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Top science & technology news, August 24, 2026
- Training AI to Paint with Code
AI can now generate images using editable code instead of text prompts. This project explores reinforcement learning in creative tasks by making code the editable artefact.
- Valor, Point72 back General Intuition at $6B valuation as AI startup pushes into robotics
AI startup General Intuition, building a foundation model for generalized AI agents, is raising funds at a $6 billion pre-money valuation. New investors include Valor Equity Partners and Point72 Ventures, while existing ones like Khosla Ventures are also participating.
- Structural-functional calibration improves accuracy in volumetric calcium imaging
New method reduces false neuron counts by 37-46% in zebrafish brain recordings.
- Learn to build LLMs from scratch
Paul Graham says he would learn to build LLMs from scratch at 17 instead of starting a startup. He believes deep understanding of LLMs leads to better startup ideas.
- Peppermint oil reduces blood pressure by 8.48 mmHg in small study
A 20-day randomized, placebo-controlled trial found that daily peppermint oil supplementation reduced systolic blood pressure by 8.48 mmHg in 40 individuals with pre- and stage 1 hypertension.
- OpenAI is building AI agents for everything. Will everyone use them?
OpenAI is developing AI agents that can control users' digital lives, including email, Slack, phone, and more, raising questions about trust and control over such technologies.
- Synthetic modified mRNAs stimulate beta-cell proliferation in rodents and humans
Modified mRNAs encoding cell cycle regulators increased beta-cell numbers in rats by nearly 100%, but required co-delivery of MYC mRNA for human cells.
- Developmental Changes in Gray Matter Microstructure and Local Brain Connectivity Support Inhibitory Control from Adolescence to Young Adulthood
Microstructural changes in gray matter may support circuit refinement and mature behavior through interactions with functional circuitry.
- A new 'stealth' LLM was launched offering 100T tokens per day
Ox Alpha is a reasoning-first model capable of handling a million tokens of context.
- Exploring How Cellular Senescence Spreads in the Aging Brain
Senescent cells accumulate with age throughout the body, either in response to forms of damage and stress or on reaching the Hayflick limit on replication. A senescent cell ceases to replicate, grows in size, and secretes a potent mix of pro-growth, pro-inflammatory signals. With age, the immune system becomes less efficient at clearing senescent cells. Signals from these cells can induce nearby cells to also become senescent, accelerating their accumulation.
- Roche signs $2.5B deal for Hanmi’s clinical-stage obesity drug targeting less-explored mechanism
Roche acquires a clinical-stage obesity drug from Hanmi targeting an underexplored mechanism, paying $190 million upfront.
- Plant Bioengineering Atlas: A Knowledge Graph of Genes, DNA Constructs, and Plant Traits
The atlas contains 14,358 curated records of engineered genes and plant traits.
- Citywide implementation of rapid whole-genome sequencing for critically ill children
Genomic sequencing altered care trajectories in 53% of patients in Dubai's pediatric ICU.
- Roche and Eli Lilly secure FDA approval for first-of-its-kind Alzheimer’s biomarker blood test
Roche and Eli Lilly have received FDA clearance for their latest Alzheimer’s disease diagnostic, which is the first of its kind.
- A patient's own mitochondria injected into eyes to restore vision
Injecting a person's own mitochondria into the retina was safe but had only a temporary effect on restoring vision.
- Replicative history as a major determinant of epigenetic noise across human tissues
The study found that epigenetic noise in human tissues is largely determined by replicative history rather than chronological age. Analysis of 1,531 samples from 14 tissues showed that corrected entropy was low in promoters and CpG islands, but high in CpG-poor and intergenic regions. Biological age acceleration was largely attributable to cell division in a tissue-specific manner.
- Billion-dollar machine aims to set fusion-energy record and study nuclear weapons
Pacific Fusion is building a reactor near a US nuclear-weapons lab to leverage its expertise.
- Double shrinkage transfer causal learning: An application to alzheimer’s disease
The study proposes DSTCL to estimate the causal effect of ABeta42 on cognitive outcomes in African Americans. It addresses small sample sizes and noise from irrelevant covariates. The work includes 1500 participants and 100,000 observations, but does not account for genetic factors.
- Essential function of femaleless in female gametogenesis controls gene drive spread in Anopheles gambiae
The study shows that the gene femaleless (fle) plays a key role in female gametogenesis in Anophe, gambiae. Using gene drives with distinct temporal expression profiles, the researchers modulated Cas9 activity. The zpg-driven system achieved 98% transmission through males but caused complete sterility in hemizygous females due to early biallelic disruption of fle.
- Reviewing the Contribution of Mitochondrial Supercomplexes to Aging and Longevity
Researchers showed that mitochondrial supercomplexes play a key role in mitochondrial function and the rate of aging.
