Evening Edition No. 13
An AI Learns How Each Cell Reads DNA, a Desert Lake Rises 60 Feet, and Europe Takes Aim at Subscription Traps
Covers Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 6:00 PM ET to Wednesday, November 11, 2026, 6:00 PM ET
Google DeepMind's AlphaGenome 2 predicts how tiny DNA differences change genes inside hundreds of kinds of cells, Britain backs AI chip maker Fractile in a $720 million round, China launches a new test satellite, NASA's Landsat 9 sees a Southwest reservoir rise nearly 60 feet, Sri Lanka flies its first passenger drone with two ministers aboard, the FDA approves a daily pill for a rare joint tumor, AeroVironment wins a $405 million order for drone-stopping lasers, the European Commission proposes its Digital Fairness Act, Deutsche Bank starts holding crypto and stablecoins for big clients, and IBM plans a 1,040-qubit quantum machine for 2027.
In 60 Seconds
- Google DeepMind's AlphaGenome 2 predicts how tiny spelling differences in DNA change genes inside hundreds of kinds of human cells, which could speed up the hunt for the causes of disease.
- A NASA satellite photographed Navajo Reservoir in the Southwest after it rose nearly 60 feet in seven weeks, to its highest level since 2019.
- The European Commission proposed a law to make subscriptions easy to cancel and let people switch off features like streaks and autoplay.
- On Veterans Day, a quieter news day, IBM laid out a plan to join two quantum chips into one 1,040-qubit machine in 2027.
On the Dashboard
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Lead Signal
Google DeepMind's AlphaGenome 2 predicts how DNA changes play out cell by cell
Google DeepMind on Wednesday released AlphaGenome 2, an A computer program trained on large amounts of data to recognize patterns and produce answers, text, images or actions. Chatbots such as ChatGPT and Claude run on AI models. In the Glossary that predicts what happens inside a cell when one letter of a person's The long molecule inside cells that holds the instructions for building and running a living thing. It is written in a simple chemical alphabet. In the Glossary is different. DNA is the instruction book in every cell, and about 98% of it does not code for proteins; this The part of DNA, about 98% of it, that does not hold recipes for proteins. Much of it works like switches that turn genes on and off. In the Glossary works like a set of switches that decide when genes turn on and off. Most of the DNA differences linked to diseases sit in those switches, which makes them hard to understand. AlphaGenome 2 learned from more than 100 million measurements of single cells across 68 kinds of tissue in people and mice, so it can make predictions for hundreds of human cell types one at a time. DeepMind says it finds nearly twice as many gene-changing DNA differences as the previous best model, and in immune cells it picked out the likely cause in 30% of cases, against 16% for the first AlphaGenome. As a test, it rebuilt a recent finding about inflammatory bowel disease, a painful illness of the gut, and pointed to the exact DNA letter behind it. James Lee of the Francis Crick Institute, who led that discovery, told Nature his team needed about a year and a half of experiments, and the model got there in about 30 minutes. It can now also read Small chemical tags stuck onto DNA that help switch genes off. In the Glossary, small chemical tags that help switch genes off. Researchers can use it free for non-commercial work, and companies can join a private preview. DeepMind says it is for research only and not approved for diagnosing patients. Peter Donnelly, CEO of Genomics PLC, called it "an impressive advance in the field."
The Desks
[AI] AI Models
Britain backs AI chip maker Fractile in a $720 million round
Fractile, a London startup that designs A tiny slice of material, usually silicon, carved with billions of switches that let a device compute and store information. Chips run everything from phones to AI data centers. In the Glossary for running AI, raised $720 million on Wednesday in a A company's third big round of money from outside investors, usually raised to grow fast. In the Glossary, a company's third big round of outside money. Thrive Capital, Founders Fund, Lightspeed and Redpoint led it, and the UK government's A government investment fund that backs its own country's AI companies, so the country has a say in key technology. In the Glossary and the British Business Bank, both run by the state, put money in too. The UK government says the round values the company at over £5 billion. Most AI chips today keep their memory, where the model's numbers live, a short distance away, and moving data back and forth slows them down. Fractile stacks The fast short-term memory in computers and servers. It holds data only while the power is on. In the Glossary, the fast working memory in computers, right on top of each chip, so answers come back faster when an AI model is running, the step called Running an AI model that is already trained so it can answer a question or make a picture. It is different from training, and it is most of the everyday cost of AI services. In the Glossary. It plans to ship its first chips and computer systems in 2027. The UK government said the deal gives the country "a greater stake in the hardware" behind AI. Not investment advice.
[LAUNCH] Launches
China launches a new test satellite on a Long March 2D
A A Chinese two-stage rocket that burns liquid fuel and mostly carries small satellites. In the Glossary rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's Gobi Desert at 7:41 PM Beijing time, 6:41 AM ET, on Wednesday, Global Times reports. It carried a satellite that Launch Library 2, a public database of launches, lists as CAS Pathfinder-1, and it reached orbit. It was the 677th flight of China's Long March rocket family. The Long March 2D is a two-stage rocket that burns liquid fuel and mostly carries small satellites that photograph Earth or test new technology. China did not say what the new satellite will do. It was the only orbital launch anywhere in the world in the last 24 hours, and the 262nd of 2026. A busy Friday is next: ULA's Vulcan returns to flight with 40 Amazon Leo internet satellites, and SpaceX hopes to fly Starship Flight 15 if it gets its FAA license.
[ORBIT] Satellites and Orbit
A NASA satellite watches a Southwest reservoir rise nearly 60 feet
Navajo Reservoir, a lake behind a dam on the San Juan River on the New Mexico and Colorado border, rose nearly 60 feet between Sept. 20 and Nov. 7, NASA's Earth Observatory reports. A series of NASA and U.S. Geological Survey satellites that have photographed Earth's land since 1972. In the Glossary, a satellite run by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey that photographs Earth's land, caught the change in a pair of before and after pictures. The lake went from 60% of its usual amount of water for the date to 108%, its highest level since August 2019, using U.S. Army Corps of Engineers data. From early September to early November, the Four Corners region got two to four times its usual rain and snow. Pagosa Springs, Colorado, got 5.05 inches in the first round of storms alone, and the San Juan River came close to its 1911 record on Nov. 1. The U.S. Drought Monitor said on Nov. 3 that short-term drought had ended for the Southwest and Great Basin.
[AIR] Air Mobility
Sri Lanka flies its first passenger drone with two ministers aboard
Sri Lanka flew its first An electric aircraft with no pilot aboard that carries people along set routes. In the Glossary on Wednesday at Colombo Port City, a new district built on land reclaimed from the sea, Aviation Voice reports. A passenger drone is an electric aircraft with no pilot on board that carries people along set routes. The aircraft was an EHang EH216-S from China, with two seats and 16 propellers, about 25 minutes of flying time and a range of up to about 19 miles. The first riders were Ports and Aviation Minister Anura Karunathilaka and Deputy Minister Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku. The country's Civil Aviation Authority approved the trial, and testing will run about five to six months before any paid service, AFP reports. The goal is a quick link between the airport and the city. Kodithuwakku said "Sri Lanka is now part of that race as well."
[MED] Medicine
The FDA approves a daily pill for a rare tumor in the joints
The FDA approved Pimjetmi, the brand name for pimicotinib, on Tuesday for adults with A tumor, usually not cancer, that grows in the lining of joints and tendons. It causes pain, swelling and stiffness and often comes back after surgery. In the Glossary whose surgery could make things worse, the companies announced late Tuesday night. This tumor grows in the lining of joints and tendons, often the knee; it is usually not cancer, but it can cause pain, swelling and stiffness, and it often grows back after surgery. Pimjetmi is a A drug that blocks a growth signal that certain tumor cells need. In the Glossary, a drug that blocks a growth signal the tumor's cells need. In a The last and largest stage of testing a new treatment in people before a company asks regulators to approve it. It usually involves hundreds or thousands of patients. In the Glossary, a large final test, of 94 patients, the tumor shrank in 56% of people taking the pill by week 25, against 3% taking a A look-alike treatment with no medicine in it. Comparing a drug with a placebo shows whether the drug itself is doing the work. In the Glossary, a dummy pill. Pain, movement and daily function also got better, and 77% of those who responded still had the benefit a year later. Abbisko Therapeutics of China made the drug and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, known as EMD Serono in the U.S., will sell it. It is the third drug of this kind for the tumor, and its fourth approval worldwide. Danny Bar-Zohar of Merck KGaA said it can "bring real hope to patients and their families."
[DEF] Defense
AeroVironment wins a $405 million order for lasers that stop drones
AeroVironment, a U.S. company that makes drones and the systems that stop them, won a $405 million order on Wednesday for its LOCUST X3 A weapon that damages a target with a focused beam of light. In the Glossary weapons, which burn through a target with a focused beam of light. The buyer is a country in the Middle East that the company did not name, and the deal is a A company selling weapons straight to a foreign government instead of through the Pentagon. In the Glossary, made straight with that government rather than through the Pentagon. LOCUST X3 is built to stop small and mid-size drones, including the Shahed one-way attack drones that have been used in recent wars, and works alongside radar and regular weapons. AeroVironment will also build a depot in the customer's country to maintain the systems. It did not say how many it will deliver. CEO Wahid Nawabi said customers need "proven defenses they can field rapidly."
[POLICY] Law and Policy
Europe proposes a law against subscription traps and endless-scroll design
The European Commission, the body that proposes laws for the European Union, presented its Digital Fairness Act on Wednesday. It is a regulation, a law that would apply the same way in all 27 EU countries. Under the proposal, people could switch off features built to keep them hooked, such as streaks and autoplay, and canceling a subscription would have to be easy. A free trial could not turn into a paid plan without the person saying yes. Ads tailored to children and other vulnerable people would be banned. Prices that change with demand stay legal, but sellers would have to say how many items are left at the advertised price. Brands would share responsibility for what paid influencers say. Fines could reach 6% of a company's sales worldwide. The Commission estimates people would avoid about €13.7 billion in losses a year, Euronews reports. Commissioner Michael McGrath said it makes the digital economy work "for consumers, not against them." The European Parliament and EU governments must still agree, which usually takes years.
[TOKEN] Tokenized Assets
Deutsche Bank starts holding crypto and stablecoins for its big clients
Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank, has switched on a Keeping money or other assets safe on someone else's behalf. In the Glossary service, which means safekeeping assets for someone else, for digital assets, The Block reports. Companies and investment firms in Europe can now have the bank hold bitcoin, ether and three A digital token designed to stay worth a fixed amount, usually one U.S. dollar, backed by cash and safe assets such as Treasury bills. In the Glossary, digital A small piece of a word that an AI model reads or writes. A model's memory, or context, is measured in tokens. In the Glossary meant to keep a steady value: USDC and EURC, tied to the dollar and the euro, and EURAU, a euro coin from AllUnity. The bank keeps the The secret code that controls a crypto wallet. Whoever has it controls the tokens. In the Glossary, the secret codes that control the tokens, in both online and offline storage. It went live less than two months after the bank first announced it in September. The bank also signed an agreement with its own asset manager, which oversees about €1.22 trillion, to explore tokenized A fund that holds very safe, short-term loans such as Treasury bills and aims to keep each share at a steady value. People use it like a savings account that pays interest. In the Glossary, cash funds whose shares live on a A shared digital record book copied across many computers, so entries are hard to change or fake. It keeps track of who owns which tokens. In the Glossary. Paul Maley of Deutsche Bank said the aim is "a fully integrated, regulated ecosystem." Not investment advice.
[WILD] Wildcard
IBM plans to join two quantum chips into one 1,040-qubit machine in 2027
IBM on Wednesday showed Nighthawk r3, its next quantum processor. A A computer that uses the rules of quantum physics to solve certain problems, such as breaking some codes or simulating molecules, far faster than ordinary computers. Today's machines are still small and make many errors. In the Glossary uses The basic unit of a quantum computer. Unlike a normal bit, it can be in a mix of 0 and 1 at the same time. In the Glossary, which can hold a blend of 0 and 1 at once, to tackle some problems normal computers find very hard. The r3 chip has 2,034 qubits in all, and 520 of them can be programmed by users; the rest help catch errors. It is built to run 10,000 steps in a row and has links called l-couplers that pass information to a second chip. In 2027 IBM plans to join two r3 chips into one 1,040-qubit system. In a test, links between chips moved information correctly 99.3% of the time, against a goal of 99.9%, The Quantum Insider reports. IBM says the current Nighthawk r2 has run 34 billion programs for customers, with speedups of up to 19 times on some jobs, such as 15 times faster machine learning for the power company E.ON. Jay Gambetta of IBM Research said results must come with "accuracy and speed." Not investment advice.
Watch
Play video: AI Revolution (Nov. 10): an explainer on Anthropic's Claude Fable 5.2 and how it ranks against other AI models (opinion).
Play video: All-In (Nov. 10): Axon CEO Rick Smith on police body cameras, drones and license plate readers, and where to draw the line on privacy.Disclosure: Singularity Nightly is drafted with help from Anthropic's Claude. We cover Anthropic like any other company.
Voices
- Elon Musk, on X, said keeping Cybertruck production going through summer 2027 is "not the smartest move from a profit-maximizing standpoint." source (opinion)
By the Numbers
- More than 100 million: single-cell measurements AlphaGenome 2 learned from, across 68 kinds of tissue. Google DeepMind
- About 30 minutes: how long AlphaGenome 2 took to reach a disease finding that took about a year and a half of lab work. Nature
- 1,040: qubits in the two-chip IBM system planned for 2027. IBM
- 1: orbital launches worldwide in the window; 262 in 2026. Launch Library 2
- Nearly 60 feet: how much Navajo Reservoir rose between Sept. 20 and Nov. 7. NASA Earth Observatory
- 56%: patients whose joint tumor shrank on Pimjetmi, against 3% on placebo. Abbisko and Merck KGaA
- $405 million: AeroVironment's order for drone-stopping lasers. AeroVironment
- 6%: the most of its worldwide sales a company could be fined under Europe's Digital Fairness Act. European Commission
- $720 million: Fractile's new funding for AI chips. TechCrunch Not investment advice.
- $14.2 billion: how much stablecoin supply shrank in 30 days. The Block Not investment advice.
- $39.87 billion: tokenized In blockchain finance, a traditional asset that exists outside the blockchain, such as a Treasury bill, a loan or a building, represented by a token on one. Often shortened to RWA. In the Glossary, excluding stablecoins. RWA.xyz Not investment advice.
Tomorrow's Watchlist
- Thu Nov. 12: Nebius results, 8:00 AM ET; Intuitive Machines results, 8:30 AM ET; NASA Planetary Science town hall, 1:00 PM ET; China's Kuaizhou 11 launches, 2:50 PM ET; Cisco and Applied Materials results, 4:30 PM ET; Cerebras and Virgin Galactic results, 5:00 PM ET; Thinking Machines may release Inkling 2 for anyone to download.
- Fri Nov. 13: South Korea's Mir rocket may launch from a sea platform, 12:00 to 4:00 AM ET; Vulcan returns to flight with 40 Amazon Leo satellites, 12:54 PM ET; Starship Flight 15 tries to catch both its The first and largest stage of a rocket, which gives the push for liftoff. SpaceX and others now land their boosters and fly them again. In the Glossary and its ship, window 5:45 to 7:00 PM ET, pending its FAA license.
- Sat Nov. 14: Rocket Lab's Electron launches a radar satellite for iQPS, 12:30 AM ET; FDA decision due on Summit's lung cancer drug ivonescimab; ObesityWeek opens near Washington.
- Wed Nov. 18: Senate committee vote on FDA nominee Heidi Overton; the House briefing Jensen Huang has been asked to attend; Voyager 1 reaches one The distance light travels in one day, about 16 billion miles. In the Glossary from Earth.