Recognition for Demis Hassabis and Geoffrey Hinton marks moment when important ingredients came together It was more than even the most ardent advocates expected. After all the demonstrations of superhuman prowess, and the debates over whether the technology was humanity’s best invention yet or its surest route to self-destruction, artificial intelligence landed a Nobel prize this week. And then it landed another. First came the physics prize. The American John Hopfield and the British-Canadian Geoffrey Hinton won for foundational work on artificial neural networks, the computational architecture that underpins modern AI such as ChatGPT. Then came the chemistry prize, with half handed to Demis Hassabis and John Jumper at Google DeepMind. Their AlphaFold program solved a decades-long scientific challenge by predicting the structure of all life’s proteins. Continue reading...

The 35-nation Iter project has a groundbreaking aim to create clean and limitless energy but it is turning into the ‘most delayed and cost-inflated science project in history’ It was a project that promised the sun. Researchers would use the world’s most advanced technology to design a machine that could generate atomic fusion, the process that drives the stars – and so create a source of cheap, non-polluting power. That was initially the aim of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) which 35 countries – including European states, China, Russia and the US – agreed to build at Saint-Paul-lez-Durance in southern France at a starting cost of $6bn. Work began in 2010, with a commitment that there would be energy-producing reactions by 2020. Continue reading...

Science secretary backs five quantum technology hubs in push for UK to transform healthcare and industry Britain’s plans to create advanced devices based on the mind-bending physics of the quantum world have received a £100m boost, in a move ministers hope will have a transformative impact on healthcare, transport and national security. Peter Kyle, the science secretary has announced funds to establish five quantum technology hubs across England and Scotland. They will work with industry and government to develop and commercialise devices and ultimately drive a new economy. Continue reading...