🌐👀 Global Eyes

Pelosi goes to Taiwan. Russia steals Sudan's gold. Iran threatens to nuke New York. Vladislav narrowly escapes a sniper. And the good news: We've cracked biology's biggest problem.

🌐 Global

🔬🧬 DeepMind’s protein-folding AI cracks biology’s biggest problem:

Artificial intelligence firm DeepMind has transformed biology by predicting the structure of nearly all proteins known to science in just 18 months, a breakthrough that will speed drug development and revolutionize basic science.

• We’re past a tipping point in science that could prove groundbreaking.

• “The entire protein universe.”

• Why DeepMind’s protein-folding AI is transformational. (Paywalled.)

It’s not your imagination: The world really is spinning off its axis. The Earth has set a new record for the shortest day. The planet completed a full spin on 29 June 2022, in a time that was 1.59 milliseconds—little over one thousandth of a second—shorter than its standard 24-hour rotation.

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🌏 Asia

🇺🇸🇨🇳🇹🇼 Pelosi plans to go to Taiwan. This seems awfully dangerous. Having warned that China would respond militarily to the visit, Beijing now has to respond in some meaningful way, or Xi will lose face, which he can’t afford. He’s aiming for a third term despite the failures of his zero-Covid policy—and the Chinese economy’s in the tank. In the next few days he’ll be facing the annual conclave of Party elders in Hebei Province, and his performance will be under scrutiny. Xi has styled himself as the avatar of Chinese nationalism. It will cost him dearly if he backs down.

In the best-case scenario, some kind of kabuki theater will ensue; China and the US will display their naval assets like peacock feathers; no one will get hurt; everyone will do a lot of tub-thumping; and Pelosi will go home pleased with herself.