Good morning. It's Thursday, April 17, and we're covering a milestone for lab-grown meat, a breakthrough in AI visual perception, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.
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The paramilitary group opposing Sudan’s military in its civil war announced the formation of a rival government this week as the conflict reached its two-year mark. The move came amid reports the group overran the nation's largest refugee camp in Darfur, killing at least 300 people and displacing hundreds of thousands.
In an announcement via the messaging app Telegram, Rapid Support Forces leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo described the new state as an inclusive, secular, decentralized government with a transitional constitution, claiming it would issue new currency and administer broad administrative services. The RSF controls much of western and southern Sudan, while the Sudanese military holds the northern and eastern regions, including the capital, Khartoum. Both sides in the conflict are accused of atrocities in a war that has prompted the world’s largest humanitarian crisis (see background).
Separately, Sudan’s current government sued the United Arab Emirates at the International Court of Justice for supporting the rebels; that trial began last week. The events came as world leaders gathered in London to seek a resolution to the conflict. |
Winner Winner, Lab Dinner |
Researchers in Japan have produced nugget-sized chunks of chicken using animal cells, signaling a breakthrough in lab-grown food production.
Lab-grown or cell-cultivated meat has been around for over a decade, offering an animal-based protein option that does not derive from slaughtered animals. Previous attempts at lab-grown chicken have been made with cells taken from living animals to create chicken strips less than 1 millimeter thick that are then bound together. Creating thicker portions of meat is difficult without blood vessels, which help oxygen and nutrients keep tissue alive and healthy.
Scientists at the University of Tokyo invented a process that mimics blood vessels, therefore enabling tissues to grow stronger, and produced a bite-sized chunk of chicken at 10 grams that indicates improved texture. The team believes they could build larger chunks of meat using the same process—and even create functional organs.
Lab-grown meat is estimated to be on the market in five to 10 years, with the potential to reduce the environmental impact of the meat industry. |
Artificial intelligence startup OpenAI released two advanced models yesterday, OpenAI o3 and OpenAI o4-mini, that can “think with images" for the first time by integrating visual data directly into their reasoning processes. Both models are available to paying users.
OpenAI o3 and o4-mini can analyze and reason about user-uploaded sketches, diagrams, and other visuals—even low-quality ones—similar to solving math, coding, and science problems (see more). For example, they can explain economics problems from photos or solve puzzles from drawings. The new models take more time to deliberate before responding, reportedly resulting in more accurate and thorough answers to complex, multistep questions involving text and images. They also include web browsing and image generation and were trained through reinforcement learning, which teaches the system via rewards and penalties.
OpenAI is also in talks to acquire AI-powered coding assistant Windsurf for nearly $3B, which would be its largest acquisition. OpenAI seeks to strengthen its position in the AI coding market and compete more directly with rivals like Anthropic. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> NHL regular season wraps up tonight; see latest playoff scenarios and schedule (More) | Trump administration files lawsuit against Maine's education department over failure to comply with ban on transgender athletes in girls' sports (More) |
> Wink Martindale, iconic radio personality and TV game show host, dies at age 91 (More) | Former MLS player Aaron Boupendza dies at age 28 after falling from his apartment building in China (More) | "Gossip Girl" actress Michelle Trachtenberg's cause of death determined to be complications from diabetes (More) |
> The 2025 Tribeca Film Festival (June 4-15) lineup revealed; includes 118 feature films from filmmakers across 36 countries (More) | Comedian Nate Bargatze tapped to host 2025 Emmy Awards (More) |
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In partnership with Motley Fool Money |
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> James Webb telescope identifies Zhúlóng, a candidate for the universe's most distant spiral galaxy, which closely resembles the Milky Way from a billion years after the Big Bang; challenges theories about how quickly large galaxies can form (More) | Learn more about the James Webb telescope (1440 Topics) |
> Study of rare meteorite suggests Earth's water originated from hydrogen-rich materials present during the planet's formation, upending theory that water was delivered later by asteroids (More) |
> New research on genetic and archaeological data suggests domestic cats spread from Tunisia to Europe in two waves, driven by cultural practices and trade, beginning thousands of years later than previously thought (More) |
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> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -2.2%, Dow -1.7%, Nasdaq -3.1%), dragged down by chip stocks, including Nvidia (-6.9%) and AMD (-7.4%), as Fed Chair Jerome Powell warns tariffs could raise inflation (More) | Nvidia faces $5.5B charge as US restricts chip sales to China (More) | ... and chipmaker AMD flags $800M hit (More) |
> Hertz Global shares jump 56% after billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman's firm discloses 4.1% stake, valued at roughly $46M, in the car rental company (More) |
> US retail sales rose 1.4% in March to a 26-month high as consumers rushed to buy big-ticket items, particularly cars, ahead of US tariffs on imports (More) |
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> Federal judge finds probable cause to hold Trump administration in criminal contempt for violating order by deporting Venezuelan men to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act without allowing them to challenge their removal (More) |
> Israeli defense minister says troops will remain in so-called security zones in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria indefinitely, potentially complicating ceasefire and hostage release talks with Hamas (More) | See war updates (More) |
> UK top court rules in landmark case the legal definition of a "woman" refers to biological sex and excludes transgender people under equality laws; court further states laws still protect transgender people from discrimination (More) |
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> History of the Internet
Ars Technica | Jeremy Reimer. Part one of a three-part series on the history of the internet shares how a handful of visionary researchers gave birth to the ARPANET—the foundation of today’s internet. (Read)
> Singapore's 'Succession'
Bloomberg | Staff. One of Singapore’s largest real estate firms has been run by the same family for three generations—until an unexpected boardroom shake-up upended the well-laid plans. (Read) |
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