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It’s called AlphaGenome and it looks for the ‘flaws’ in DNA that no one else sees

January 29, 2026 by usatoday24

Historically, genetics has had a big problem with our body and the instruction manual that we have in each of the cells and that gives us the possibility of living: DNA. Until now, We could only understand well 2% of all our genetic materialleaving the rest of the information in a mess drawer that came to be called “junk DNA” because we did not understand what function it had in our body. But this has changed thanks to technology. The solution. Google has wanted to collaborate with science to understand much better what 98% of our DNA does that it does not encode proteins and that we did not know its reason for being. But evolutionarily, if it has not been lost over the generations, it is because it must have had some relevant function. In order to shed light on this ‘dark’ region we now have AlphaGenome, an AI model that is capable of reading massive fragments of our DNA and predicting with great precision how small mutations can alter cellular machinery and cause diseases. Like a cancer. What we know. As we have said before, genetics knows that only 2% of the human genome contains instructions for making proteins. The rest of the DNA was a mystery for a long time until it was recently discovered that “switches”, known as enhancerswho decide when, where and how much a specific gene is expressed. The problem arose when the genetic variations in these areas were difficult to interpret due to the great diversity of molecular consequences that it can cause. Until now, computational tools had to choose: either they analyzed very short sequences in great detail or they looked at long sequences in little detail. AlphaGenome has broken that barrier. A million letters. In a very colloquial way, we can understand that human DNA is made up of letters (which are the different nitrogenous bases) and their combination literally generate a language. In this case, AlphaGenome’s great technical innovation is its ability to “zoom” and “pan” at the same time. The model takes as input 1 megabase (1 Mb) of DNA sequence, which is one million letters, and predicts thousands of functional genomic clues at single base pair resolution. And this is a vital range, since genetic regulation occurs at a distance. And although in our minds we can imagine that the ‘switches’ of the different genes are right next to or above their targets, the reality is that they can be very far from it. In fact, 99% of validated enhancer-gene pairs fall within this 1 Mb range. Its importance. It may sound like technical science fiction, but the impact of an AI understanding our “junk code” has very real consequences for patients and medicine in the near future. And AlphaGenome is not just a tool for biologists; It is a key to unblock personalized medicine. One of the most important points is in what are known as ‘rare diseases’ where dedicating a research team is unfortunately not worth it due to the few people who have a disease. In this case, AI, by interpreting all the genetic material, can show many answers ‘hidden’ in that non-coding dark matter to offer new diagnostic avenues. Computer drug. The tool promises to accelerate the design of advanced therapies. By predicting how a DNA sequence affects splicing (splicing) or expression, can be used to design drugs that act on the products generated by the genetic machinery of our cells. In this way, the door is opened to these precise and very non-invasive treatments by acting on a specific protein, which reduces its side effects. Decrypt cancer. As has been demonstrated with leukemia, the model allows us to understand the most complex genetic mechanisms of this disease in which we are facing a constant struggle. It doesn’t just say “there is a mutation,” but explains how that mutation breaks cellular rules to activate an oncogene that is the precursor to future cancer. This is vital to develop drugs that attack the root of the problem and not just the symptoms. Your availability. True to the philosophy of “open science” (with nuances), DeepMind has released the model code and weights for research, in addition to provide an online API for non-commercial use. Although logically AlphaGenome is not the end of the road, it does represent the most detailed map that we have ever woven of that “dark matter” that makes us human. Images | digitale.de In Xataka | Your DNA predicts whether you are going to use cannabis (and how often): the culprit genes have already been identified

A US company sees reasons to try it in 2026

November 27, 2025 by usatoday24

The nuclear industry has been looking for years for the moment of SMRs, smaller, cheaper and more versatile fission reactors. A Californian startup called Deep Fission believes it has the key to getting them off the ground: bury them. 160 free atmospheres. Most of the world’s commercial reactors run on pressurized water. To do this, the water that cools the core must remain liquid at more than 300ºC, which requires an immense pressure, around 150 to 160 atmospheres. On the surface, this translates into steel vessels of enormous thickness and cost. The Deep Fission proposal harness the brute force of gravity to eliminate that problem. Placing the reactor a mile underground, inside a well filled with water, the column of liquid itself exerts a natural hydrostatic pressure of 160 atmospheres. There is no need for a complex pressure vessel: the reactor water is kept in a liquid state without wasting energy or exotic materials. There is another advantage. The second key point is the mineral environment. Instead of building reinforced concrete domes to contain radiation in the event of an accident, Deep Fission takes advantage of the environment. The solid rock at that depth acts as a natural and inexhaustible retaining wall. Petroleum engineering. What Deep Fission proposes is to use standard fuel (low-enriched uranium), but with fracking and oil drilling techniques, extracting heat as if it were geothermal. Its Gravity reactor is a 15 MW module narrow enough to fit into a drill hole about 76 centimeters in diameter. But the economic promise is immense: a cost of 50-70 dollars per MWh and an 80% reduction in civil works, which would be completed in months. There is a but. Although Deep Fission has already announced a portfolio of potential clients in Texas and Kansas, its design has an Achilles heel. At the same time that burying the reactor protects it from tornadoes, plane crashes or terrorism, it creates a logistical nightmare for its maintenance. In a normal plant, if a valve fails or a sensor breaks, technicians can access auxiliary areas by taking precautions. Here, everything would be 1.6 km deep. To refuel or repair a breakdown, the entire module would have to be hoisted to the surface using cables, as if it were a miniature submarine. Today there is no regulatory framework for “deep well reactors” anywhere in the world. Still, Deep Fission promises to have a pilot ready by July 2026.

If you really want to understand China (and how it sees the future), it’s easy: read its five-year plans

November 5, 2025 by usatoday24

Today’s China bears little resemblance to that of the mid-20th century, when in the time of Mao Zedong the People’s Republic decided to promote its first five year plan. ran the year 1953 and the country was preparing for the Great Leap Forwardan attempt at industrial modernization that ended with a famine with tragic consequences. Since then China has chained almost uninterrupted five-year plans, documents that help understand its evolution. Its reading is interesting now that the Central Committee of the Communist Party has launched the machinery to provide a plan for 2026-2030. Playing short or long term? On Monday Isaac Stone Fish, founder of Strategy Risk, opened a debate interesting in X: What horizon does China use when drawing up strategies? Do you focus on the long term or do you think only a few years ahead? It is not a minor issue. Stone himself brought up the subject a video released by the White House, the fragment of an interview granted by Trump to CBS in which it was pointed out that the Chinese “are playing the long game.” Click on the image to go to the tweet. “A recommended read”. “Let’s stop saying that the Chinese are playing the long game. This is orientalist nonsense that we must eradicate from our discourse with China. Read the Five Year Plan from five years ago and you will see how different China has become from what its leaders predicted. The Chinese think, like the rest of the people, mainly about the challenges they will face today and in the years to come,” claims the analyst, who assures that long-term speeches have other purposes, such as the party’s self-reaffirmation. He is not the only one who believes it. “If you are interested in reality, read the Chinese five-year plans. They are instructive,” slid another user in X. “Read a plan from five years ago. It is recommended.” But what are five-year plans? Economic and social guides, five-year guidelines that the Chinese authorities set for themselves and that basically set objectives in terms of development, industry, innovation or well-being. Also the paths to reach them. The first dates back to 1953 and since then they have been happening (with almost no pauses) with greater or lesser success, but exerting a key influence on the national evolution of the last 70 years. In fact it is not strange to hear that the turning point in China’s modern development came in 1978, with the economic reform promoted by Deng Xiaoping, which was followed shortly after by a five-year plan for the period 1981-1985. “A macro guideline”. “The five-year plan serves as a way for leaders to take stock, examine challenges and tasks, set directions and move forward. It must be followed closely, as strategic thinking and planning have become a rarity among governments,” They explain to EFE Nomura analysts. “It is a macro-level instruction or guideline for the market to know, including investors, state-owned enterprises and the public, to have the correct expectation of what government policy will be in the future,” comment in AP Li Lun, professor at Peking University. Its role is important because, as remember Neil Thomasresearcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute, marks a key difference with Europe or the US “Western politics operates through electoral cycles, but Chinese policymaking operates through planning cycles.” In the focus. That the Chinese five-year plans are being talked about right now is no coincidence. The country is immersed in the preparation of the new roadmap that will mark its steps until 2030, a complex scenario marked by the real estate crisishe weakening of domestic consumptionthe trade tensionshe youth unemployment or the aging of the population, among other challenges. A few days ago the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party met behind closed doors to talk about the new five-year plan, a document that will not be approved until March 2026but the one that Beijing wanted advance some keys. Among other goals, the technological self-sufficiencymaintain at a level “reasonable” of manufacturing and raise life expectancy up to the 80 years. Why is it important? Because although there is still a long way to go for the approval of the new five-year plan, in the past this roadmap has been key to understanding the priorities of the Chinese Government. Also in its development. At the end of October Nick Mash published an analysis on the BBC in which he details three occasions in which the plans have influenced the world economy: the reformist and opening trend of 1981-1984, the commitment to “strategic emerging industries” during 2011-2015 and “high-quality development” (2021-2025). Images | Dominic Kurniawan Suryaputra (Unsplash) and Chinese Communist Party In Xataka | Xi Jinping wants two things: first, to create a global center that regulates AI. The second, that it is in Shanghai

“You see the enemy before he sees you”

October 14, 2025 by usatoday24

Anduril Industries, the military technology company founded by the creator of the Oculus RiftPalmer Luckey, has announced a hardware solution that your company has developed in collaboration with Meta. This is EagleEye, a modular system consisting of a military helmet equipped with mixed reality glasses. The US military is already preparing to test it. The Lord of Mixed Reality. At just 20 years old, Palmer Luckey managed to dust off virtual reality technology and turn it into a mass product with the Oculus Rift. After selling his company to Facebook for $2.4 billion in 2014, he was fired two years later and changed course to found Anduril Industries. End users no longer mattered there, because the total focus was on technology with defense applications and military. Your virtual border wall or their combat drones are two good examples, but this new modular system called EagleEye returns it to its origins and to the world of augmented and mixed reality. The US Army has been looking for something like this for years.. A decade ago the US Army began working on its Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) with the aim of assisting its troops. In 2018 the army reached an agreement with Microsoftwho began to try integrate your Hololens with that orientation, but the project ended up being a failure. It was inconvenient for the soldiers, who could not or would not use it as intended. Anduril takes the baton from IVAS. In April 2025 the army managed to transfer his contract from Microsoft to Anduril, and Luckey and his team got to work on a much more versatile and modular solution. What he proposes is a family of solutions that adapt to each type of scenario: a soldier on a ground mission may need night vision and thermal sensors, but a helicopter pilot will need other things, and a mechanic repairing a tank may only need glasses. of the Meta Ray-Ban Display type that allow teleassistance for these repairs. The EagleEye family of devices precisely allows different formats to be adopted for different use cases: it is modular, or at least that is the intention. You see before they see you. In a spectacular video shared on the official Anduril Industries account on X, the company shows a video of how the glasses would work on a ground mission. As can be seen in the video, the soldier who wears them can choose different types of vision—night, thermal—and has additional information that allows him not only to monitor the position of his companions, but also to detect and even predict the position of enemies. As they indicated in the text of that publication, the idea is “See (the enemy) before being seen.” Shooting at the target with the help of a machine. In one interview at DefenseScoop Luckey explained how all these ideas were already made up and now he’s just trying to put them into practice. One of EagleEye’s options is to offer shooting assistance, and there he explained that in reality all of these ideas had already been invented and he was just putting them into practice: “Has everyone read Starship Troopers? Robert Heinlein literally came up with all of this in the 1940s. They’re not new ideas. He said, ‘Hey, you have a ballistic computer in your mobile infantry rifle, and it tells you where the bullets are going to go based on their motion, relative motion, target, wind, and the Coriolis effect.’ Well, we’re doing all that.” Dizziness, nothing. At that same conference Luckey, who admitted to being arrogant, stated that he was “the world’s best designer of vision solutions, and I’m passionate about it.” According to him, the traditional dizziness problems that virtual reality causes are already solved in their hardware because “I already fought with those problems and solved them.” The army will test them soon. The EagleEye systems will begin to be evaluated by about 100 United States Army personnel in the second quarter of 2026. Luckey assured that they are already manufacturing most of the components that will be integrated into that hardware. According to Luckey, the goal of EagleEye is “to keep the soldier alive and make him more lethal.” Cost: about $25,000. The Army expected to pay between $50,000 and $80,000 for each system when the IVAS program was started. Luckey highlighted that Anduril expects the price of its EagleEye to end up being “half of that,” but in addition, the mass military adoption of these mixed reality helmets and glasses will reduce the cost per unit to a few thousand dollars. “I firmly believe that you’re going to see AR in every soldier’s head before you see it in every end user’s head.” In Xataka | In its obsession with bringing technology to every corner of the country, China has equipped its army with augmented reality

Jensen Huang Discrepa from Musk and sees in AI a deep labor transformation

September 2, 2025 by usatoday24

We are seeing in real time how advances in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) begin to mold the world in which we live. Models like him Figure 02 are already being tested in factorieswhile others such as Neo Beta have begun to reach the first homes. If some of the current projections are fulfilled, within a few years we could live in cities where Automats are everywhere. The big question is inevitable: what will happen if this scenario comes true? What will we live when I assume most of the work? For a long time, Elon Musk defends A “sustainable abundance” model, in which humans would receive a high universal income and access better health, food, housing and transport services. A future with robots everywhere According to your vision, jobs will become optional because “Probably none of us will have a job.” Not all the big names of the sector share this opinion. Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, coincides with Musk that there will be a massive robots deployment, But he doesn’t believe that implies the end of work. Your bet, As he revealed in an interview with Fox Businesspasses through a smaller workday. “I have to admit that I fear that in the future we will be more busy than now. The reason is that many different things that have been done faster for a long time. I am always waiting for the work to end because I have more ideas; most companies have more ideas to pursue.” The manager argues that artificial intelligence will increase our productivity, but will also allow to have more time for leisure and personal development. That does not mean, he insists, that we will be unemployed receiving an income: “We can spend more time on weekends traveling. We come from a world with work weeks of 7 days, and now we have one of 5, and each industrial revolution leads to some change in social behavior. But I hope that the economy does very well thanks to the AI. And some works will disappear, but all the works will change as a result of the AI.” As a point, the world expense at AI reached 235,000 million dollars in 2024 and, if the current rhythm is maintained, it will exceed 630,000 million in 2028, According to IDC. In an intermediate adoption scenario, up to 30% of the hours worked It could automate from here to 2030, driven by the generative AI, The McKinsey Global Institute points out. The unknown remains which of the two magnates will succeed with its prognosis. What is clear is that both have weight interests in this new scenario: Musk plans to popularize his humanoid robot Tesla Optimus, while Huang seeks to consolidate Nvidia leadership in AI and robotic systems for companies and homes. Images | Nvidia | 1x In Xataka | Zuckerberg spent hundreds of millions of dollars in signing talents in AI. Now they are escaping through the back door

After achieving what seemed impossible, Nvidia sees his future in China threatened by something terrifying: the bureaucracy

August 5, 2025 by usatoday24

What is happening to Nvidia with the GPU to artificial intelligence (AI) H20 It is a real odyssey. Currently this chip is its best asset to protect its position in the Chinese market, but at the current situation it is not clear that the company led by Jensen Huang go survive In this gigantic Asian country. Interestingly, the beginnings of this GPU in China were extraordinarily promising because Their sales grew by 50% quarter to quarter since it arrived in this market in mid -2024. However, everything was complicated for Nvidia in the middle of last April. And is that the US Department of Commerce imposed new restrictions To the export to China of the H20 GPU, which in practice caused this chip to stop reaching the Chinese clients of this company. This news Nvidia’s shares sank 6% in the bag because I could no longer attend the commitments linked to the H20 GPU that it had acquired. At the beginning of July there was another unexpected turn of events. Jensen Huang met with Donald Trump and got something that seemed impossible: the trade department would allow him Sell again in China the H20 chip. Since then four weeks have passed and Nvidia continues to wait. He has not yet received the export license you need to sell this GPU in China, and, According to ReutersThe problem is that the Commerce Department is mired in the bureaucracy, which has originated a delay in the concession of export licenses that has not occurred for more than 30 years. The future of Nvidia in China is in the hands of the Chinese government This delay comes at the worst time for Nvidia. Among Chinese clients who have bought great amounts of this GPU, and that presumably plan to continue doing itare Tencent, Alibaba or Bytedance. But if the Department of Commerce takes much more the delivery of the export license to NVIDIA these commercial operations could be canceled. And it is that Jensen Huang’s company has another very important open front. The CAC is responsible for the censorship and control of the contents published in the network As We explain to you last weekthe administration of the cyberspace of China, usually known as CAC for its English denomination (Cyberspace Administration of China), he has decided Thoroughly investigate the H20 GPU. This institution is the main Internet regulatory body in China and is responsible for the censorship and control of the contents published in the Network, the supervision of technology companies and compliance with the Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law. The problem that Nvidia faces now is that The CAC has decided to investigate it Because he suspects that the H20 chip could incorporate a rear door of difficult location by Chinese experts. If so, the possibility of China to use this GPU could be possible. At the moment the CAC has limited himself to questioning those responsible for NVIDIA in China and ask them to demonstrate that the H20 Chip does not represent a threat to the interests and security of the country led by Xi Jinping. As expected, Nvidia has immediately responded to the Chinese authorities and is collaborating to dissipate as soon as possible the doubts that loom about the H20 chip. According to SCMPthose responsible for the company in China have assured CAC researchers that the GPUs for the develops They do not incorporate any “back door” implemented to facilitate espionage by the US government. “Cybersecurity is of vital importance for us”, has declared A NVIDIA executive. “We have no rear doors in our chips that can give someone remote access or the ability to control them.” Probably during the next few days we will know how this conflict ends. Image | Nvidia More information | Reuters In Xataka | The US gives Huawei a great opportunity: to get its new chip for AI with the Nvidia market in China

Ouigo wanted to enter the Madrid-Galicia AVE but he already sees it impossible before 2030

July 23, 2025 by usatoday24

“We have no problem in competing (…) but whoever wants to come, to make the investments that it has to do and that competes on equal terms” Thus, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, president of Renfe, in the past Executive Forum where the manager approached the open door for the competitors of the trains company in Spain to take the first steps to reach Galicia, has sounded. Galicia. Renfe has entered the line between Madrid and Galicia. Although the company has had to face criticism for Do not meet the expected times and skip some stops in Zamora To reduce travel times, the Madrid-Galicia axis is working very well to the company. Only a few days ago we knew that Renfe was taking more travelers than ever. A semester of record in which this line has been key, where the train has begun to make shadow even the plane because it has better time connections if you want to travel in the day or make night and return to the origin early in the morning. The competition. A few months ago, Adif launched the Second package in liberalization of high -speed tracks. The runners are Madrid-Galicia, Madrid-Asturias/Cantabria and Madrid-Cádiz/Huelva where Ouigo, Iryo or any other company can present Renfe battle. However, this It is not expected until the next decade Because there are no trains available. Talgo has already compromised all its production of the Avril trains that work there and is aware of which roads the new owners of the company will take. This has caused a bottleneck impossible to solve if it is not renting the company’s rolling material. According to The reasonOuigo would have contacted Caf and Talgo to buy the trains but they are already committed. The only solution is to rent Renfe’s rolling material. “And if possible”. This possibility has been completely denied by Fernández Heredia, president of Renfe, with the words mentioned above. But not only that, the manager has launched a dart to his competitors, although he has not mentioned them directly, emphasizing that the one who enters the corridor will have to “compete in equal terms. And if possible, not to losses“ Public Service. Renfe’s dart is not causal. The company has long accused Ouigo of operating at losses in Spain and although the French company ensures that it is the usual strategy when entering a market and that they foresee short -term profits, the government has reached Threatening to report to the French before the European Commission. Renfe, unlike the French or Iryo, have the obligation to operate in some lines as a public service, which he weighs his results account. A good example is the Oscar Puente lamentMinister of Transportation, following his obligation to pass through Extremadura, emphasizing that this way of acting does not guarantee clean competition. More liberalizations. Renfe, for the moment, seems to be insured by the Galician corridor. The problem of the lack of trains is that anyone is worth it. Vehicles are needed that can change between Iberian and international width. This peculiarity leaves Renfe as a competitive advantage because he has some Avril who, Although not exempt from problemsnobody has. But also, Spain has to face new liberalizations very soon. Among them that of Cercanías, a very controversial area because these services are of public obligation. Only in its public services (nearby, medium distance, metric width and Avant), Renfe moved in the first semester of 2025 to 259.5 million passengers. Photo | Jose Luis Cernadas Iglesias and Patrick Janicek In Xataka | As Spain, China has built its high speed network in record time. Now face the same problem: keep it

Aguirre sees the positive side of trying young people on the South American tour of Mexico

January 23, 2025 by usatoday24

Before playing two games for South America, coach Javier Aguirre said that the result in both games would be the least important. The essential thing was to see the performance of the young players who received the opportunity in the absence of the usual starters who were not loaned by their clubs. In the matches against Internacional de Porto Alegre from Brazil and River Plate from Argentina, “Vasco” Aguire made 14 players debut with El Tri. One of them was Gilberto Mora, who became the youngest player to debut with the national team. The Tijuana midfielder is 16 years and three months old. Mexico defeated Inter 2-0 and then lost by the same score against River. “I leave with the feeling that the tour was worth it,” Aguirre said the day before. “You have to keep balance and draw conclusions. It’s good for me for the future. The objective of the tour was met. There are three or four players who really deserve a chance on the next occasions.” The veteran coach did not want to go into detail about who those players are who could fight for a place in the Nations League, where Mexico will have its next official match on March 20 against Canada. Who took advantage? Although he has few spotlights, recovery midfielder Elías Montiel is the next jewel of the Pachuca quarry and in both matches he showed why. At just 19 years old, the player became a starter for the Tuzos in the previous tournament and was one of the most outstanding in the last edition of the Intercontinental Cup. Aguirre summoned him for both matches and he was one of the few who repeated his lineup in both matches. The problem for Montiel is that in that position there is tough competition for ownership. Edson Álvarez (Fulham) and Luis Chávez (Dinamo Moscow), both with World Cup experience, usually occupy those positions. Luis Romo (Chivas) also fights for minutes. A similar case is that of Jorge Ruvalcaba, who excelled with a goal and several dangerous attempts against the Brazilians. The Pumas winger, with experience in Europe with Standard de Lieja, moves along the left wing, a sector where Julián Quiñones, Alexis Vega, César Huerta and Hirving Lozano fight to be starters. Of the rest, goalkeeper Raúl Rangel, full-back Jesús Gallardo and forward Guillermo Martínez, the only ones previously mentioned by Aguirre, fulfilled what was expected and will surely continue to be regular in the calls. What’s next? In Aguirre’s original plan, in addition to playing games outside of friendly environments such as the fields of the United States, it was contemplated to carry out “mini-cycles” of training with players from the local league. That idea was presented and approved by then-high commissioner Juan Carlos Rodriguez, who resigned from his position in December. After the little support shown by the clubs to release players for the South American tour, it is unlikely that they will want to release them for training sessions originally scheduled from Monday to Wednesday. If nothing changes, Aguirre will have to wait until mid-March to have a full team again before facing Canada in the Nations League.

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