Day and Night—Here’s How That May Change Evolution

Do aliens sleep? You may take sleep for granted, but research suggests many planets that could evolve life don’t have a day and night cycle. It’s hard to imagine, but there are organisms living in Earth’s lightless habitats, deep underground or at the bottom of the sea, that give us an idea of what alien...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/10/life-on-alien-planets-probably-wouldnt-experience-day-and-night-heres-how-that-may-change-evolution/

⁣UK Gives Sneak Peek of a Novel Fusion Reactor Shaped Like a Cored Apple

Nuclear fusion has experienced something of a renaissance in recent years with a host of startups and governments seriously pursuing the idea. UK scientists have now provided a sneak peek of a novel reactor design that could be providing power to the grid by 2040. Despite a reputation for being a technology that’s always 20...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/12/uk-gives-sneak-peek-of-a-novel-fusion-reactor-shaped-like-a-cored-apple/

⁣A New Gene Therapy Reprograms Cancer Cells to Fight Themselves

Cancer cells are tricky foes. Our body’s immune system is normally on the lookout for signs of tumor cells. If any are detected, it launches killer T cells—a type of immune cell—to seek and destroy the threat. But it’s a cat-and-mouse game: As tumors grow, they form a protective barrier to counteract immune attacks. Immune...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/13/a-new-gene-therapy-reprograms-cancer-cells-to-fight-themselves/

⁣This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through September 14)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OpenAI Announces a New AI Model, Code-Named Strawberry, That Solves Difficult Problems Step by Step Will Knight | Wired “The company today announced a new advance that signals a shift in approach—a model that can ‘reason’ logically through many difficult problems and is significantly smarter than existing AI without a major scale-up. The...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/14/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-september-14-2/

⁣Elderly Monkeys Aged More Slowly When Given a Cheap Diabetes Drug Used by Millions

A drug that slows aging may already be on the market. Scientists have long been interested in metformin, a widely prescribed drug used to treat Type 2 diabetes, for its potential to delay aging. In worms, fruit flies, and rodents, the drug—on average less than a dollar per pill—shows promising anti-aging effects. Last week, a...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/16/elderly-monkeys-aged-more-slowly-when-given-a-cheap-diabetes-drug-used-by-millions/

⁣Scientists Discover New Evidence Earth May Once Have Had a Ring Like Saturn

The rings of Saturn are some of the most famous and spectacular objects in the solar system. Earth may once have had something similar. In a paper published last week in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, my colleagues and I present evidence that Earth may have had a ring. The existence of such a ring,...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/17/scientists-discover-new-evidence-earth-may-once-have-had-a-ring-like-saturn/

⁣There Are Now More Electric Vehicles Than Gas-Powered Cars in Norway

Norway’s sizable oil and gas deposits have made it one of the wealthiest countries in the world. That’s why it might come as a surprise that it’s the first country to have more electric vehicles than gasoline-powered ones. Transportation is the single biggest contributor to climate change in the US—accounting for 28 percent of total...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/19/there-are-now-more-electric-vehicles-than-gas-powered-cars-in-norway/

⁣DNA Computing Evolves: New System Stores Data, Plays Chess, and Solves Sudoku Puzzles

DNA is nature’s computing device. Unlike data centers, DNA is incredibly compact. These molecules package an entire organism’s genetic blueprint into tiny but sophisticated structures inside each cell. Kept cold—say, inside a freezer or in the Siberian tundra—DNA and the data encoded within can last millennia. But DNA is hardly just a storage device. Myriad...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/20/dna-computing-evolves-with-system-that-stores-data-plays-chess-and-solves-sudoku/

⁣This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through September 21)

TECH AI’s Hungry Maw Drives Massive $100B Investment Plan by Microsoft and BlackRock Benj Edwards | Ars Technica “The partnership initially aims to raise $30 billion in private equity capital, which could later turn into $100 billion in total investment when including debt financing. The group will invest in data centers and supporting power infrastructure...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/21/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-september-21-2/

⁣First Panda Stem Cells Made in the Lab Bring New Hope for These Beloved Bears

Roughly 20 years ago, at the dawn of YouTube, a video of a sneezing baby panda—and its mom’s gasp in surprise—captured the internet’s heart. With their distinctive black and white fur, giant pandas are known for their calm nature, playfulness, and utter cuteness. The gentle beasts are native to China, but their charm has enthralled...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/23/first-panda-stem-cells-made-in-the-lab-offer-new-hope-for-these-beloved-bears/

⁣Cosmology Is at a Tipping Point—We May Be on the Verge of Discovering New Physics

For the past few years, a series of controversies have rocked the well-established field of cosmology. In a nutshell, the predictions of the standard model of the universe appear to be at odds with some recent observations. There are heated debates about whether these observations are biased, or whether the cosmological model, which predicts the...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/24/cosmology-is-at-a-tipping-point-we-may-be-on-the-verge-of-discovering-new-physics/

⁣Scientists Say Net Zero Aviation Is Possible by 2050—If We Act Now

Aviation has proven to be one of the most stubbornly difficult industries to decarbonize. But a new roadmap outlined by University of Cambridge researchers says the sector could reach net zero by 2050 if urgent action is taken. The biggest challenge when it comes to finding alternatives to fossil fuels in aviation is basic physics....

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/27/scientists-say-net-zero-aviation-is-possible-by-2050-if-we-act-now/

⁣AI and Scientists Face Off to See Who Can Come Up With the Best Ideas

Scientific breakthroughs rely on decades of diligent work and expertise, sprinkled with flashes of ingenuity and, sometimes, serendipity. What if we could speed up this process? Creativity is crucial when exploring new scientific ideas. It doesn’t come out of the blue: Scientists spend decades learning about their field. Each piece of information is like a...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/27/ai-and-scientists-face-off-to-see-who-can-come-up-with-the-best-ideas/

⁣This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through September 28)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE A Tiny New Open-Source AI Model Performs as Well as Powerful Big Ones Melissa Heikkiläarchive page | MIT Technology Review “[The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Ai2)] claims that its biggest Molmo model, which has 72 billion parameters, outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-4o, which is estimated to have over a trillion parameters, in tests that...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/28/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-september-28/

⁣This Biohybrid Robot Is Made of Human Cells and Controlled by a Machine ‘Mind’

In a tiny laboratory pond, a robotic stingray flaps its fins and swims around. Roughly the width of a dime, the bot dashes distances multiple times its body size. It easily navigates around corners and swims far longer than previous flapping microbots of a similar design. Its secret? The robot is a biohybrid blend of...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/30/this-biohybrid-robot-is-made-of-human-cells-and-controlled-by-a-machine-mind/

⁣Meta Has Launched the World’s ‘Most Advanced’ Glasses. Will They Replace Smartphones?

Humans are increasingly engaging with wearable technology as it becomes more adaptable and interactive. One of the most intimate ways gaining acceptance is through augmented reality glasses. Last week, Meta debuted a prototype of the most recent version of their AR glasses—Orion. They look like reading glasses and use holographic projection to allow users to...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/01/meta-has-launched-the-worlds-most-advanced-glasses-will-they-replace-smartphones/

⁣Groundbreaking Brain Map Reveals Fruit Fly Brain in Stunning Detail

With a brain the size of a sesame seed, the lowly fruit fly is often considered a kitchen pest. But to neuroscientists, the flies are a treasure trove of information detailing how the brain’s intricate connections guide thoughts, decisions, and memories—not just for the critters, but also for us. Mapping these connections is the first...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/03/groundbreaking-brain-map-reveals-fruit-fly-brain-in-stunning-detail/

⁣These Mini AI Models Match OpenAI With 1,000 Times Less Data

The artificial intelligence industry is obsessed with size. Bigger algorithms. More data. Sprawling data centers that could, in a few years, consume enough electricity to power whole cities. This insatiable appetite is why OpenAI—which is on track to make $3.7 billion in revenue but lose $5 billion this year—just announced it’s raised $6.6 billion more...

https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/04/these-mini-ai-models-match-openai-with-1000-times-less-data/