Material science leap, missed vaccines, and Haiti in crisis

Last week ChatGPT read 8356 top news stories. After removing previously covered events, there are 7 articles with a significance score over 7.3.

[8.2] Covid-19 pandemic leads to 60 million missed vaccines — The New York Times [$]

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to over 60 million children missing standard childhood vaccines, resulting in serious outbreaks of diseases. By mid-2023, 47 countries reported measles outbreaks, up from 16 in 2020. Nigeria faces its largest diphtheria outbreak, with over 17,000 suspected cases and nearly 600 deaths. 12 countries have circulating polio virus. Gavi reports "zero-dose children" account for nearly half of all child deaths from vaccine-preventable illnesses. An additional 85 million children are under-immunized due to the pandemic.

[7.6] Haiti's gang violence threatens food access, displaces thousands — The Guardian

Haiti's gang violence has spread to key farming areas, displacing 22,000 people and impacting food access. Gangs are burning houses, stealing crops, and carrying out kidnappings and sexual violence. The UN urges immediate international security assistance and highlights the severe humanitarian crisis, with nearly half the country going hungry.

[7.5] AI discovers 2.2 million crystal structures, revolutionizing material science — Financial Times [$]

Google DeepMind's AI tool, GNoME, discovered 2.2 million theoretical crystal structures, far surpassing the previous record of 48,000 known stable materials, which included about 28,000 discovered in the past decade. This discovery equates to almost 800 years of material science progress. In a practical application, an autonomous laboratory, A-lab, used AI to successfully synthesize 41 out of 58 targeted novel compounds, achieving a success rate of over 70%. This breakthrough demonstrates AI's potential to significantly accelerate material science and technological advancements.

[7.5] 2D material reshapes 3D electronics for AI hardware — Washington University in St. Louis

A team of international researchers published a breakthrough in computer chip technology in Nature Materials. They developed a monolithic 3D-integrated chip using six atomically thin 2D layers, each serving a unique function. This innovation significantly reduces processing time, power consumption, latency, and physical footprint, enhancing AI computing efficiency. The technology promises to revolutionize multifunctional computing hardware, potentially impacting a wide range of applications from autonomous vehicles to medical diagnostics.

[7.3] $30 billion climate fund announced by UAE President — Reuters

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, President of the United Arab Emirates, announced the creation of a $30 billion climate fund at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai. The fund aims to address the climate finance gap and stimulate $250 billion of investment by 2030.

[7.3] Long-term foreign capital exiting China due to economic concerns — Reuters

Long-term foreign capital is exiting China, with 22 major funds managing $4.3 trillion showing no positive outlook for China's economy. China recorded its first-ever quarterly deficit in foreign direct investment, with outflows exceeding $100 billion in the first three quarters of 2023. China's regulatory crackdowns and cross-border investment curbs are affecting new equity listings and mergers. Despite some recent upgrades of China's growth forecasts, manufacturing activity shrank in November.

[7.3] World Bank to increase climate project spending — Reuters

The World Bank plans to increase its annual spending on climate-related projects to 45% of its financing from 2024 to 2025, up from the current 35%. This policy overhaul, led by new president Ajay Banga, will allocate $40 billion, $9 billion more than previously planned, to address climate change and hunger. The bank aims to expand programs and boost lending power.

Thanks for reading us and see you next week,

Vadim