x01 Archives

There is a tendency to picture computers as cold, precise things, sealed away in clean rooms and humming quietly under desks. Brains feel different. Messier. Slower in places. Yet far more efficient overall. That contrast has been bothering computer scientists for years, especially as artificial intelligence grows more demanding. The human brain runs on very little energy, learns as it goes, and adapts without needing constant upgrades. Silicon machines struggle to match that balance. Some researchers have started looking away from metal and code and towards biology instead. Not animals or humans, but fungi. Specifically mushrooms. It sounds odd at first, almost playful. But beneath the surface, the idea is rooted in practical limits, rising costs, and a quiet frustration with how hard it is to copy what nature already does so well.

Around 45,000 households were left without electricity in southwest Berlin after high-voltage power lines were damaged by a fire, which authorities have described as a politically motivated attack by far-left extremists.

Though power has been restored in some areas, thousands could be left without power until Thursday after what authorities say was a politically motivated attack by “left-wing extremists”.

The blaze erupted on a cable bridge over the Teltow Canal near the Lichterfelde power plant on Saturday morning, local authorities said, affecting 2,200 businesses and 45,000 households across four districts, cutting their access to electricity, including internet and heating.