Multi-Trick 3

I stumbled across a story detailing a very positive aspect of the potential of AI (which I still believe would be better understood as "MI" for Manufactured Intelligence rather than Artificial.  As is traditional, the Universe appears to not care that I am right.).  I decided that Google Gemini was the correct author for this post.  Everything below this opening paragraph is copied straight from Gemini.  This is an incredible use case but I will admit that demonstrations of this level of power and potential are quite likely to gain the attention of bad actors with limited resources.  Security must be a primary concern but, we can't and shouldn't halt human progress because a few will abuse the advancements.  But we really need to be careful.

The story you're looking for is about Paul Conyngham, an Australian tech entrepreneur and machine learning expert who used a combination of AI tools—most notably AlphaFold and ChatGPT—to develop a personalized cancer vaccine for his rescue dog, Rosie.

While the headlines often say he "cured" his dog, the reality is a bit more nuanced: the treatment successfully shrank her terminal tumors by about 75% and significantly improved her quality of life, though he and his veterinary team are still working on resistant areas of the cancer.

🔗 Key Links to the Story

• The Scientist: ChatGPT and AlphaFold Help Design Personalized Vaccine for Dog with Cancer (Comprehensive deep dive into the science).

• The Street: Tech boss uses AI and ChatGPT to make his dog a cancer vaccine (Focuses on the timeline and the "world-first" nature of the vaccine).

• The Decoder: AI consultant uses ChatGPT, AlphaFold, and Grok to find treatment (Details the specific AI stack he used).

• Vet Candy: A man with no biology degree used ChatGPT... It worked (A perspective from the veterinary community).

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🛠️ How He Did It

Conyngham didn't just "ask an AI for a cure"; he used his data science background to orchestrate a complex biological workflow:

1. Genomic Sequencing: He paid $3,000 to have Rosie’s healthy DNA and tumor DNA sequenced at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

2. Identifying Mutations: He used ChatGPT to help him analyze the 320GB of raw data to find the specific mutations driving the cancer.

3. Protein Modeling (AlphaFold): He used AlphaFold to model the 3D structure of the mutated proteins (specifically the c-KIT protein) to see how they differed from healthy ones.

4. Vaccine Design: Based on these models, he identified "neoantigens"—targets the immune system could recognize—and drafted a formula for an mRNA vaccine.

5. Expert Collaboration: He took his findings to the UNSW RNA Institute, where real-world scientists verified his work and physically manufactured the vaccine.

⚠️ A Touch of Context

While this is a triumph for "citizen science," experts note a few "don't try this at home" caveats:

• Technical Skill: Conyngham has 17 years of experience in machine learning; he wasn't a total novice to data.

• The "Cure" Label: One tumor shrank 75%, but others were resistant. It’s an ongoing treatment rather than a final "cure."

• Concurrent Therapy: Rosie was also receiving standard immunotherapy, making it hard for scientists to prove exactly how much of the success came from the AI-designed vaccine alone.

Seriously???

 Sending Barron to boot camp and advanced infantry training would increase the chances of me actually believing the war with Iran was truly necessary.

I mean, I'm not an idiot so I do understand that Felon47 is willing to throw any of his offspring not named Ivanka under bus or turn them to cannon fodder but, I know he doesn't want them to know that.

Multi-Trick Pony 2

 I have frequently, perhaps too frequently for some, pointed out that one of the major flaws with most folk's attempts to predict the future is that they pick one thing to change and then metaphorically place that one changed thing in the current paradigm.  

I rightly and accurately point out that while things are changing, things change.  The change(s) is not limited to mobile phones or computers or smart whatever's.  Case in point, the video you should definitely watch here, shows potential for as impactful a change as can happen short of AGI/ASI.

If there are flaws in the video that I would have caught had I more (read: any) education in that field, don't be shy.  Point them out on the page so that no one else need recreate my missteps.  Otherwise, feel free to share widely but, do understand it is not my video.

 Within the USA, actual intentional voter fraud is nearly non-existent and when it does happen, it is unlikely to be an immigrant or anyone on the left.

Politician fraud OTOH, is as common as a Grindr profile at a republican gathering.

Multi-Trick Pony

 The world is currently in the process of driving me batshit crazy.  Well, I say it is the world but in truth, it is pretty much just the USA and Russia.  Mostly, it is the political scene in the USA.  I have had to cut back on some of my news watching for the sake of what sanity I have left.  Luckily, I have other interests

I do consider myself a futurist and I generally pay pretty close attention to technology and science trends and news.  As is true in other endeavors, the fact of something isn't necessarily the thing you pay attention to.  Rather it is how that fact or change or new tech etc etc etc, will affect life in the future.

The attached video does a pretty good job of explaining the dimensions and output of a new electric motor design.  The motor it focuses on is rated for 1000hp.  For reference, the engine in a big rig or a large class A RV would typically have an output of 400-600hp.  The video is easily worth the watch.

I do not know what use cases are actually planned for the motor.  In my mind, adding a couple of these 30lb motors and perhaps a 200lb battery/controller to a big rig could make a real difference.  The rigs could use the electric motors to initiate motion from a stop without the typical plume of diesel exhaust hitting the air.  It could make going uphill with a full load something that doesn't have to back traffic up.  Fuel might well be saved and rather than the noise of the "Jake brake" slowing could be used just to charge the battery back up.  There is a ton of potential for savings on fuel, time, air pollution, and noise.

Of course, some folk will bitch for whatever reason they want to bitch about it but, the potential is still there. The future is coming whether you are "here for it" or not.

Out of the Frying Pan ...

 If there was any doubt, it is gone.  In the last few days, I heard Mullins talk about the war in Iran except that then he claimed it isn't actually a war.  I heard him refer to President Hegseth a couple of times.  His press interviews are painful to watch and there is a near guarantee that he will be getting some of the facts totally wrong.

I can only reach one conclusion.  The incompetence is intentional.  This time around, Felon47 has refused to hire anyone who is not incompetent and manipulable. Ignorant me from just a few years ago would have doubted there were that many people who were materially soooooooooo much less capable than the Felon but he found a bunch and the idiots in the Senate let him.

 

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”- Albert Einstein