The week's developments in AI, quantum, and biotech, explained | 10.07.24

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This week, Europe reaches for the stars with its brand-new Ariane-6 rocket, ex-Meta scientists debut a gigantic AI protein design model, and researchers peer into the very source of curiosity in our brains.

We cover this and more, including the latest tools to help you streamline research, unleash AI-powered reporting, and compare AI models.

🚀You are now able to sign up for the super early bird offer (75% off) to the CogX Leadership Summit in London on October 7th here.

Innovation and Releases

🚀 Europe's new Ariane-6 rocket blasted off on its first flight. The mission successfully delivered satellites into orbit, but a technical glitch prevented the rocket from demonstrating its upper-stage restart capability.  Despite the anomaly, European space officials are calling the launch a success.

🧬 Ex-Meta scientists debut gigantic AI protein design model: This protein language model, called ESM-3, was trained on a massive dataset of protein sequences and can be used to create new proteins with specific properties.

🤖 Altrove uses AI models and lab automation to create new materials. The French-based startup leverages existing AI predictions for new materials and focuses on creating recipes to synthesise them. It has already raised €3.7 million to further develop its technology.

⛵ Tiny autonomous sailboats to gather data from the ocean: A UK startup called Oshen is building miniature, seaborn autonomous sailboats powered by wind and solar energy. These "seaborn satellites" aim to revolutionise ocean data collection.

AI Tools of the Week

🔬Streamline your research: Otio is an AI-powered research and writing platform that streamlines the academic process by summarising diverse content sources.

🔎 Unleash AI-powered reporting: Speak is a no-code platform that transforms audio, video, and text data into actionable insights through automated analysis and visualisation.

🕵🏼‍♂️ Compare AI models: TheFastest.ai is a performance benchmarking tool that measures and compares the speed of large language models.

Latest Research

🩺 Why cancer risk might drop in older age: New research suggests a surprising reason why lung cancer risk might decrease after age 75, even though cancer is generally linked to ageing. Studies in mice suggest genes linked to iron metabolism may play a role.

🤯 What causes migraines? Scientists have found a link between migraines and the brain's "blackout" phase known as CSD. During CSD, the content of cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the brain changes and travels through a newly discovered gap to nerves in the skull, triggering pain receptors and causing headaches.

🧠 Unravelling the source of curiosity in the brain: Scientists have, for the first time, linked feelings of curiosity to brain activity. Using fMRI scans, researchers observed specific brain regions light up when study participants viewed ambiguous images.

🪐The stench of a gas giant? Astronomers used the James Webb Telescope to “sniff out” the atmosphere of a nearby exoplanet, HD 189733 b. This Jupiter-sized gas giant not only has scorching temperatures and sideways glass rain, but its atmosphere also stinks of rotten eggs due to the presence of hydrogen sulphide.

In case you missed it

Watch Europe launch Its powerful new Ariane 6 rocket

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🚀 You are now able to sign up for the super early bird offer (75% off) to the CogX Leadership Summit in London on October 7th here.