**This Week's Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through January 17)**

**We're About to Simulate a Human Brain on a Supercomputer**

Imagine being able to simulate the human brain with unprecedented accuracy. That future is now closer than ever, thanks to advancements in supercomputing technology. New Scientist reports that researchers are working on simulating a human brain using today's most powerful computing systems.

"What would it mean to simulate a human brain?" asks Alex Wilkins in his article for New Scientist. "Today's most powerful computing systems now contain enough computational firepower to run simulations of billions of neurons, comparable to the sophistication of real brains."

With our understanding of how these neurons are wired together increasingly precise, researchers hope that brain simulations will reveal secrets of brain function previously hidden.

What would it mean to simulate a human brain? Today's most powerful computing systems now contain enough computational firepower to run simulations of billions of neurons, comparable to the sophistication of real brains. We increasingly understand how these neurons are wired together, too, leading to brain simulations that researchers hope will reveal secrets of brain function that were previously hidden.

**Gemini Is Winning**

In a recent article for The Verge, David Pierce writes about Google's growing dominance in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). With its acquisition of the AI startup DeepMind and continued investments in research and development, Google appears to be poised to become the biggest and most impactful force in AI.

"As each one of [the] elements [you need in AI] is complex and competitive," writes Pierce, "there's a reason OpenAI CEO Sam Altman keeps shouting about how he needs trillions of dollars in compute alone. But Google is the one company that appears to have all of the pieces already in order."

Each one of [the] elements [you need in AI] is complex and competitive; there’s a reason OpenAI CEO Sam Altman keeps shouting about how he needs trillions of dollars in compute alone. But Google is the one company that appears to have all of the pieces already in order. Over the last year, and even in the last few days, the company has made moves that suggest it is ready to be the biggest and most impactful force in AI.

**Meet the New Biologists Treating LLMs Like Aliens**

Will Douglas Heaven's article for MIT Technology Review explores a new field of research where researchers are treating large language models (LLMs) as if they were living creatures. This approach, pioneered by AI researchers, allows them to study patterns in the numbers that make up these massive models.

"[AI researchers] are pioneering new techniques that let them spot patterns in the apparent chaos of the numbers that make up these large language models," writes Heaven. "Studying them as if they were doing biology or neuroscience on vast living creatures—city-size xenomorphs that have appeared in our midst."

[AI researchers] are pioneering new techniques that let them spot patterns in the apparent chaos of the numbers that make up these large language models, studying them as if they were doing biology or neuroscience on vast living creatures—city-size xenomorphs that have appeared in our midst.

**Finally, Some Good News in the Fight Against Cancer**

In a heartening development, researchers have found that 70% of all cancer patients survived at least five years after being diagnosed between 2015 and 2021. This is a major improvement since the mid-1970s, when the five-year survival rate was just 49%, according to a report published in Gizmodo.

"The findings, published Tuesday, show for the first time that 70% of all cancer patients survived at least five years after being diagnosed between 2015 and 2021," writes Ellyn Lapointe. "That's a major improvement since the mid-1970s, when the five-year survival rate was just 49%, according to the report."

The findings, published Tuesday, show for the first time that 70% of all cancer patients survived at least five years after being diagnosed between 2015 and 2021. That’s a major improvement since the mid-1970s, when the five-year survival rate was just 49%, according to the report.

**Other Notable Stories**

* Scientists sequence a woolly rhino genome from a 14,400-year-old wolf's stomach (Ars Technica) * A leading use for quantum computers might not need them after all (New Scientist) * AI models are starting to crack high-level math problems (TechCrunch) * How next-generation nuclear reactors break out of the 20th-century blueprint (MIT Technology Review) * AI's hacking skills are approaching an 'inflection point' (Wired) * Anthropic's Claude Cowork is an AI agent that actually works (Wired) * Ads are coming to ChatGPT. Here's how they'll work (Wired) * Wing's drone delivery is coming to 150 more Walmarts (The Verge) * OpenAI forges multibillion-dollar computing partnership with Cerebras (The Wall Street Journal) * China just built its own time system for the Moon (Gizmodo)

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