Who Will Control the Rights to Life-Saving AI-Generated Proteins?
Businesses like Google DeepMind are making tremendous advances in the precision measurement and sequencing of protein folding, as differences in the shape of proteins and the amino acids they’re made of give each type its unique properties. When proteins are the basis of our human bodies and other biological mechanisms, who will control the benefits that new proteins could provide for medicine and many other applications? The question is more urgent as AI’s power increases, advancing from protein measurement to protein manufacturing.
Are AI Agents the Next Step Towards Artificial General Intelligence?
AI agents are emerging as the next step in artificial intelligence, with the ability to complete complex tasks autonomously. AI agents can interact with external applications, plan, and make decisions with minimal human intervention. As companies race to develop more advanced systems, risks and challenges remain, including accuracy, adaptability, privacy, data security, manipulation, and ethical concerns. From healthcare to education and business, how will these agents shape our future—and are we ready for them?
Paraparticles: Now Proven in Theory, Discovery Could Reveal New Thermodynamic Processes
A new mathematical proof has introduced the theoretical possibility that a third type of fundamental particle could be added to the two we already know. Move over fermions and bosons, there may be another particle lurking behind the scenes with its own thermodynamic potential. How would the paraparticle’s processes interact with the only type of thermodynamics that we know, the one that says time’s arrow only goes in one direction?
Breakthroughs in Teleportation and Topological Qubits Bring Quantum Computing Closer to Reality
Microsoft’s new Majorana 1 topological quantum bit opens the potential for a new and efficient form of quantum computing memory. Storing signals in the shape of qubits could significantly reduce decoherence and increase quantum circuit stability, as new developments in teleportation hold the potential for networking quantum computers to multiply the power of error-free operation.
Editorial Perspectives
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Blog
An Urgent Appeal for Separation of Tech and State
For the same principles and benefits that separation of church and state brought to democracies, the power of giant tech companies and their leaders must be kept separate from government. The power of the people, which is the constitutional goal of democracies whether it's practised or not, deserves no less. Tech and state must disentangle, if the people are to have any hope of remaining technology's masters. The alternative, if we cede control to our technological creations, is unconscionable.
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Blog
Protecting Sensitive Financial Information From Data Brokers is a Crucial Government Responsibility
The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is at risk of being eliminated, along with its proposals to bring data brokers under the same rules that govern credit bureaus. Relaxing financial regulations exposes consumers to risks from the buying and selling of their sensitive financial data, including fraud and blackmail by bad actors. To safeguard consumers and prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial collapse, government's role in financial regulation is crucial.
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Blog
A Five-Year-Old’s Challenge to Free-Speech Absolutism
By accepting no limits to what they say, free-speech absolutists who broadcast their views with the power and global reach of technology fail to consider the effects of their words on children. Without life experience, kids are defenceless against lies and vulgarities spread far and wide by powerful or popular people. Every adult's responsibility is to protect the children, and it's time that children be brought into the free speech debate.
In Focus
Inspired by Nature: News on Biomimicry and the Curiosities of Evolution’s Ingenious Designs
Nature’s ingenious designs are inspiring a revolution in technology and sustainability. From the colour-shifting abilities of chameleons influencing the development of new materials to owl-inspired wind turbines, biomimicry is driving innovation across industries. As startup companies aim for breakthroughs in robotics, materials science, and more by leveraging nature’s technology, paleo-robotics is providing new insights into evolution by recreating extinct creatures with robotic models to inform future innovations.
The Gold For The Gold-Standard: the State of Science Funding Worldwide
“Gold standard” research demands more than just brilliant minds – it requires sustained investment. We delve into the critical issue of ensuring globally equitable and sustainable funding for scientific research, development, and education. We explore disparities between nations, and the shifting landscape of R&D funding, highlighting the private sector’s growing influence and its potential long-term implications for research priorities. The unanswered question is, how can funding best support scientific progress for the benefit of all humanity?
Scientists Call for Halt to Creation of Mirror Bacteria, Warning of Global Risk to Life
Technology has sped progress toward creating exact copies of cells, called “mirror” life. Although mirror cells might help, for example, in the binding of medicines to target cells, many scientists have joined in a public warning about mirror life’s extreme risks to humans and all other living organisms. They call for research to halt immediately, and offer for further investigation some potential countermeasures to stop a chain reaction through entire ecological systems.
Podcasts and Webcasts
Keeping Humans in the Loop: a Discussion with Saima Fancy
Election Monitoring in the Technological Era, with Dr. Ian Batista
Dr. Adio Dinika on The Human Data Workers Who Make AI Possible
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Latest Quantum Computing
Breakthroughs in Teleportation and Topological Qubits Bring Quantum Computing Closer to Reality
Microsoft’s new Majorana 1 topological quantum bit opens the potential for a new and efficient form of quantum computing memory. Storing signals in the shape of qubits could significantly reduce decoherence and increase quantum circuit stability, as new developments in teleportation hold the potential for networking quantum computers to multiply the power of error-free operation.
Quantum Biology Yields Evidence of Superradiance and its Potential for Quantum Information Processing
Quantum biology is an emerging area of research that’s uncovering important features of the cellular signalling networks in living organisms. In networks of tryptophan, a protein-building amino acid, scientists have discovered a process called superradiance that amplifies and efficiently transmits information to and from cells. With implications for quantum information processing, treating Alzheimer’s and dementia, and uncovering more about the microtubules in our brains, quantum biology promises to yield some important clues about cognition in natural neural networks.
Giant Steps Have Been Taken Toward Our Quantum Computing Future
With its latest chip named Willow, Google’s quantum computer performed in five minutes a calculation that would require 10 septillion years on a supercomputer. The company’s breakthrough in maintaining coherent quantum circuits, together with recent milestone achievements by Quantinuum in logical qubits and quantum teleportation, signal the rapid approach of our full-scale quantum computing future.
Featured Science News
Will We Find a Universal Memory for All Physical Scales, From the Tiny Quantum to Giant Stars, in the Geometry of Curves?
In the continuing search for a theory unifying general relativity’s gravity with quantum mechanics, evidence suggests the universe retains a record of events in the geometry of curves that preserve the gravitational consequences of interactions from the tiny quantum to massive stars. We survey 30 years of discoveries pointing to the possibility of decoding probabilities at any scale.
Latest Philosophy of Technology
Who Will Control the Rights to Life-Saving AI-Generated Proteins?
Businesses like Google DeepMind are making tremendous advances in the precision measurement and sequencing of protein folding, as differences in the shape of proteins and the amino acids they’re made of give each type its unique properties. When proteins are the basis of our human bodies and other biological mechanisms, who will control the benefits that new proteins could provide for medicine and many other applications? The question is more urgent as AI’s power increases, advancing from protein measurement to protein manufacturing.
Is There a Looming Digital Divide With Quantum Technology?
What would happen if only a handful of companies and governments controlled access to the power of quantum computers, demonstrated this month by Google’s breakthrough quantum chip? Our continuing series on quantum ethics examines the race to develop the technology, its cost and complexity that exclude most of the world, and the growing movement for responsible quantum research and innovation.
Growing Up Online: Evolving Protections for Children in the Digital World
Concerns about children’s digital media use are growing globally, with research highlighting risks that include social media dependency, gaming addiction, online harassment, and data privacy issues. We explore findings from global studies, expert recommendations, and strategies from organizations like WHO, OECD, and UNICEF, aimed at creating safer, empowering digital environments for children.
Latest Technology Over Time
The Fascinating History of the Computer, from ENIAC, Vacuum Tubes and Transistors, to Microchips
We trace computing history from ENIAC, the first computer in 1947, from vacuum tubes to transistors, to the development of microchips that put far greater computing power in our our phones than the giant ENIAC had. With the world at the brink of a quantum computing revolution, what lessons can we draw from our computing history to shape the best possible future with our next technological leap ?
Ancient Roman Concrete: A Technology Ahead of Its Time
The Colosseum and Pantheon stand witness to the knowledge and skill behind ancient Roman concrete-making technology. We look at the history of concrete from then to now, and take you into the Pantheon to explore the marvels that ancient Romans accomplished with concrete.
The Mystery of the Ancient Roman Dodecahedrons
What was the purpose of these curious dodecahedrons, discovered in the northern parts of the ancient Roman Empire? Why does no record exist to explain their use and manufacture? We review the intriguing possibilities, but more detective work is needed to uncover the truth of this ancient technology.
Latest Science News
Are AI Agents the Next Step Towards Artificial General Intelligence?
AI agents are emerging as the next step in artificial intelligence, with the ability to complete complex tasks autonomously. AI agents can interact with external applications, plan, and make decisions with minimal human intervention. As companies race to develop more advanced systems, risks and challenges remain, including accuracy, adaptability, privacy, data security, manipulation, and ethical concerns. From healthcare to education and business, how will these agents shape our future—and are we ready for them?
Paraparticles: Now Proven in Theory, Discovery Could Reveal New Thermodynamic Processes
A new mathematical proof has introduced the theoretical possibility that a third type of fundamental particle could be added to the two we already know. Move over fermions and bosons, there may be another particle lurking behind the scenes with its own thermodynamic potential. How would the paraparticle’s processes interact with the only type of thermodynamics that we know, the one that says time’s arrow only goes in one direction?
Inspired by Nature: News on Biomimicry and the Curiosities of Evolution’s Ingenious Designs
Nature’s ingenious designs are inspiring a revolution in technology and sustainability. From the colour-shifting abilities of chameleons influencing the development of new materials to owl-inspired wind turbines, biomimicry is driving innovation across industries. As startup companies aim for breakthroughs in robotics, materials science, and more by leveraging nature’s technology, paleo-robotics is providing new insights into evolution by recreating extinct creatures with robotic models to inform future innovations.