Sunday Special: Joby claims first fully autonomous flight across the US

Welcome back, Superhuman. “There’s no one flying this plane!” is usually the kind of ominous, nerve-wracking announcement you’d expect to hear on an ill-fated flight in a Hollywood action movie. For Joby Aviation, it’s a milestone years in the making, as the company just completed what it says is the first fully autonomous flight across the US.

1. Joby Aviation claims first fully autonomous flight across the US: In a major breakthrough for pilotless flight, an aircraft equipped with Joby’s technology reportedly flew 3,199 miles without any control inputs from its onboard safety pilot, handling taxiing, takeoff, cruising, and landing completely autonomously while being monitored remotely. The company envisions the system powering everything from cargo delivery to disaster response. Watch the plane stick the landing here.

2. Scientists have found a “fire amoeba” that can thrive at a record 145°F: In California’s hot springs, scientists have found an amoeba that can grow at 63°C and survive even hotter conditions by entering a dormant state, making it the most heat-tolerant complex lifeform we’ve found. Scientists also found certain protein adaptations in the amoeba that help it avoid heat damage — a glimpse of just how far complex life can push the limits of survival. Click here to see what the unique creature looks like.

3. Anthropic claims Claude has made its first biology discovery: Researchers used Claude-powered agents to scan a database containing 1.9B protein clusters and identify a previously unknown enzyme system. The finding hasn’t been peer-reviewed yet, and outside scientists say much more lab testing is needed. Still, the experiment offers an early glimpse of AI moving beyond assisting scientists to helping generate biological discoveries itself. Take an inside look at the groundbreaking discovery here.

4. Scientists find a new type of cosmic object hiding in decades-old NASA data: Researchers analyzing observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory identified 84 “hypersoft” X-ray sources across nearby galaxies, most of them previously unknown. Scientists still aren’t sure what produces them, but possibilities include accreting white dwarfs, neutron stars or black holes paired with companion stars. The discovery could help explain how certain supernovas form.

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Backpack Therapy: Scientists have unveiled a new kind of backpack that massages your back when it senses muscle fatigue. The wearable uses electrodes to monitor back-muscle groups, then automatically moves a soft massage head to tired areas and adjusts pressure in real time. In a small study, it improved muscle recovery more than heat therapy, rest, or pre-programmed massage.

In the Works: C.T.E. can only be confirmed after death. Now, scientists may be closing in on diagnosing the condition in living patients. Researchers are developing PET scans that can spot the abnormal tau protein linked to the disease, while other teams are testing blood markers tied to brain damage and inflammation. A reliable test could finally help doctors identify who is at risk and open the door to testing future treatments.

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Zain, Faiq, and the Superhuman AI team