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- I’d Rather Risk Cancer Than See AI Move This Fast
On a fall afternoon 15 years ago, I met an idealistic researcher outside a Stanford coffee shop to discuss our shared dream: using AI to detect cancer. He had wiry hair, a penchant for talking with his hands, and a reputation for brilliance. He worked at a research lab that developed early screens for cancer; I, at 20, had just learned that I carried a mutation that conferred a very high risk of breast, ovarian, and other cancers. Over the following years, he offered guidance on how to enter his field, prepared me to apply for the scholarship that would fund my Ph.D., and warned me away from cancer-screening companies that made exaggerated claims.But from there our paths diverged. I became an AI professor. He co-founded Anthropic. My mentor was Dario Amodei, the man who leads one of the most powerful AI companies in the world. In a utopian 2024 essay titled “Machines of Loving Grace,” he predicted that superhuman AI—smarter than Nobel Prize winners, freely using computers, and collaborating with millions of copies of itself—could soon compress a century of scientific progress into a single decade, and potentially reduce cancer mortality by 95 percent.Which should sound pretty good to me. At 35, my cancer risks are catching up with me. A few weeks ago, surgeons removed my ovaries, instantly inducing menopause and destroying my ability to naturally bear children. By 40, the risk of breast cancer for carriers of my mutation rises to one in four, double the lifetime risk for the average woman. My mother, who also carries the mutation, was diagnosed with breast cancer at 45. Now would be a fabulous time in my life for a superintelligent AI to cure cancer.Why, then, do I find myself rooting for delays in the creation of this AI—hoping, in my heart of hearts, that GPT-6 will be a disappointment?Part of the answer is that, despite the extraordinary speed of AI development, I do not believe that AI is likely to cure cancer anytime soon—certainly not enough to bet my life on it. This skepticism is shared by most of the AI experts in a survey I recently advised, who generally expect slower progress than the leaders of AI labs. AI systems are strongest in settings such as chess, where they can generate infinite data (by playing over and over again), experiment freely, and observe exactly what happens. Many important… [TheTopNews] Read More.2 days ago - “Super El Niño” Is Terrible News for Farmers Around the World
This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The oceanic phenomenon known as El Niño, which increases temperatures worldwide, has officially begun, according to US weather forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Meteorologists have warned that this could be the strongest El Niño this century. It is expected to drive extreme weather events around the world, including both severe droughts and heavy rainfall, likely leading to major disruptions in agricultural production and food security. El Niño is part of a cyclical, naturally occurring weather pattern that redistributes warm air, surface water temperatures, and moisture across the tropical Pacific Ocean. During El Niño, trade winds that typically blow east-to-west from the Americas to southeast Asia slow down or sometimes reverse. Normally, these winds push warm water along the equator—but during El Niño conditions, that warm water shifts back east. Although El Niño does not follow a specific timeline, it typically occurs every two to seven years. Certain policies may ensure there’s “enough food,” but “that’s not going to take care of the people whose livelihoods depend on” agriculture. Beginning in the summer, El Niño typically peaks around December or the following January. (The pattern was named El Niño—Spanish for little boy—by fishermen in South America who noticed warmer waters around Christmas time, and associated it with the birth of Jesus Christ.) That means the most significant impacts of the cyclical weather phenomenon may not be felt until months from now. NOAA’s most recent calculations show a high likelihood of a “very strong” El Niño, meaning average surface temperatures in the Pacific jump by more than 2 degrees C. (Some experts are calling this year’s a “super” El Niño, although some agencies, like the World Meteorological Organization, reject this language.) Because it impacts a “diverse set of geographies,” said Weston Anderson, a climate scientist at the University of Maryland, “there is no one set of impacts.” El Niño can contribute to severe droughts in one part of the world and heavy rainfall in others—both of which can disrupt growing seasons in key breadbaskets of the world. But the ways in which this year’s El Niño will interact with the effects of global warming—and what that means for food security—is something scientists are still actively observing and untangling. “That question is still really important open science,” said Jennifer Burney, a professor at Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability whose work focuses on climate… [TheTopNews] Read More.2 days ago - Bioprinting on demand
MEDICAL SCIENCE [TheTopNews] Read More.2 days ago - F.A.A. Investigates Near Miss Between Planes at Boston’s Logan Airport
A Delta Air Lines flight aborted its landing to avoid another plane that was taking off from an intersecting runway, the agency said. [TheTopNews] Read More.2 days ago - Cities and Schools Are Testing Wastewater for Illicit DrugsThe White House recently endorsed monitoring sewage for evidence of drug use. Critics fear such efforts could violate privacy and stigmatize neighborhoods. [TheTopNews] Read More.2 days ago
- How can we help our fathers live longer?
One in five men dies before the age of 65 but getting help sooner could save lives. [TheTopNews] Read More.2 days ago
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