Ebola update, AI math scoop and permanent daylight saving time
Ebola outbreak crosses grim milestone, artificial intelligence solves major math problems, and scientists caution against making daylight saving time permanent
This week's Science Quickly podcast covers three key stories. First, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has crossed a grim milestone with over 10,000 confirmed cases since May, resulting in nearly half of the patients dying. This is the fastest outbreak on record, with the previous deadliest outbreak in West Africa taking two years and 28,000 cases.
The current DRC outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a less common species than the one responsible for the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic. Challenges with tracking cases and administering care, distrust of the government, and contact tracing issues are making the outbreak difficult to manage. However, clinical trials for a potential vaccine are underway.
In artificial intelligence news, OpenAI recently released breakthrough results in math, physics, and theoretical computer science. These breakthroughs involve AI-generated solutions to famous Millennium Prize Problems, offering a million-dollar prize for their resolution. While the results are significant, there is some controversy over whether the AI-generated proofs are actually valid solutions.
Written by urgent.news from Scientific American's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
