Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

Google DeepMind shared on Thursday a research preview of SIMA 2, the next generation of its generalist AI agent that integrates the language and reasoning powers of Gemini, Google’s large language model, to move beyond simply following instructions to understanding and interacting with its environment.  Like many of DeepMind’s projects, including AlphaFold, the first version of SIMA was trained on hundreds of hours of video game data to learn how to play multiple 3D games like a human, even some games it wasn’t trained on. SIMA 1, unveiled in March 2024, could follow basic instructions across a wide range of…

Transplanting gene-edited pig kidneys into humans has been hailed as a pioneering procedure and a way to help ease the shortage of organs available for those on transplant waiting lists.Scientists, however, have been struggling to understand why these animal organs have been rejected not long after surgery. Now, they may have an answer.In the first of two studies published Thursday in the journal Nature, researchers at NYU Langone Health have discovered immune reactions that may explain why these organs get rejected.Surgeons transplant world’s 1st genetically edited pig kidney into living humanThe team looked at the transplantation of a genetically engineered…

For the last two years, LinkedIn has tried to infuse AI into different parts of its platforms, including ad copies, content creation, personalized digests, hiring assistance, job hunting advice, and learning. The company is now finally adding AI to one of the most-used parts of the site: search. Earlier this year, the company released a job search tool for members in the U.S., allowing them to search for jobs using natural language queries. Now, the company is extending the feature to people search. Users can use queries like “Find me investors in the healthcare sector with FDA experience,” people who…

(Reuters) -Africa is facing the worst outbreak of cholera in 25 years, the ​Africa CDC told reporters in a briefing on Thursday,‌ blaming the rise on fragile water systems and conflict.The Africa CDC said ‌it had recorded about 300,000 cases of cholera, and suspected cases of cholera, and over 7,000 deaths. The figures show a more than 30% increase on total ⁠cases recorded last year.Angola ‌and Burundi have seen cases surge in recent weeks, Africa CDC data shows, driven ‍by poor access to safe water.Cholera is a severe and potentially fatal diarrhoeal disease that spreads quickly when sewage and drinking…

A peek inside some leading research labs shows how scientists-turned-detectives are painstakingly decoding what causes autoimmune diseases and how to stop the immune system from attacking you instead of protecting you.It’s a huge challenge. By the National Institutes of Health’s newest count there are about 140 autoimmune diseases affecting tens of millions of people.Unraveling them requires patience, persistence — and sophisticated technology to even see the suspects. Researchers use laser-powered machinery and brightly colored fluorescent dyes to tell rogue cells from normal ones.Take Type 1 diabetes, caused when cells in the pancreas that produce insulin are gradually killed off by…

Scientists are trying a revolutionary new approach to treat rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus and other devastating autoimmune diseases — by reprogramming patients’ out-of-whack immune systems.When your body’s immune cells attack you instead of protecting you, today’s treatments tamp down the friendly fire but they don’t fix what’s causing it. Patients face a lifetime of pricey pills, shots or infusions with some serious side effects — and too often the drugs aren’t enough to keep their disease in check.“We’re entering a new era,” said Dr. Maximilian Konig, a rheumatologist at Johns Hopkins University who’s studying some of the possible new…

NEW YORK (AP) — As workers face frozen salaries, inflation and fear of layoffs, some have decided to branch out from their traditional careers. They’re taking on side jobs to bring in additional income and provide a backup plan should they find themselves out of work, or adding second, third and sometimes fourth jobs — what some call “polyworking” — to the mix.Take Katelyn Cusick, 29. She beautifies displays as a visual merchandiser for Patagonia at her full-time job. Then she works a side gig managing social media influencers for a German shoe brand for 10 to 15 hours per…

Two teenage founders walked into Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham’s backyard with an idea no one in agriculture seemed to want — an AI model to help design better pesticides. By the time they left, they had a new business model, a new company, and eventually, Graham’s backing. Now, that reimagined company — Bindwell — has raised $6 million in a seed round, co-led by General Catalyst and A Capital, with a personal check from Graham himself. Rather than selling AI tools to legacy agrochemical giants, the startup is using its own models to design new pesticide molecules in-house and…

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Students in Florida’s public schools will soon be learning an interpretation of McCarthyism and the Cold War fight against communism that is steeped in the rhetoric of that era, after state education officials voted to approve sweeping new social studies teaching standards Thursday.The standards, which represent the core content Florida students are expected to learn, detail a communist “infiltration” of Civil Rights advocacy groups, include instruction on the use of “‘McCarthyism’ as an insult” and reference “slander against anti-communists,” including the terms “red-baiter and Red Scare.” The standards soften decades of reflection on work by former…

By Jennifer RigbyLONDON (Reuters) -Germany has found the wild polio virus in a sewage sample in Hamburg, the first such detection in Europe since 2010.WHAT IS POLIO?Polio, short for poliomyelitis, is an infectious disease that terrified parents worldwide for ​much of the first half of the 20th century. Affecting mainly children under five, it is often asymptomatic but can also cause symptoms ‌like fever and vomiting.Around one in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis, and among those patients, up to 10% die. There is no cure, but it is preventable by vaccination,‌ and case rates globally have reduced by 99%…