Chris Campbell:

Stanford Scientists Find That the Human Brain Is Actually Two Separate Organs

According to a new paper published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, a team led by scientists at Stanford University determined that the human brain is technically made up of two distinct organs, which evolved independently of each other over hundreds of millions of years.

The fascinating finding could upend much of what we've come to know over how the organ developed, undermining the prevailing assumption that the human brain acts as a single entity and emerged from a single evolutionary path.

The discovery could also open new doors in scientists' efforts to grow human brain cells in a lab, a key part of studying neurological diseases that affect the brain stem, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

It also seemingly adds credence to the long-debated theory that humans have a more primitive brain, colloquially known as the "lizard brain," that takes care of core functions like heartbeat regulation and breathing while a more capable counterpart takes care of more complex functions, like creative expression – or depression and anxiety, for that matter.

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Ray Blanco:

Anthropic Says Its Biology Lab Has Already Found Something Big

Last week, Anthropic confirmed that it was operating a wet biology lab in the Bay Area where it uses its AI models to run physical experiments. This week, the AI giant announced that this lab has already made what it believes is a big discovery: a new enzyme "system" that has certain "properties reminiscent of CRISPR," as Anthropic describes it.

CRISPR is a natural immune system used by bacteria to fight off viruses that has become a gene-editing technology widely used by researchers.

Essentially, what Anthropic says it found is a previously unknown enzyme system hidden in the DNA of bacteriophages, which are viruses that infect and replicate within bacteria. Anthropic's researchers say this system behaves similarly to CRISPR in that it can "perform operations like cutting, copying, and pasting DNA."

It will be up to the broader research community to validate how big, or new, this discovery actually is. But Amodei and Anthropic are not just emphasizing the discovery. They are touting it was found "mostly, though not entirely, by Claude."

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Ari Goldschmidt:

Amazon Building $100 Million Robotics Plant in Indiana

Amazon announced plans on Thursday to invest more than $100 million in a new robotics manufacturing facility in Greenwood, Indiana, bringing the total number of its robot-making plants to four.

The 585,000-square-foot facility will supply parts for Amazon's North American fulfillment and robotics operations, the company said. It is expected to open by 2028 and create 300 manufacturing and engineering jobs with average salaries of nearly $100,000 a year.

The plant will house advanced fabrication, robotic welding, automated powder coating, and assembly operations, supported by cloud and AI-powered manufacturing systems, Amazon said. Roles will include CNC operators, welders, powder coating technicians, assemblers, manufacturing engineers, quality assurance specialists, controls engineers, and program managers.

The Indiana announcement follows a similar one last month, when Amazon said it would build a robotics manufacturing hub in Austin, Texas. Together, the two new facilities will double Amazon's robot-making capacity.

Amazon said it has manufactured more than one million robots in the United States to date. Those robots are deployed across more than 300 facilities and assist with 75% of customer orders the company delivers worldwide.

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