Computing
Why Everyone in Quantum Computing Is Buzzing About Google’s Move Into ‘Neutral Atoms’Adam Bluestein | Fast Company
“Google’s interest sends a clear signal: Neutral atom quantum computing has arrived. And while it may not replace superconducting as the leading approach, the technology is primed to be a key player in the race to quantum utility, the threshold where the value of quantum computers finally eclipses the cost of running them.”
Biotechnology
A Transplanted Pig Kidney Is Still Working After a Record-Setting 9 Months in a PatientEmily Mullin | Wired ($)
“While they wait [for a kidney transplant], patients often need dialysis, in which a person’s blood vessels are hooked up to a machine that removes excess fluid and waste from the bloodstream. Dialysis typically requires four-hour sessions three times a week and can damage blood vessels over time, making the procedure hard on the body. Pig kidneys could offer an alternative until a human organ is available.”
Future
The Singularity Is Not What It SeemsMatteo Wong and Charlie Warzel | The Atlantic ($)
“This singularity isn’t coming at the hands of a higher form of intelligence. Nothing about this technology is inevitable. It is thrilling, terrifying, and ultimately convenient to assign agency and then blame to machines. But today’s chaos was not ‘injected into the system’ by technology, as [Sam] Altman wrote more than a decade ago; the destruction is the system. It’s not God in the machine; it’s us.”
Artificial Intelligence
OpenAI Technique in ‘Astra’ Model Sparks Security ConcernsAmir Efrati, Stephanie Palazzolo, and Rocket Drew | The Information ($)
“OpenAI says its forthcoming AI model Astra marks a step up in capabilities such as coding and operating applications on a computer. But an innovative technique that improved the model’s performance also means that the model, and others like it, will reveal less of their ‘thinking,’ making them harder to monitor for signs of bad behavior, according to a person with knowledge of Astra’s development.”
Biotechnology
How Engineered Microbes Could Help Feed the World’s CropsCasey Crownhart | MIT Technology Review ($)`
“It’s difficult to engineer microbes that can reliably provide nitrogen for crops while also thriving themselves. A startup called Switch Bioworks is taking a new approach that essentially allows microbes to establish themselves and grow into healthy colonies before shifting into nitrogen-producing mode. ‘We have to reinvent fertilizer,’ says Tim Schnabel, the company’s founder and CEO.”
Robotics
Waymo Accelerates Robotaxi Expansion With Launches in Denver, San Diego, and TampaKirsten Korosec | TechCrunch
“Waymo has started to offer its robotaxi service to the public in Denver, San Diego, and Tampa, extending the Alphabet-owned company’s commercial operations to 14 US cities. …The expansion has increased its fleet of self-driving Jaguar I-Pace hatchbacks and a new minivan called the Ojai to more than 4,000 vehicles.”
Space
Physicists Detected a Signal That Defies Explanation. It Could Be Dark Matter—or Something StrangerEllyn Lapointe | Gizmodo
“Researchers running the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter experiment, an ultra-sensitive particle detector buried inside an abandoned gold mine, have recorded a single particle interaction that can’t be explained by any known background signals from normal matter. This event, described in a preprint set to be published in the journal Physical Review Letters, is arguably the most compelling candidate for a direct dark matter detection to date. But the authors say it’s still too soon to close this case.”
Robotics
The Cybercab Is Almost Here. Now Comes the Hard PartAarian Marshall | Wired ($)
“The physical Cybercab…may be the easiest lift in Tesla’s deeply ambitious plan to shift from a company that builds cars to one entirely focused on autonomous vehicles and robotics. Manufacturing a car isn’t easy. But neither is running a functional autonomous vehicle service, nor building the software to power it. Tesla hasn’t yet proven that it can do either at scale.”
Space
How AI Plotted an Interstellar Journey to Alpha CentauriMichelle Kim | MIT Technology Review ($)
“A nonprofit organization called the Fermi Explorer Mission announced today that it intends to launch a spacecraft to our nearest star system by the end of 2029. It’s a hugely ambitious mission—if all goes well, the spacecraft could take up to 80,000 years to arrive at Alpha Centauri, which is 4.4 light-years away. And the spacecraft will follow a novel trajectory discovered by an AI system developed by Physical Superintelligence (PSI), an AI physics research lab.”
