Changing Times

Friday, February 14, 2025

Happy Valentine’s Day, and (BTW) this month’s halfway point.

This morning, while reading about advances in AI, I got stuck on mentions of AI’s abilities in “folding proteins.” While looking up what that meant, I became fascinated by the world of folding proteins, brand new to me.

Teaching AI to fold proteins allows the technology to identify, study, and capably manipulate molecules, thus discovering an individual protein’s essential shape. This shape dictates a protein’s behavior in a living body. AI’s findings help researchers better understand how protein shapes dictate their behaviors. They let researchers study possible and perhaps viable new protein shapes, causing different behaviors in problem conditions and suggesting possible advances in medical care.

Focusing on that “protein world” carried me into another AI world, that of weaponry. While I feel very confused about current politics relative to today’s world stage, I do understand a new reality–that Ukraine is using AI data to create new weapons. They’re being constructed quickly and less costly than traditional R&D methods; they’re highly effective on the battlefield.

Perhaps understanding weapons and new technologies will clarify some of the confusing world of politics and nation-positioning.

Dear Friends, I am interested and could continue, but my writing time is short. Diana