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    Lila Sciences Uses A.I. to Turbocharge Scientific Discovery

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    Across the spectrum of uses for artificial intelligence, one stands out.The big, inspiring A.I. opportunity on the horizon, experts agree, lies in accelerating and transforming scientific discovery and development. Fed by vast troves of scientific data, A.I. promises to generate new drugs to combat disease, new agriculture to feed the world’s population and new materials to unlock green energy — all in a tiny fraction of the time of traditional research.Technology companies like Microsoft and Google are making A.I. tools for science and collaborating with partners in fields like drug discovery. And the Nobel Prize in Chemistry last year went to scientists using A.I. to predict and create proteins.This month, Lila Sciences went public with its own ambitions to revolutionize science through A.I. The start-up, which is based in Cambridge, Mass., had worked in secret for two years “to build scientific superintelligence to solve humankind’s greatest challenges.”Relying on an experienced team of scientists and $200 million in initial funding, Lila has been developing an A.I. program trained on published and experimental data, as well as the scientific process and reasoning. The start-up then lets that A.I. software run experiments in automated, physical labs with a few scientists to assist.Already, in projects demonstrating the technology, Lila’s A.I. has generated novel antibodies to fight disease and developed new materials for capturing carbon from the atmosphere. Lila turned those experiments into physical results in its lab within months, a process that most likely would take years with conventional research.Catie Ramnarine, a research assistant at the Lila Sciences lab in Cambridge, Mass., where artificial intelligence is rapidly accelerating the scientific process. We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      How Syria’s Rebels Took Damascus, Captured on Video

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      A brazen nighttime prison release. Presidential posters set on fire. Children playing in the halls of a building once controlled by the former regime.The fall of Damascus, Syria’s capital, happened quickly and dramatically, and much of what we know about the end of Bashar al-Assad’s reign in the country was captured on people’s phones for the world to see. Footage began emerging on social media at 4 a.m. local time on Sunday. It showed the rapid advance of a rebel army that took control of Damascus in just a few hours.Despite reports that government forces were preparing to defend the capital, the Syrian army was nowhere to be found. One video from Damascus showed a military checkpoint that had been abandoned. Inside, what looked like army uniforms littered the floor of the building, which was plastered with large posters of Mr. al-Assad.Associated PressOn the northern outskirts of the city, rebel forces moved swiftly to take control of Sednaya prison, a notorious government complex known for torturing and executing political prisoners. Videos showed groups of men walking through city streets at night, reportedly after being freed from the prison.Other videos posted online showed scenes of joy and disbelief as dozens of people were released from the prison complex. On social media, Syrians posted photos of loved ones who had been detained at the prison, hoping someone might identify them and confirm that they were free.Operations Room to Conquer Damascus, via ReutersAs news began to circulate that the rebels had arrived in the capital, residents began streaming into Umayyad Square in central Damascus. Men gathered around a tank and climbed on top of it, raising their hands in the air as a group of onlookers clapped and played music. The square was soon packed with dozens of cars, and sounds of celebratory gunfire filled the air.By dawn, many were speculating that Syria’s president had fled the country. Crowds outside the Dar al-Assad Center for Culture and Arts stomped on burning images of Mr. al-Assad and tried to topple a statue of his father, Hafez al-Assad. Unsuccessful in taking down the statue, they left a trash can on its head.Hours later, inside Mr. al-Assad’s former seat of power, families wandered through the presidential palace as if they were visiting a museum, smiling and posing for photographs in the halls. Some even collected furniture and dishes as souvenirs.Associated PressBy Sunday afternoon, videos shared on social media showed the rebel leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani entering the Umayyad mosque in Damascus. Masked security guards escorted him through the crowd as residents battled to try to get a photo with him.In a statement, Mr. al-Jolani described the rebel takeover as a victory for the entire nation.“The future is ours,” he said. More

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      These Uncommitted Voters Finally Made Their Choice for President

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      Over the last four months, these voters have struggled with their decision. Now, with time short, they explain who’s getting, or not getting, their vote.Over the last four months, The New York Times has been speaking with undecided voters after some of the most dramatic moments of the presidential campaign, to learn how those events were shaping their choice.The people we talked with live in states where the polling is tight, and voters like them will play an outsize role in determining the outcome. They are concerned about the cost of living, former President Donald J. Trump’s volatility and Vice President Kamala Harris’s vision for the country.They are sporadic voters, disaffected former partisans, Republicans and Democrats. Some of them shifted their decisions over the course of the campaign. Others will decide when they step into the booth.While a lot has happened over the last few months, poll numbers have remained largely stable. The vast majority of American voters have made up their minds, adding even more weight to what persuadable voters ultimately decide.Kristen Morris voted for Ms. Harris.In the spring, Kristen Morris, 60, a former Republican, was feeling deeply pessimistic about her two choices for president. She felt troubled by Mr. Biden, whom she had voted for in 2020: She worried about his cognitive abilities and was unhappy with his handling of the country’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. And she was stunned that Mr. Trump continued to express no remorse over the Jan. 6 riot.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      We Watched Vance’s Old Debates. Here’s What We Learned.

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      Senator JD Vance assumed his first public office just last year. But to win that job, he had to survive about a dozen debates, sharpening his chops when facing opponents onstage.Some politicians enjoy mixing it up with crowds on the campaign trail, while others revel in fund-raising.JD Vance loves debates.Mr. Vance, the first-term Republican senator from Ohio, will get his moment on the most prominent stage of his fledgling political career on Tuesday, when he represents Donald J. Trump’s presidential ticket in a matchup against his Democratic rival, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.It’s a moment he has been anticipating for months.Mr. Vance spoke eagerly about the vice-presidential debate shortly after being named to Mr. Trump’s ticket in July. When President Biden dropped out of the race, Mr. Vance reacted with disappointment — because now he would no longer debate Vice President Kamala Harris.“Talk about take-backs,” Mr. Vance said at his first solo campaign event. “I was told I was going to get to debate Kamala Harris, and now President Trump’s going to get to debate her. I’m kind of pissed off about that if I’m being honest with you.”For his face-off with Mr. Walz, Mr. Vance has been busy with debate prep, including semiregular “murder board” sessions in which his top advisers pummel him with pointed questions and heated attacks.But his biggest advantage may be his recent experience. While Mr. Vance, 40, assumed his first public office just last year, to win that job he had to survive a gantlet of about a dozen primary and general-election debates.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      We Watched Tim Walz’s Old Debates. Here’s What We Learned.

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      He may not be a lofty orator, but he has shown an ability to deliver punchy critiques with Everyman appeal.Before he was known to the nation as an affable Midwestern dad and a vice-presidential nominee, Tim Walz was a fast-talking political long shot in an ill-fitting suit, spoiling, in his Minnesotan way, for a debate-stage fight.As he stood next to his opponent — a crisply dressed six-term Republican congressman — Mr. Walz, a teacher by training, offered viewers a stark contrast at that 2006 debate, hosted by KSMQ-TV. Mr. Walz cast their choice as one between a political insider focused on “moving up in elected office” and the alternative he said he represented: “I live in the world that most of you live in.”Mr. Walz sparred with Gil Gutknecht, then the Republican incumbent, in a 2006 congressional debate.KSMQ-TV, via C-SPANNearly two decades later, Mr. Walz is the one who has moved up in elected office, rising from congressman to governor and now, Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate. He is set to face Senator JD Vance of Ohio, former President Donald J. Trump’s running mate, in a high-profile debate on Tuesday.Mr. Walz and his allies have tried to set expectations high for Mr. Vance, emphasizing his Yale Law School credentials. And Mr. Vance is a practiced verbal pugilist who seems to delight in combative exchanges on cable news and Sunday morning shows.But a review of a half-dozen recorded debates over Mr. Walz’s career makes clear that while the camo-wearing, car-tinkering man from Mankato may not be his party’s most stirring speaker, he is in fact a seasoned debater himself.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Satellite Images Reveal Where Russian Nuclear Weapons Could Be Stored in Belarus

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      A New York Times analysis shows security upgrades unique to Russian nuclear storage facilities, at a Cold War-era munitions depot.The New York Times, Source: Maxar TechnologiesA newly added air defense system.A distinctive security checkpoint.And a triple fence around a bunker.These new security features and other upgrades at a munitions depot in central Belarus reveal that Russia is building facilities there that could house nuclear warheads. If Russia does move weapons to this location, it would mark the first time it has stored them outside the country since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.Russia already has nuclear warheads on its own soil that are close to Ukraine and NATO countries, but by basing some in Belarus, the Kremlin appears to be trying to accentuate its nuclear threat and bolster its nuclear deterrent.Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, made reference to such a site early last year, saying Russia would soon be completing the construction of “special storage for tactical nuclear weapons” in Belarus.The New York Times analyzed satellite imagery and photos, and spoke with nuclear weapons and arms control experts, to track the new construction, which started in March 2023.The site is 120 miles north of the Ukrainian border at a military depot next to the town of Asipovichy. Some of the recently built structures there have features that are unique to nuclear storage facilities at bases inside Russia. For example, a new, highly secure area is surrounded by three layers of fencing, in addition to the existing security perimeter of the entire base. Another telltale sign is a covered loading area connected to what appears to be a concealed Soviet-era underground bunker.The New York Times, Source: Maxar Technologies More

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      Haley Questions Trump’s Mental Fitness After He Mistakes Her for Pelosi

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      Nikki Haley on Saturday escalated her attacks on Donald J. Trump, directly criticizing his mental acuity for the first time a day after the former president appeared to confuse her for Nancy Pelosi, the former House Speaker, during his Friday night rally in New Hampshire.In a news conference with reporters after her campaign event in Peterborough, N.H., Ms. Haley stopped short of calling Mr. Trump mentally unfit. But she did question whether he would be “on it” enough to lead the nation.“My parents are up in age, and I love them dearly,” she said. “But when you see them hit a certain age, there is a decline. That’s a fact — ask any doctor, there is a decline.”At his rally, the former president accused Ms. Haley of failing to provide proper security during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and connected her to the House committee that later investigated it. Ms. Haley, who was not holding a government role at the time of the attack, had been at home in South Carolina that day, according to campaign officials.The former governor of South Carolina and a United Nations ambassador under Mr. Trump, Ms. Haley, 52, opened her presidential bid this year with calls for “new generational leadership” and mental competency tests for candidates who are 75 or older. Though she has continued to emphasize those calls throughout her candidacy, she has reserved her most pointed attacks about mental fitness for President Biden and Congress, which she calls “the most privileged nursing home in the country.”The last time she came this close to knocking Mr. Trump directly was in October, after he criticized Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and referred to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, as “very smart.” Responding to those remarks, Ms. Haley said: “To go and criticize the head of a country who just saw massive bloodshed — no, that’s not what we need in a president.”Since her election night speech after the Iowa caucuses, Ms. Haley has been sharpening her case against the former president, lumping Mr. Trump with Mr. Biden as backward-looking and barriers to an American revival. At her event in Keene, N.H., she criticized Mr. Trump on his leadership tone and asked the audience if they really wanted two “fellas” in their 80s competing for the presidency.“I wasn’t even in D.C. on Jan. 6 — I wasn’t in office then,” she told the audience on Friday.In a subsequent news conference, she suggested that the country was in too vulnerable of a state to have a leader who is mentally unfit.“It’s a concern, and it’s what Americans should be thinking about,” she said. More

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      In New Hampshire, Chris Christie Still Sees a Path to Beat Trump

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      As he stakes his candidacy on the state, Chris Christie is promising to find new ways to confront Donald Trump. “I’m not going to let him get away with being a coward,” he said in an interview.An upset victory over Donald Trump in New Hampshire could be a knockout blow, according to Chris Christie. He is staking his presidential campaign on winning the state.Emily Rhyne/The New York TimesIn his against-all-odds pursuit of the Republican presidential nomination, former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey has campaigned almost exclusively in New Hampshire: More than 90 percent of his events since February have been in the Granite State, according to a New York Times analysis.To hear Mr. Christie tell it, New Hampshire is his do-or-die state. If he doesn’t perform well here, that will probably be it.“I can’t see myself leaving the race under any circumstances before New Hampshire,” he said in an interview. “If I don’t do well in New Hampshire, then I’ll leave.”Much as he did during his White House bid in 2016, Mr. Christie is betting on the independent streak of New Hampshire voters to validate his candidacy and catapult him into contention. (Mr. Christie ultimately finished sixth in New Hampshire that year and dropped out a day later.)But while he blended into the crowd in the 2016 Republican primary contest, Mr. Christie occupies a nearly solitary position in this race: as the candidate offering the harshest criticisms of the runaway front-runner, former President Donald J. Trump.Mr. Christie’s central pitch to Republicans in New Hampshire is that they must vote with a sense of responsibility and urgency, because defeating Mr. Trump in the first-in-the-nation primary may be the only way to halt his march to the nomination.“The future of this country is going to be determined here,” Mr. Christie told a crowd this week at a local brewery, clutching an I.P.A. “If Donald Trump wins here, he will be our nominee. Everything that happens after that is going to be on our party and on our country. It’s up to you.”Though Mr. Christie has improved in recent polls, he still trails Mr. Trump in New Hampshire by double digits, and by much more in national polls and surveys of Iowa, the first nominating state.Mr. Christie signed autographs for supporters at an event on Monday in Rye, N.H.Sophie Park for The New York TimesYet in the interview, Mr. Christie said he still saw a path in New Hampshire. He pointed to numerous past candidates who “broke late” in the state, including Senator John McCain of Arizona during his 2000 campaign. Mr. Christie noted that Mr. McCain, who ended up winning New Hampshire, had driven around the state “basically riding around in a Suburban with two aides.”Mr. Christie is apparently trying to emulate that style. This week, he cruised around New Hampshire with only a driver and two staff members. His campaign does not have staff members on the ground in New Hampshire, and in all, he has only 11 staff members on the payroll, according to his campaign.In the trip to New Hampshire, his first since the opening Republican primary debate last month, Mr. Christie ratcheted up his criticisms of the former president.He now goes so far as to liken Mr. Trump to an autocratic leader, arguing that his conduct is beneath the office of the presidency. Mr. Christie tiptoes toward predicting how the former president’s criminal indictments will unfold, declaring that the country cannot have a “convicted felon” as its leader. And he needles Mr. Trump with subtle jabs at his idiosyncratic tendencies, taunting the former president for his love of cable television and apparent preference for well-done hamburgers.But despite his willingness to take on Mr. Trump, Mr. Christie has been denied his best shot at confronting the former president directly on the debate stage. Mr. Trump skipped the first debate and seems unlikely to attend the second one, which will be held in California at the end of the month.Mr. Christie, who has qualified for the second debate, said he had been drawing up contingency plans.“I’m not going to let him get away with being a coward and running away,” Mr. Christie said in the interview. “It could be meeting him out in front of his event as he’s making his way in. It could be confronting him on his way out. It could be actually going to the event. It could be a whole bunch of options that we’re going to try. I’m not going to tell them exactly which one I’m going to do, because then he would have his staff prepared for it and try to stop me.”Tell It Like It Is PAC, the super PAC supporting Mr. Christie’s bid, latched onto the New Hampshire-or-bust approach early on. Ninety-six percent of the roughly $1 million the group has spent on radio and television advertising has been in New Hampshire markets, according to data from AdImpact, a media tracking firm.Mr. Christie’s events grew more crowded as his swing through New Hampshire progressed, culminating with more than 150 people packed in a gym without air-conditioning in Bedford. Audiences at his events tended to applaud his anti-Trump broadsides.Mr. Christie was greeted with applause at an event in a crowded gymnasium in Bedford, N.H.Sophie Park for The New York TimesHis voters are holding out hope, but they acknowledge his path is tough.“You have to believe he’s got a chance,” said Irene Bonner, 75, of Meredith, N.H., who said she was normally apolitical but had been inspired to come to an event by Mr. Christie’s tough talk against Mr. Trump.“The party is so completely blinded by Trump, it just boggles my mind,” said John Bonner, her husband. “After everything’s gone down and the things he’s said and done. But at least Christie is speaking up.” He added, “The rest of them really aren’t.”If Mr. Trump does emerge as the nominee, Mr. Christie said, he will not back off in his criticism.“I can’t imagine that I’ll ever keep quiet,” he said in the interview. “I don’t think it’s in my personality, so I’ll continue to say what I believe is the truth.”He added: “But I’ll also be critical of Joe Biden, I’m certain, because I have been since he became president, and I suspect he is not going to do some sort of miraculous turnaround that’s going to win my support. So I think I probably have difficult things to say about both of them if I was not the nominee.”Asked if he would make an endorsement in a Trump-Biden rematch, the rarely pithy Mr. Christie was succinct: “No.” More