That is in the present day’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a every day dose of what’s occurring on the planet of know-how.
Weight-loss medicine present indicators of slowing organic ageing, say drugmakers
Widespread weight-loss medicine could do greater than assist folks shed kilos. They may additionally gradual the ageing course of.
Drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk say sufferers taking their GLP-1 medicine age much less shortly, in keeping with molecular “ageing clocks” that observe adjustments in DNA or ranges of key proteins.
The findings add to hypothesis that GLP-1 medicine might be appearing on primary causes of ageing and could be true longevity therapies. However how a lot can we learn into these outcomes?
Learn the complete story on what the brand new findings reveal about GLP-1 medicine and ageing.
—Antonio Regalado
10 Local weather Tech Corporations to Watch: Power Dome and its carbon dioxide batteries
Power Dome is one in all MIT Expertise Assessment’s10 Local weather Tech Corporations to Watch 2026, accessible completely to subscribers.
Photo voltaic and wind are among the many most cost-effective and quickest methods so as to add electrical energy to the grid. However they’re topic to variations in climate patterns, so provides may be intermittent. Power Dome has an uncommon resolution: huge batteries that use compressed carbon dioxide to retailer power for when the grid wants it.
Compressing fuel to retailer power isn’t new. Utilities have used compressed air in underground caverns to hold on to reserves for many years. However Power Dome’s strategy doesn’t require any particular geology to work, so it might be extra simply scaled to assist grids all over the world.
Right here’s how the corporate is utilizing carbon dioxide to retailer renewable power.
—Casey Crownhart
Subscribers can now entry the complete 10 Local weather Tech Corporations to Watch, spanning every thing from cellular flood limitations and electrical buses to next-generation nuclear reactors.
MIT Expertise Assessment Narrated: Don’t be fooled—LLMs don’t purpose
—Thore Graepel, a core member of DeepMind’s AlphaGo workforce
Ten years in the past, I watched a program I helped construct stun the world by beating Go champion Lee Sedol. AlphaGo gained after making a transfer so unusual that some commentators thought it was a programming glitch. It was AlphaGo’s powers of reasoning that made this inventive alternative—and these are powers that in the present day’s AI lacks.
For this reason I just lately left my place at Google DeepMind. I imagine we want a recent strategy to machine reasoning, one that attracts on AlphaGo’s structure.
That is our newest story to turn into an MIT Expertise Assessment Narrated podcast, which we publish every week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Simply navigate to MIT Expertise Assessment Narrated on both platform, and comply with us to get all our new content material because it’s launched.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you in the present day’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 OpenAI has launched 377 new math findings, additional rattling the sphere
They span quantity concept, algebra, geometry, and physics. (NYT $)
+ They got here from testing an unreleased OpenAI mannequin. (Verge)
+ And price far lower than its earlier math breakthroughs. (SciAm)
+ OpenAI additionally revealed a prolonged protection of its strategy. (Gizmodo)
+ AI has put arithmetic at a crossroads. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
2 Mistral says its new open-weight mannequin is the very best outdoors China
Mistral Giant 4 is a 1-trillion-parameter mannequin. (Reuters $)
+ Often known as le Chonk, its weights will arrive on October 27. (CNBC)
+ French president Macron described it as “a 3rd means in AI.” (TechCrunch)
3 Finland has ordered Google to halt a report knowledge middle mission
The order follows considerations over environmental impacts. (Guardian)
+ The €13 billion mission is Google’s largest-ever European funding. (BBC)
+ However nobody desires a knowledge middle of their yard. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
4 The EU plans to tax Massive Tech by a brand new company levy
The levy would apply to corporations incomes greater than €100 million. (FT $)
+ Tesla is pushing the EU towards “Full Self-Driving” approval. (Reuters $)
5 Anduril’s $2.9 billion Navy submarine deal has sparked ethics considerations
Co-founder Palmer Luckey just lately joined a brand new Pentagon mission. (CNBC)
+ Anduril can be making sensible glasses for warfare. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
6 Apple is partnering with LG on a sensible lock, thermostat, and doorbell
Apple’s new smart-home hub is predicted to launch subsequent week. (Bloomberg $)
+ The businesses are additionally co-developing safety cameras. (TechCrunch)
7 The creator of a space-particle observatory has gained the physics Nobel
Francis Halzen used Antarctic ice to detect elusive neutrinos. (New Scientist $)
8 Drones are getting used to make rain on demand
They seed clouds with silver iodide to encourage precipitation. (BBC)
+ A startup claims it could cease lightning. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
9 A brand new hydrogel might allow shape-shifting sensible units
The fabric can evolve alongside dwelling tissue. (SCMP)
10 You most likely aren’t going to get the plague
Consultants say the chance to the general public stays very low. (Wired $)
Quote of the day
“I’ve ‘NI’—pure intelligence. I’m good with that.”
—Mike Tyran, a 66-year-old nurse and tech improve holdout, tells The Atlantic why he gained’t swap his previous devices for the most recent AI-powered units.
Another factor
Future AI chips might be constructed on glass
Human-made glass is hundreds of years previous. But it surely’s now poised to seek out its means into the AI chips used on the planet’s latest and largest knowledge facilities.
This yr, a South Korean firm referred to as Absolics will begin producing particular glass panels that make next-generation computing {hardware} extra highly effective and environment friendly. Different corporations, together with Intel, are additionally pushing ahead on this space.
If all goes properly, the know-how might cut back the power calls for of chips in AI knowledge facilities—and even client laptops and cellular units. Learn the complete story.
—Jeremy Hsu
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Received any concepts? Drop me a line.)
+ Swiss boffins have turned practice tracks into solar energy vegetation.
+ Right here’s an intriguing rationalization of why you may see a transparent picture by a window.
+ A teen with a uncommon genetic dysfunction has walked for the primary time after receiving an experimental drugs.
+ Gorgeous pictures of guillemots, penguins, and a protecting tawny frogmouth contended for prizes on the Chook Photographer of the 12 months competitors.
