Another day, another skill unlocked for generative AI in chemistry and biology. PropMolFlow designs molecules with specified properties 10 times faster than previous methods. STEM-related use cases occupy <1% of anti-AI discourse but >99% of AI's transformative potential. phys.org/news/2026-01...

SIMPLE MATH

I trust that self-styled antivax "purebloods" will practice what they preach and never let mRNA vaccines near their immaculate DNA. The rest of us can look forward to mRNA vaccines tailored to specific cancer antigens, letting the immune system target tumors. Over 60 candidates are in development.

The most compelling reason to learn about the natural world around you is for its effect on your own psyche. You can live in a fuzzy drab world, or you can live in a world full of detail, and the difference comes mostly from knowing about it.

Pu spells out Ru's imperialist motivations for the war. He calls the conquest a long-held dream and historical destiny. He beclowns those who insist NATO expansion caused the war. Let's see if anyone from the Mearsheimer fan club admits the claim has been falsified. www.kremlin.ru/events/presi...

For decades, palaeontologists and geologists have told the story that early Earth was a lifeless, volcanic hellscape for hundreds of millions of years. But a raft of evidence suggests this story is completely wrong

It wasn't just OpenAI. Google also used a general purpose model to solve the very hard math problems of the International Math Olympiad in plain language. Last year they used specialized tool use Increasing evidence of LLMs generalizing to novel problem solving deepmind.google/discover/blo...

Dieses Thema liegt mir am Herzen. Bitte hier unterzeichnen: weact.campact.de/petitions/ki...

The longer the political left refuses to engage with AI - or transhumanism, space exploration, abundance, or any number of other pieces of tech - the more they will simply continue to cede these grounds to neolibs and fascists.

Mit "Modernisieren statt aussteigen" hätte die deutsche #Energiewende ein Erfolg werden können. China entwickelt gerade einen #Thoriumreaktor (TMSR-LF1), ab 2030 sollen kommerzielle Reaktoren folgen. Thorium braucht keine neuen Bergwerke, es fällt als Nebenprodukt beim Abbau von Seltenen Erden an.

The Putinization of the USA continues. Now scientists are self-censoring for fear that Trump's Christofascist minions may disapprove of their discoveries.

No, the “Kalam cosmological argument” doesn’t prove God’s existence No, you can't use what's known about the Universe to prove the existence of God. Whatever underlying assumptions you make aren't necessarily valid in a very weird Universe. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #physics #philosophy

U.S. State Department terminated the program investigating and documenting evidence of Russian genocide via abduction of Ukrainian children. These are literally the crimes for which the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin. newrepublic.com/article/1927...

"At this time, no negotiations will succeed because Putin does not have any incentives to end his imperial ambitions to conquer Europe." Ukraine must be armed to win and Russia must be bankrupted before the negotiations can take place. open.substack.com/pub/igorsush...

In den USA ist viel von einem "Deep State" die Rede, von einer angeblichen Schattenstruktur, die von der Politik nicht gesteuert werden kann. Das Gegenteil ist der Fall: Die Politik hat viel zu viel Macht, in Institutionen hineinzuregieren, die eigentlich eigenständig sein sollten - die NASA etwa.

Countless emails asking how Americans can directly aid Ukrainian soldiers. Here’s an easy answer: savelife.in.ua/en/

A Trump administration insider has leveraged a 50x Bitcoin and Etherium position bought just hours prior to the admin announcing their strategic crypto reserve into millions. Remember that crime is no longer illegal in the United States and when this administration ends they will all be pardoned.

The truth about banning “dangerous gain-of-function” research So, the US Senate has introduced a bill to ban "dangerous gain-of-function" research. But virology is already more tightly and sanely regulated; this would merely end life-saving research. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #science #biology

HEY EVERYONE REMEMBER WHEN TRUMP WAS IMPEACHED FOR DENYING AID TO UKRAINE BECAUSE HE WANTED ZELENSKY TO LIE AND SAY BAD THINGS ABOUT BIDEN AND ZELENKSY WOULDN’T DO IT? Maybe literally one fucking American newspapers could mention this in their, “think pieces,” about what happened yesterday.

I'm not shocked. This betrayal has been a foregone conclusion since Nov 5. But I will be disgusted if my German government does not take the opportunity to make lemonade from lemons. We must rebuild our military, work with France and Britain on nuclear deterrence, and #armUkraineNow any way we can.

Apology for what, betraying and backstabbing a people fighting for their survival against a genocidal invader? Spewing Kremlin-scripted mendacity in the face of Ukraine's elected leader? Yes, Caligula & his horse, I mean Trump & his VP have plenty to apologize for. These gaslighters fool no one.

Zelensky is a wartime leader watching his people suffer and die under Russian attacks every day. To be lectured and lied to by Trump and Vance, as they defend the war criminal dictator committing these atrocities, is unimaginable agony. An everlasting shame for America.

Zelensky is a hero by any sensible measure. A leader inspiring his nation in the midst of an invasion by a powerful, repressive dictatorship. The fact that any American can think of him as the bad guy just demonstrates the triumph of tribalism over principle.

Trump and Vance needed to create an incident to provide a justification for their pre-planned abandonment of Ukraine now, then separation from NATO in the near future. That’s what that was all about, and that was always the way a second Trump term was going to go.

Years ago I wrote an article for Slate detailing why RFK Jr. is an anti-vaxxer, and he was so pissed he called my editor and gave her a spittle-flecked rant for an hour. Yet here we are.

These 7 anti-science myths threaten modern-day society Science tells us what's real/true about our physical reality, and is perhaps the only "way of knowing" that leads us to facts. These 7 myths need to die if we're to move forward in the 21st century. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #science

One of the most powerful political cartoons I have seen. Follow the artist at @ellabaron.bsky.social.

Agree with this. LLMs have all sorts of abuse cases, but also have real use cases. It’s a shame to miss out on the latter because of anger at the former. I know I’ve found them helpful in learning things and getting a feeling for a field. Just gotta keep your wits about you.

Putin planned to take Kyiv in three days, but he couldn't take Kyiv in three years. The only way Putin wins now—the only way he finally succeeds in destroying Ukraine’s sovereignty—is by persuading Ukraine’s allies to abandon Ukraine. www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

In der Ukraine kämpft Zynismus gegen Überzeugung. Und der Zynismus gewinnt. www.juedische-allgemeine.de/politik/alle...

Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity are unconditional. Our priority must now be strengthening Ukraine and providing robust security guarantees. In any negotiation, Europe must have a central role. Our Weimar+ statement ↓

Our op-ed @nytopinion.nytimes.com today addresses the surprising results of recent medical studies that showed A.I. alone outperformed physicians using A.I. W/@rajpurkar.bsky.social Here is a summary Table, an overview, and a gift link to the op-ed erictopol.substack.com/p/when-docto...

Are you paying ATTENTION, yet? 👇 Well, are you?!

Seems like the USA's restrictions on AI chip exports did not work as intended. They were supposed to stall China's AI development and hobble the rising giant in the race to AGI. Instead, the export limits have pushed Chinese developers to think harder about how to do more with less.

It's the "again" that makes MAHA, like MAGA, so sickening. My mini-profile of RFK Jr. is part of Slate's new cast of characters in the Trump circle. I understand not wanting to read about these creeps & grifters & demagogues, but this series is clever & we can't not know slate.com/technology/2...

Christofascist MAGA Nazis don't want Americans to remember that the German Nazis were Christians too Hitler didn't come up with the Holocaust. Martin Luther did. Hundreds of years before Hitler was born. European history is 2000 years of Christians slaughtering other Christians and non-Christians.

"One of the great tragedies of mankind is that morality has been hijacked by religion. So now people assume that religion and morality have a necessary connection. But the basis of morality is really very simple and doesn't require religion at all." -- Arthur C. Clarke, born #OTD 1917

We've identified ~$160 billion in annual subsidies we'd like to reallocate, at 10% annually to rewild the west. The <1% of our nations livestock on public land, don't need to be there. The 600,000 miles of abandoned barbed wire can go and with wildlife overpasses we'd begin to see wildlife recover.

My appeal to Western leaders from Lviv. Stop speculating about Ukraine’s possible defeat. It has nothing to do with the facts. Ukraine, despite some naysayers, defends itself effectively against the Russian aggression, even though no-one gave it a chance in the first days of the war.

Huge randomized trial of AI boosts discovery — at least for good scientists https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03939-5 #AI #scientists

Response to coups by elected leaders: - South Korea: blocked by mass mobilization of citizens - Brazil: coup leader indicted, barred from politics - United States: coup leader re-elected with majorities in the legislature and a compliant Supreme Court

What is preventing World War III? Ukrainians are containing the ongoing war in Europe to their own country; they are deterring war in the Pacific; and they are preventing spread of nuclear weapons. These scenarios have not played out because Ukrainians take risks snyder.substack.com/p/a-third-wo...