Microsoft has announced the creation of the first ‘topological qubits’, a breakthrough in quantum computing that could lead to the development of more efficient and scalable quantum computers. The company’s research team has successfully demonstrated the existence of topological qubits using a superconducting nanowire device, which could potentially protect information from noise and errors. While…
Earth on The Soothsayer / page 2
Scientists have released the biggest-ever artificial-intelligence (AI) model for biology, called Evo 2, which can write whole chromosomes and small genomes from scratch. This model has been trained on 128,000 genomes spanning the tree of life and can make sense of existing DNA, including hard-to-interpret ‘non-coding’ gene variants linked to disease. The developers see Evo…
A team of researchers has developed a generative AI engine that can create coherent, immersive video-game worlds that respond to player inputs. The engine, called WHAM, was trained on 500,000 anonymized game sessions of the online multiplayer game Bleeding Edge and can generate a range of gameplay slices while maintaining consistency with the original game’s…
Physicists at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, have made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of superconductors. They have found that compounds containing nickel can carry electricity without resistance at a relatively high temperature of 45 kelvin, without being squeezed under pressure. This breakthrough has the potential to revolutionize various…
The Trump administration’s changes to the federal government have sent shockwaves through the research community in the United States and beyond. The team at Nature has been covering the impact of these changes on science, from cuts to NIH grants to the removal of gender-related terms from scientific papers. As the situation continues to unfold,…
Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Washington in Seattle have successfully used artificial intelligence (AI) to design brand-new enzymes that can perform multi-step reactions. The new enzymes, which were 60,000 times more efficient than previously designed ones, have the potential to revolutionize various biological and industrial processes, including plastic recycling….
The Royal Society in London has called a meeting to discuss the behavior of its fellows, particularly Elon Musk, after a growing campaign by scientists over his membership. Over 1,300 scientists signed an open letter expressing concerns about Musk’s conduct, citing his involvement in government reforms that threaten research programs and his spreading of misinformation…
The US Senate has confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr as the new Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, sparking concerns about the future of biomedical research in the country. Kennedy has a history of promoting vaccine misinformation and public-health conspiracies, and his appointment has raised fears about the potential impact on the…
A groundbreaking study of the genomes of nearly 6,000 Greenlandic people has shed new light on the genetic history of the Inuit. The research, published in Nature, suggests that the Inuit ancestors rarely moved around after settling the island around 1,000 years ago, leading to a unique genetic makeup that may be linked to certain…
Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery about the Earth’s inner core, revealing that it is changing shape. This finding, published in Nature Geoscience, has sparked new questions about the potential effects on the planet’s magnetic field, day length, and more. Researchers analyzed seismic waves from earthquakes to determine that the inner core has been deforming…