a day ago
New Alzheimer's drug could wipe out deadly illness. Your tech and science digest
Baby born from 30-year-old embryo
The world's oldest baby was born last week, from an embryo frozen three decades ago. Thaddeus Daniel Pierce was conceived in 1994, one of four embyros produced by American Linda Archerd as a result of IVF treatment. One became her daughter, now 30, and she kept the other three in storage after her marriage ended.
Thaddeus was born after Archerd, now 62, donated an embryo to Ohio couple Lindsey and Tim Pearce, 35 and 34, via a Christian adoption agency. It is believed to be the longest an embyro has been frozen before resulting in a successful live birth.
Breakthrough trial offers Alzheimer's hope
Alzheimer's is one of the biggest killers in the UK, and as of yet there is no cure. However, early medical trials of a new drug, Trontenimab, have shown promising signs. Alzheimer's occurs most commonly in older brains and has been heavily linked to a build up of protein called amyloid plaques.
These can slow down brain function by disrupting chemical message routes. The drug, developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, showed a 91 per cent reduction in amyloid plaques on the participants, with 49 out of 54 showing an improvement in the trial.
Google goes green with new AI model
Tech companies' hunger for growth often comes at the expense of the environment. But Google's latest AI model — announced alongside a supporting paper published with Google DeepMind — aims to put more effective tools in the hands of climate scientists.
AlphaEarth Foundations maps the world by using satellite data sets from 2017 to 2024, allowing researchers to analyse biodiversity, track deforestation and hone the efficiency of green energy. It could be groundbreaking for scientists, who usually have to sift through data for hours.
Musk's big payday
They say good things come to those who wait. But what about those who publicly feud with the leader of the free world? Still great things, apparently. Elon Musk was granted a £21.7 billion worth of shares of Tesla in reward this week, after threatening to walk from the EV-company, due to 'activist' shareholders he claimed posed a threat to him. Tesla has given Musk 96 million shares, bumping his total ownership of the brand up to 16 per cent.
Musk hasn't been paid by Tesla in years since a Delaware court denied Musk's 2018 pay package – worth $56 billion – on the grounds the equity grant was unfair and that the board was not fully transparent with shareholders. The board hopes the new reward for Musk will focus the unpredictable entrepreneur's energy on the electric car brand, who have had a difficult fiscal year so far.
Competition winner's stunning space deisgn
The Project Hyperion design competition tasked teams of engineers from around the world to theorise a space shuttle for a one-way mission to a distant lifeform 250 years away. The shuttle needed to be able to support the life of up to 1000 inhabitants, so maintaining food sources, sustainable fuel, and the passengers' sanity would be of paramount importance. This week the panel of expert judges, including members of Nasa, announced the winner.
Chrysalis, which took first place, is a 58km long cylindrical vessel, powered by helium-3 and deuterium fuel. The team thought outside the box, theorising a fair social order – as an alternative to democracy – within the crew of the ship that would ensure balance is maintained.
It also had farms for growing food and spinning concentric cylinders to recreate gravity. Chrysalis showed that the devil was in the detail to be crowned champions, considering every minutiae of the mission, from procreation, to screening the crew candidates in preparation for take off.
