News

This post collects links to other interesting news that we have considered but not included in our regular news this week.

Researchers have shown that autonomous AI systems can create their own communication systems without human guidance. The breakthrough could enable self-driving cars, robots and industrial sensors to share information that human languages cannot express.

Anthropic researchers demonstrate that compact AI models can soon self-replicate across everyday internet-connected devices like smart TVs and ovens. Their experiments show how autonomous replication works, why it would be hard to stop, and when to expect this threat to become real.

Harvard researchers identified SRSF1, an RNA splicing factor, as a geroprotective target that reverses multiple hallmarks of aging in human cells and extends median lifespan by 14% in mice. The study demonstrates a safer alternative to Yamanaka factor reprogramming by rejuvenating cells without erasing their identity.

Researchers at the University of Washington have computationally designed synthetic proteases - enzymes that precisely cut other proteins at chosen sequences. Two studies published in Nature describe zinc-based metalloproteases and cysteine proteases created entirely from scratch using deep learning. These designer enzymes show rate enhancements millions to hundreds of millions of times faster than uncatalyzed reactions, and they work inside living cells. The work opens paths to destroying disease proteins, clearing misfolded proteins from neurodegenerative diseases, and activating drugs only in targeted tissues.

A team at Penn State has developed "neuromorphic tissue" - soft networks of water-based droplets connected by cell-like membranes that can process information using ions rather than electrons. The approach mimics how the brain processes signals and could lead to low-energy computing for wet environments and biological interfaces.