This week in science

Author

Neil Baugh
January 24, 2024

Happy Wednesday morning! Thanks for joining in for another week of science.

Here’s 5 articles picked out for you. Let me know what you think by taking the polls at the bottom.

1. AI in medicine — who diagnoses better?

Google's AI chatbot allegedly surpasses human doctors in text-based medical diagnoses

Google's latest study unveils the superior performance of its AI chatbot, AMIE, in diagnosing medical conditions through text-based interactions.

readwrite.com/googles-ai-chatbot-allegedly-surpasses-human-doctors-in-text-based-medical-diagnoses

Google is rolling out new AI models for health care. Here's how doctors are using them

Google announces MedLM, a new suite of health-care specific AI models.

www.cnbc.com/2023/12/13/how-doctors-are-using-googles-new-ai-models-for-health-care.html

Google claims that their AI outperformed licensed physicians in medical interviews in listing possible diagnoses. Do I think AI is unequivocally better than doctors based on this one study? No. These were all simulated patients, and as the authors stated, “we want the results to be interpreted with caution and humility.” - Alan Karthikesalingam.

Biology and medicine are both areas that AI could have a large impact. One of the primary hurdles in both fields is that there’s a lot of info out there - arguably too much for us to effectively manage. AI might do a better job at some tasks, but interacting with patients is one I find a bit of a stretch right now.

Still pretty cool and shows that AI keeps getting better!

Using the body’s own cells to treat traumatic brain injury

Macrophages bearing microparticle “backpacks” reduce lesion size and inflammation at the site of brain injuries, mitigating damage

wyss.harvard.edu/news/using-the-bodys-own-cells-to-treat-traumatic-brain-injury

Scientists at Harvard developed a treatment for concussions by hitchhiking on immune cells to deliver therapeutics to the brain. They attach particle “backpacks” that ride the immune cells to the brain while simultaneously keeping the immune cells in a favorable state. With their backpacks on, the immune cells help heal the brain and help speed recovery after brain injury.

You can find the full paper here or a nice writeup from the Harvard press above.

Nuclear battery could give us smartphones that never need to charge

Betavolt says its battery could power mobile phones that never need to be charged and drones that can fly forever

www.independent.co.uk/tech/nuclear-battery-betavolt-atomic-china-b2476979.html

A startup in China announced that they developed a nuclear-powered battery that can run for 50 years without a break. Called a thermonuclear battery, the device works by harnessing the energy of decaying isotopes of elements and turning it into electricity.

The technology has been around for a while in space station batteries, but hasn’t been brought to the public yet. We’ll see what happens once the batteries actually hit the market, but love the idea of not ever replacing batteries again.

5 things you didn't know about how animals see color

How do animals see color? From ultraviolet patterns to thermal sensing to night vision, Jennifer Levine explores the amazing world of animal eyesight.

crosstalk.cell.com/blog/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-how-animals-see-color

Some pics/videos on how different animals see color! As a colorblind person, I can relate to the struggle.

Eli Lilly gene therapy allows child born deaf to hear, clinical trial shows

An Eli Lilly experimental gene therapy has restored the hearing of a child who was born deaf.

www.marketwatch.com/story/eli-lilly-gene-therapy-allows-child-born-deaf-to-hear-clinical-trial-shows-e66d55be

Exactly what it sounds like. They restored hearing to a child born deaf due to a genetic condition. Nothing more to say really, it’s amazing.

See you next week for more science,

Neil

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