Lifeboat Foundation

Circa 2016 could cure viruses in no time.

When you get right down to it, developing vaccines is about data and luck. Scientists start with a set of variables—what drugs a virus responds to, how effectively, and for whom—and then it’s a whole lot of trial and error until they stumble upon a cure.

One of the most exciting possibilities in medical research right now is how technology like machine learning could help researchers rapidly process those enormous sets of data, more quickly leading to cures. This is already starting to happen: In a study published Wednesday in the journal Macromolecules, researchers from IBM and Singapore’s Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology reveal a breakthrough that could help prevent deadly virus infections. With the help of IBM super computer Watson, they hope their finding will soon make its way into vaccines.

Continue reading “Here’s how artificial intelligence could cure disease in the future” »

Not everything is knowable. In a world where it seems like artificial intelligence and machine learning can figure out just about anything, that might seem like heresy – but it’s true.

At least, that’s the case according to a new international study by a team of mathematicians and AI researchers, who discovered that despite the seemingly boundless potential of machine learning, even the cleverest algorithms are nonetheless bound by the constraints of mathematics.

“The advantages of mathematics, however, sometimes come with a cost… in a nutshell… not everything is provable,” the researchers, led by first author and computer scientist Shai Ben-David from the University of Waterloo, write in their paper.

Getting robots to just pick things up has always been a big challenge for engineers, but artificial intelligence is helping teach these machines new tricks. Startup Covariant, formerly known as Embodied Intelligence, says its bots are ready for full-time operation, and are being installed in warehouses around the world.

In a newly published paper, researchers detail an experimental model that can extract device PINs and passphrases from the sounds of tapping fingers.

Circa 2019

Technology has long been helping to hack world hunger. These days most conversations about tech’s impact on any sector of the economy inevitably involves artificial intelligence—sophisticated software that allows machines to make decisions and even predictions in ways similar to humans. Food waste tech is no different.

Continue reading “Food Waste Is a Serious Problem. AI Is Trying to Solve It” »

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But the lab that produced it says the vaccine won’t be ready for human use for at least a year.

Scientists say lab-grown virus is ‘game changer’ in fight against illness.

Circa 2016

Last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan announced an ambitious project—to “invest in basic science research with the goal of curing disease.” The couple started by donating $3 billion over 10 years in this initiative, which target four major groups of illnesses: cancer, infectious diseases, as well as heart and neurological diseases.