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Today’s Topics Are:

- From Turtles to Text Prompts: MIT Rethinks the Future of Robotics
- AI Uncovers Hidden Alzheimer’s Trigger—And a Potential Treatment

From Turtles to Text Prompts: MIT Rethinks the Future of Robotics

Quick Summary:
At MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL), Director Daniela Rus is pioneering a new wave of robotics inspired by nature, not humanoids. Her team is creating soft, flexible, and even edible robots, leveraging AI to redefine what robots can be and do.

Key Points:

• CSAIL is designing robots inspired by sea turtles, worms, and origami.

• Soft robotics are safer for delicate environments like coral reefs.

• New AI systems, including liquid neural networks, make robots more adaptive and efficient.

• A "text-to-robot" tool allows users to design robots using simple prompts.

• Rus envisions robots performing tasks from surgery to making lemonade—and maybe one day, reversing aging.

Story:
While the world focuses on humanoid robots, MIT’s Daniela Rus is taking a radically different approach. Her team at CSAIL is developing soft robots shaped like turtles, worms, and even paper origami. One such creation is Crush, a robotic sea turtle designed to swim near coral reefs without causing damage. Another is a “bubble robot”—a small, affordable sphere with sensors and thrusters that explore tight spaces like caves or shipwrecks.

These robots benefit from soft robotics, an area Rus helped pioneer. The team also incorporates cutting-edge AI to enhance robot "brains." They’ve developed liquid neural networks, modeled on worm neural activity, that run on minimal computing power and adapt to complex physical environments.

Rus’s lab has even built a generative AI system called “text to robot,” which allows users to design robots with simple commands. With it, a three-fingered hand capable of handling a syringe was created—highlighting the system’s medical potential.

Conclusion:
MIT’s work under Rus signals a shift in how we define robots—not as humanoids, but as adaptable, task-specific machines. Through biomimicry and AI, Rus is opening up new realms for robotics, where form follows function and creativity knows no bounds. As she notes, the only limit now might be time itself.

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AI Uncovers Hidden Alzheimer’s Trigger—And a Potential Treatment

Quick Summary:
Researchers at UC San Diego have used artificial intelligence to uncover a hidden function of a gene linked to Alzheimer’s disease, offering new insight into its causes and paving the way for a promising treatment using a molecule called NCT-503.

Key Points:

• AI helped reveal a new function of the PHGDH gene, long associated with Alzheimer’s.

• The gene may disrupt inflammation control and waste clearance in brain cells.

• A molecule, NCT-503, can inhibit the harmful action of PHGDH without blocking its vital functions.

• Treated mice showed improved memory and reduced anxiety.

• The molecule can pass the blood-brain barrier and could be developed into an oral drug.

Story:
Alzheimer’s disease remains one of medicine’s most complex puzzles. But scientists at UC San Diego are making progress with the help of artificial intelligence. Their research focused on PHGDH, a gene previously linked to faster Alzheimer’s progression. Until now, it wasn’t clear why this gene was so harmful.

Using AI to model the 3D structure of the enzyme it produces, researchers discovered PHGDH has an unexpected role: flipping genetic switches inside astrocytes—critical brain cells that manage inflammation and waste. When PHGDH malfunctions, it may trigger or accelerate Alzheimer’s by disrupting these key functions.

To counter this, the team used AI to analyze NCT-503, a molecule that blocks the gene's damaging activity without disrupting its essential enzymatic role. Testing in mice showed promising results: memory and anxiety levels improved. Crucially, NCT-503 can cross the blood-brain barrier, making it a strong drug candidate.

Conclusion:
This AI-driven breakthrough offers a compelling new direction in Alzheimer’s research. By uncovering the dual role of PHGDH and identifying a potential treatment, scientists are inching closer to managing—perhaps even preventing—this devastating disease. While much testing remains, the discovery marks a critical step toward better therapies.

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