AI’s Kasparov vs Deep Blue moment?
This week saw AI models from OpenAI, and Google’s DeepMind achieve a gold medal score in Olympiad-level maths problems – an extremely high level that has never been achieved by a computer before. DeepMind achieved a silver medal in last year’s Olympiad but used human translations to feed the AI with more digestible formulas.
This year the process was done entirely by the algorithm, using a large language model called DeepThink. Over the course of 6 problems, DeepThink’s model scored 35 out of 42 points, which was marked by the official Olympiad’s judges. OpenAI also claimed to have scored a gold medal score, though their solutions were marked independently.
Breakthrough breast cancer study
A breast cancer research breakthrough recently saw a successful first phase trial of a new vaccine. The US trial found a 75 per cent immunity rate was developed among the 35 women in the test, many of whom were at severe genetic risk. The vaccine targets alpha-lactalbumin, a protein normally only present during pregnancy and breastfeeding. They gave the vaccine to women no longer planning to have children, aiming to reduce the risk of the immune system attacking healthy tissues — a key hurdle in previous attempts. A second trial is set to take place.
Largest ever black hole collision
The largest merger of two black holes ever recorded has been detected by astronomers. The collision of the pair, each more than 100 times bigger than our sun, sent gravitational waves — ripples of space time — across the universe. They were picked up by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory in America.
Professor Mark Hannam, head of the Gravity Exploration Institute at Cardiff University, said: “These are the most violent events we can observe in the universe … but by the time these ripples wash up on Earth they are tiny.”
Mounjaro could fight cancer
Obesity jabs such as Mounjaro could also tackle cancer, a study has suggested. Scientists at the University of Michigan administered the drug to 16 obese mice with cancer and found that as well as reducing their weight by 20 per cent, it also cut the size of their tumours.
While the results are extremely nascent, experts hope to carry out further research. It adds to the burgeoning evidence of the benefits of GLP-1 drugs such as Mounjaro and Wegovy beyond tackling obesity. Studies have shown they can also lower the risk of dementia and heart disease. W
Three-parent baby breakthrough
You’ve heard of the three-body problem — but what about the three parent solution? Through groundbreaking IVF treatment, eight healthy babies have been born in the UK with DNA from three people. The process prevents babies from inheriting incurable and often fatal mitochondria disease.
Pioneered by UK scientists, the method involves taking a fertilised embryo which contains defective mitochondria — the energy-making part of our cells — and transplanting its nucleus into another embryo, created with an egg from a healthy donor.
