AI system predicts protein fragments that can bind to or inhibit a target
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All biological function is dependent on how different proteins interact with each other. Protein-protein interactions facilitate everything from transcribing DNA and controlling cell division to higher-level functions in complex organisms. Much remains unclear, however, about how these functions are orchestrated on the molecular level, and how proteins interact with each other — either with other […]
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What DeepSeek Can Teach Us About AI Cost and Efficiency
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With its cute whale logo, the recent release of DeepSeek could have amounted to nothing more than yet another ChatGPT knockoff. What made it so newsworthy – and what sent competitors’ stocks into a tailspin – was how little it cost to create. It effectively threw a monkey wrench into the U.S.’s notion of the […]
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Infographic: How ‘digital sequence information’ can generate funds for biodiversity
Digital sequence information, or “DSI”, refers to the genetic information derived from biodiversity. Public and private databases – headquartered mainly in the global north – often source this genetic information from plants, animals, bacteria and fungi found in biodiversity-rich, global-south countries. Companies then use the information in these databases to develop drugs, cosmetics and supplements, […]
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Shikhil Sharma, Co-Founder & CEO of Astra Security – Interview Series
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Shikhil Sharma is the Founder of Astra Security – a continuous pentesting platform. At the very onset of his career, Shikhil consulted a number of businesses, startups & banks on cyber security. After helping some top businesses secure their websites & apps, Shikhil noted how in-effective traditional pentesting was, and founded Astra Security as an […]
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Perplexity AI “Uncensors” DeepSeek R1: Who Decides AI’s Boundaries?
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In a move that has caught the attention of many, Perplexity AI has released a new version of a popular open-source language model that strips away built-in Chinese censorship. This modified model, dubbed R1 1776 (a name evoking the spirit of independence), is based on the Chinese-developed DeepSeek R1. The original DeepSeek R1 made waves […]
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China Briefing 20 February 2025: Missed climate deadline; Clean-tech’s economic contribution; New renewables pricing system
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s China Briefing. China Briefing handpicks and explains the most important climate and energy stories from China over the past fortnight. Subscribe for free here. Key developments China fails to submit 2035 climate pledge MISSED DEADLINE: China, along with 181 other countries, missed the deadline to submit its next “nationally determined contribution” (NDC), […]
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Google’s AI ‘Co-Scientist’ Tool: Revolutionizing Biomedical Research
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In the field of biomedical research, transforming a hypothesis into a tangible discovery is often a lengthy and expensive process. On average, developing a new drug can take over a decade and cost billions of dollars. To address these challenges, Google has introduced the AI Co-Scientist, an innovative tool designed to assist researchers in generating […]
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Explainer: How China’s renewable pricing reforms will affect its climate goals
China’s solar and windfarms would no longer be guaranteed sales at a fixed price linked to coal benchmarks, under a new policy released by the central government. The policy asks local governments to shift new wind and solar projects to a more market-based pricing system by the end of 2025. Said local governments will determine […]
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Reduced heat losses reported for new mortar building material
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Image credit: Kaniaw Marof. A mortar made from recycled plastic and silica aerogel improves insulation and finds a use for plastic waste. The team behind this new building material – from Newcastle University – hope it could reduce heating and cooling bills while being environmentally friendly. They developed the cement mortar mix by replacing sand […]
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JCB’s hydrogen combustion engine approved for use
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Lord Bamford pictured with JCB’s hydrogen combustion engine.. JCB has seemingly cleared significant hurdles in its development of the world’s first hydrogen combustion engine after securing rulings from licensing authorities allowing it to be used commercially in machines, the company announced in January. JCB says it is the first construction equipment company to develop a […]
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AI is the Perfect Teaching Assistant for Any Educator
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Schools, universities, and other educational institutions around the world are facing a crisis. There simply aren’t enough teachers to meet the educational needs of a growing student population. UNESCO’s recent global report on teachers reveals that 44 million additional teachers are needed globally to provide sufficient primary and secondary education by 2030. In England, for […]
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Seth Forsgren, Co-Founder and CEO of Riffusion – Interview Series
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Seth Forsgren, Co-Founder and CEO of Riffusion, leads the development of an AI-powered music generation tool that creates audio tracks from text prompts. Riffusion allows users to experiment with different musical styles and sounds in real-time, making music creation more accessible. Designed for both creativity and ease of use, the platform enables anyone to explore […]
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Guest post: How the global ‘water gap’ will grow under climate change
Freshwater, essential for ecosystems and human well-being, is becoming increasingly scarce. Population growth, urbanisation and socioeconomic development are all driving greater demand for the world’s finite water resources. At the same time, climate change is altering precipitation patterns and affecting water availability. Currently, approximately four billion people experience water scarcity for at least one month […]
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Groundbreaking tech gives EV users the full picture on battery health
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UK startup Generational has unveiled “a strategy to supercharge car-dealers’ and consumers’ confidence in used EVs”. The solution seemingly resides with a novel battery-health assessment technology, which the group says is intuitive and state-of-the-art. The proprietary battery assessment tool is said to provide simple, seamless battery-health checks for pre-owned EVs – allowing dealers to provide […]
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Hydrogen adoption in European public transport faces grid and storage challenges
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A striking 93% of European public transport decisionmakers have expressed concerns about the capacity of their grid connection to fuel their current and future battery electric or hydrogen-powered fleets, in a new survey. The research, commissioned by specialist engineering company IMI, surveyed 300 senior public transport professionals across the UK, Germany and Italy about the […]
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Mira Murati Launches Thinking Machines Lab: The Next Big AI Challenger
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One of the brightest minds in artificial intelligence, Mira Murati, has officially launched her next ambitious venture: Thinking Machines Lab. With a handpicked team of elite AI researchers and engineers—including key figures from OpenAI, Character.ai, and Google DeepMind—Murati is positioning her new company as the next major player in the AI revolution, alongside OpenAI, and […]
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MIT spinout maps the body’s metabolites to uncover the hidden drivers of disease
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Biology is never simple. As researchers make strides in reading and editing genes to treat disease, for instance, a growing body of evidence suggests that the proteins and metabolites surrounding those genes can’t be ignored. The MIT spinout ReviveMed has created a platform for measuring metabolites — products of metabolism like lipids, cholesterol, sugar, and […]
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Like human brains, large language models reason about diverse data in a general way
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While early language models could only process text, contemporary large language models now perform highly diverse tasks on different types of data. For instance, LLMs can understand many languages, generate computer code, solve math problems, or answer questions about images and audio. MIT researchers probed the inner workings of LLMs to better understand how they […]