GoKawiilThe ‘steroid Olympics’ could highlight cracks in the anti-doping system. Plus, AI brain implants are headed for real-world use in China and the progress on treatments for the virus at the centre of the Ebola outbreak.
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A brain-computer interface developed by Chinese company NeuroXess.Credit: Chengdu Economic Daily/VCG via Getty
Start-up firms in China are ramping up their efforts to develop artificial-intelligence-powered brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) that can help people move, speak and control external devices. One company, NeuroXess, has run a small trial in which a BCI enabled one man with a spinal cord injury to control appliances by moving a computer cursor with his thoughts. The company has also developed a large language model that enables a brain implant to decode Mandarin at a rate faster than the average talking speed of a native speaker.
Nature | 5 min read
Scientists are racing to trial experimental treatments and potentially vaccines against the rare Bundibugyo species of the Ebola virus, which is spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. A World Health Organization-sponsored clinical trial is set to test two treatments — a broad-acting antiviral and a mixture of two antibodies that recognizes diverse strains of Ebola — pending approval by the two countries’ governments. Options for vaccines are limited, but health officials are considering whether an approved vaccine for another species of Ebola virus could be trialled in the current outbreak.
Nature | 5 min read
The de-extinction company Colossal Biosciences says it has developed a key technology for bringing back extinct birds and rescuing endangered ones: an artificial egg. Colossal says it hopes to use the egg as part of its plan to resurrect the extinct South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus). The egg is detailed in a press release and video, but not in a paper or preprint. “It could be really important, it could be fantabulous,” says stem-cell biologist Paul Mozdziak. “Without data, it’s really impossible to judge.”
Nature | 7 min read
Colossal says that the artificial egg — a 3D-printed lattice shell that protects a transparent silicon membrane — has ‘hatched’ around two dozen chicken and quail. (Colossal Biosciences)
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