Bold recycling claims deliberately distract from the disastrous ecological effects of plastic in buildings The building industry consumes nearly a fifth of all plastic produced globally. Plastic enters buildings not only as elements – window frames, fences, gutters and cable sheathing – but also in the form of petrochemical‑based polymers that permeate building products less visibly: dissolved in solvents, mixed into concrete and asphalt, impregnated into wood products, and affixed, laminated or otherwise agglomerated with other materials. These applications preclude their separation from other waste for recycling – a major reason why only a tiny proportion of the estimated 77 million metric tonnes of plastic waste from demolition or renovation is recycled. The rest is incinerated, landfilled or mismanaged.  This does not prevent building product manufacturers from routinely promoting plastic products as recyclable. VinylPlus, the recycling wing of the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers, claims that nearly 27 per cent of vinyl products were mechanically recycled in 2021. But nearly two thirds of this was sourced from factory waste, before the vinyl even became flooring or roofing.  Recycling claims serve an important ideological function: to deflect corporate accountability for plastic’s deleterious effects, and to delay and derail efforts to restrict plastic production. Promoting these claims serves as a passcode to a ‘green’ building material industry expected to reach a value of over US$1 trillion by 2032. The infiltration of plastic in buildings runs deep. Some of the largest producers of construction chemicals and synthetic building products include the world’s largest private and state‑owned fossil fuel companies, such as Shell, ExxonMobil, Sinopec and Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC). The chemical and plastics industries are intertwined with the fossil fuel industry via extensive infrastructural, institutional and ideological ties, ranging from their shared and interdependent supply chains, to common political interests and secure global transport routes. These companies provide thousands of polymer‑based building products ranging from ready‑to‑install components (rigid insulation boards, waterproofing membranes, etc), to myriad adhesives, coatings, binders, sealants, admixtures and insulating foams – or provide their constitutive chemicals. ‘Architects must look up from their carbon calculators to question manufacturers’ claims of circularity’     The modern building product industry arose in tandem with the fossil fuel, chemical and plastics industries in the postwar era in the US and Europe. The massive productive capacity that had supplied the war effort was transformed to meet the needs and long‑repressed desires of a populace eager to partake in the fruits of peace, modernity and affluence, resulting in a flood of new plastic consumer goods. Among the new uses for plastic emerged an ever‑widening array of building products from flooring to cladding and furniture. By the late 1960s, however, plastic’s durability began to represent an existential threat to plastics and petrochemical companies as demand for plastic consumer goods began to wane. Industry’s solution? Disposability – not in response to consumers’ demand for convenience, but to the saturation of the market of plastic consumer goods that lasted too long. Disposability transformed a crisis of declining profit into a wellspring of unending demand and plastic waste. Eventually, producers became increasingly unable to credibly deny the problem of discarded plastic accumulating in great heaping piles and circling ocean gyres. What they could do was flood the mediascape with solutions that worked for them: redirecting focus from the obvious step of curtailing production, to downstream, consumer‑focused measures, such as increased recycling and the adoption of biogenic and recycled plastic feedstocks. Though plastic building products are less disposable than single‑use plastics, claims of ‘circularity’ similarly serve to sanction plastic use while ensuring that end‑of‑life costs stay off company ledgers.  Facing the prospect of declining demand for fuel due to electrification and the adoption of electric vehicles in much of the world, petrochemical industries have doubled down on expanding plastic fabrication as an economic lifeline. The immensely powerful nexus of fossil fuel, petrochemical and plastic industries have poured billions of dollars into new refineries and plastic production facilities. With nearly a fifth of plastic demand coming from the construction industry, these cartels have much at stake in maintaining their business. Accordingly, use of plastic in building is widely promoted by their well‑funded trade lobbies, including the American Chemical Council, Plastics Europe and the British Plastics Federation. These trade lobbyists work fervently to influence legislation to ensure the cost and responsibility of recycling is displaced onto consumers and municipalities, ‘externalising’ the cost of remediating what will be a legacy of toxic pollution left for future generations.  As a result, architects remain pressurised and incentivised to specify plastic products due to their low cost, superior performance, availability and lack of alternatives. Architects must look up from their carbon calculators, not only to question manufacturers’ claims of circularity, but also the limits of circularity within an economy predicated both on compulsory growth and – for some time to come – on fossil fuels. Lead image: Plastic is used in numerous applications in the built environment, from cladding and fences to adhesives and insulation foams. Manufacturers claim their plastic products are widely recycled as a tactic to obscure their origin in the petrochemical industry and their contribution to the climate emergency that causes extreme weather events such as wild fires. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times / Getty) 2025-05-21 Reuben J Brown Share AR May 2025CircularityBuy Now

Click here to read this story in English.SONORA, México — Este paisaje no parecía ser un lugar donde encontrar jaguares, el felino de la selva más famoso del mundo. El suelo estaba reseco, rocoso y casi en su totalidad de color café, a excepción del ocasional cactus o palmera. Hacía tanto calor que incluso algunos de los espinosos nopales se estaban marchitando.Sin embargo, ahí estaba — en la pantalla de una cámara con sensor de movimiento amarrada a un roble cerca del lecho de un arroyo seco. Al menos una semana antes, un gran jaguar había caminado exactamente por donde yo me había parado. Incluso desde la pequeña pantalla de la cámara, el felino se veía imponente, con sus grandes patas y una amplia mandíbula que podría destruir cráneos. La Reserva del Jaguar del Norte está situada en la Sierra Madre Occidental, en Sonora, un estado mexicano del norte. Durante nuestra visita en abril, en temporada de sequía, apenas había vegetación que no sean plantas desérticas como cactus y agaves. Ash Ponders para VoxEra una tarde calurosa de abril y me encontraba en la Reserva del Jaguar del Norte, un área protegida en Sonora, aproximadamente a 200 km al sur de la frontera con Arizona en los Estados Unidos. La reserva y la región a su alrededor albergan a la población de jaguares más septentrional del mundo, los felinos más grandes del hemisferio occidental, así como otras tres especies de felinos salvajes: ocelotes, linces y pumas.El de la pantalla se llamaba El Guapo. Es el más grande de los cinco o seis jaguares que habitan en la reserva y probablemente haya engendrado a varios cachorros, me comenta Miguel Gómez Ramírez, el gerente de la reserva.El Guapo tiene una personalidad audaz: mientras algunos de los jaguares del parque se asustan con el flash o el sonido de las cámaras con sensores de movimiento esparcidas por la reserva, saltando como gatos de casa sorprendidos, al Guapo no parece importarle. Es como si supiera que está en la cima de la cadena alimenticia.1/4El Guapo. Northern Jaguar ProjectMientras los jaguares son a menudo asociados con las zonas tropicales, alguna vez se extendieron tan al norte como al Sur de California, el Gran Cañón y posiblemente incluso Luisiana. ¡Estados Unidos tenía jaguares! Y después, no fue así. A mediados de 1900, los ganaderos y cazadores habían exterminado a estos felinos — como muchos otros depredadores salvajes — en gran parte porque eran vistos como una amenaza para el ganado. Los jaguares ocasionalmente matan vacas, aunque muy pocos casos de ataques a ganado se han verificado en los Estados Unidos. En las últimas décadas, varios jaguares machos han regresado a su hábitat histórico en el suroeste de los Estados Unidos– más recientemente, en diciembre de 2023. Los extraordinarios avistamientos dan a los defensores del medio ambiente la esperanza de que algún día los jaguares puedan regresar a los Estados Unidos, reparando así una cadena alimenticia rota y recuperando una importante pieza faltante de la cultura indígena en la frontera.Una piel de jaguar se exhibe en el Centro Ecológico de Sonora, un zoológico en Hermosillo, la capital del estado. Ash Ponders para VoxTodos los jaguares que han aparecido en Estados Unidos vinieron del norte de México — de la región donde ahora me encontraba — deslizándose a través de algunas de las secciones del muro fronterizo que aún están abiertas. Cualquier posibilidad que ahora tengan los jaguares de regresar a los Estados Unidos depende de mantener aperturas en el muro fronterizo y una amplia reserva de felinos por el norte de México. Los jaguares sólo pueden restablecerse en su rango de distribución al norte si son lo suficientemente abundantes en México, donde están en peligro de extinción. Como en los Estados Unidos, los ganaderos de Sonora tienen una larga historia matando felinos por su percibida, y en ocasiones real amenaza para su ganado. Si bien la Reserva del Jaguar del Norte ayuda a proteger a los felinos salvajes en Sonora, lo que realmente me trajo a México fue un proyecto para conservar jaguares que se extiende mucho más allá de los límites del parque. Durante muchos años, un pequeño grupo de científicos y defensores han estado trabajando para presentar a los jaguares de Sonora bajo una perspectiva diferente — para convertirlos de villanos hambrientos a importantes actores dentro de un ecosistema, brindando recompensas financieras a los ganaderos. Esta apuesta parece estar dando frutos: la población de jaguares en la reserva y en la región de rancherías a su alrededor parece estable, o hasta parece estar creciendo, brindando esperanza de que la gente pueda vivir en armonía con los depredadores que alguna vez odiaron.Ponte en contacto con nosotros. ¿Tienes noticias o comentarios sobre esta historia? Queremos escucharte. Escribe a Benji Jones a benji.jones@vox.com o en Signal a Benji.90.Se puede decir que la Reserva del Jaguar del Norte está en medio de la nada.Viajé allí el mes pasado con Roberto Wolf, un veterinario que lidera el Northern Jaguar Project (NJP), una organización sin fines de lucro que supervisa el refugio. Después de cruzar la frontera al sur de Tucson, manejamos alrededor de otras cuatro horas hasta un encantador pueblo ganadero llamado Sahuaripa, donde las estrechas calles estaban bordeadas de casas coloridas y llenas de perros callejeros.Las casas de la ciudad de Sahuaripa están pintadas de colores llamativos y suelen tener cruces en sus puertas. Ash Ponders para VoxUn nombre llamado Don Francisco vende tortillas calientes al atardecer en Sahuaripa. Ash Ponders para VoxUna estatua de Jesús con un solo brazo mira al pueblo de Sahuaripa. Me dijeron que el otro brazo se cayó durante una tormenta. Ash Ponders para VoxDesde allí, fueron un par de horas más hasta la reserva, en gran parte por caminos de tierra accidentados. (Me sentí como si estuviéramos en uno de esos comerciales de automóviles todoterreno que solo son útiles en este preciso escenario).Un rato después de entrar a la reserva nos detuvimos junto a un tronco al costado del camino. Estaba cubierto de marcas de arañazos, como el brazo de un sofá en una casa llena de gatos. Eso fue obra de un puma marcando su territorio, dijo Gómez Ramírez, quien nos recibió en el parque. Señaló hacia una cámara con sensores de movimiento que previamente había capturado el comportamiento. Justo antes de llegar a nuestro campamento, un zorrillo cruzó frente al coche, se paró en sus dos patas delanteras, y luego desapareció entre los matorrales. La mañana siguiente, sin nubes y fresca, caminamos hasta La Hielería, el lugar donde la cámara de rastreo había detectado recientemente al Guapo. Sombras de alas se cruzaron en nuestro camino, proyectadas por buitres que buscaban un cadáver.En el camino de Arizona a Sahuaripa cruzamos el Río Yaqui, al oeste de la Reserva del Jaguar del Norte. Atraviesa las faldas de las montañas de la Sierra Madre Occidental. Ash Ponders para VoxDocenas de cámaras de rastreo con sensores de movimiento están repartidas por la reserva. Aquí, la pantalla muestra a un puma que caminó por ahí algunos días antes. Ash Ponders para VoxLa Hielería solía ser parte de un rancho de ganado, y tiene un lugar importante en la conservación de felinos. A finales de 1990, cuando los jaguares estaban reapareciendo en los Estados Unidos, un equipo de investigadores comenzó a explorar el norte de México para averiguar de dónde venían. Como parte de ese trabajo, el biólogo Gustavo Lorenzana Piña instaló una cámara con sensores de movimiento junto al lecho de un arroyo en La Hielería. La cámara capturó, como era de esperar, vaca tras vaca tras vaca. Pero Lorenzana siguió haciendo clic y lo vio: un jaguar, “el amo y señor de las selvas neotropicales, en una hermosa postal con matorrales y cactus de fondo”, dijo. La imagen, tomada a principios del 2000, fue la primera fotografía de un jaguar vivo en Sonora. Era una hembra a quien después llamarían Gus, en honor a Gustavo.La primera foto de un jaguar vivo tomada en Sonora. GP Lorenzana/CA López-GonzálezSu historia terminó — como la mayoría de los cuentos sobre jaguares — en manos de los humanos. El animal fue perseguido y asesinado por supuestamente haber lastimado al ganado, me dijo Lorenzana. Aunque es técnicamente ilegal matar jaguares en México, cazarlos por causar daño real o imaginado al ganado fue una práctica común en el pasado. Y sigue siendo una amenaza hoy en día. A finales del siglo XX, se mataban en promedio al menos cinco animales al año en el estado, según el libro Tigres de la Frontera de David Brown y el co-fundador de NJP, Carlos López González.Un hombre que conocí de unos 70 años me dijo que había matado a seis jaguares en un rancho que ahora forma parte de la reserva. (Generalmente usaba perros para rastrear a los felinos y perseguirlos hasta una cueva o un árbol. Luego les disparaba.) Los propietarios de ranchos pagaban alrededor de 5.000 pesos por cada jaguar sacrificado. Heraclio “Laco” Duarte Robles mató a varios jaguares cuando trabajaba para un rancho que ahora es parte de la reserva. Ahora Laco es empleado del Northern Jaguar Project, donde ayuda a mantener a los felinos en vida. Ash Ponders para VoxLos jaguares ocasionalmente matan becerros, aunque prefieren alimentarse de presas salvajes, como venados o pecaríes, un pequeño y feroz animal que se parece a un cerdo. En Sonora, cada jaguar o puma podría matar algunos becerros al año, lo que normalmente equivale a sólo una fracción de la producción de un ganadero.Aunque Gus estuvo del lado perdedor de los encuentros entre ganaderos y felinos, dejó un legado de conservación duradero. Después de aparecer en una cámara de rastreo en La Hielería, ayudó a demostrar que Sonora era el hogar de una población reproductora de jaguares. Esto impulsó un esfuerzo por comprar ranchos, incluyendo a La Hielería, para convertirlos en una reserva. NJP compró su primer rancho en 2003 y desde entonces ha agregado varios más. En conjunto, cubren más de 22.900 hectáreas.Hoy la Reserva del Jaguar del Norte tiene una población pequeña pero saludable de cinco o seis jaguares, según Carmina Gutiérrez González, bióloga del NJP. Las cámaras con sensores de movimiento han detectado alrededor de 10 jaguares pasando por la región, dijo Gutiérrez González, quien identifica a los individuos por sus patrones de manchas únicos.Nuestro único encuentro con un jaguar fue en el Centro Ecológico de Sonora, un zoológico a día y medio manejando desde la reserva. Ash Ponders para VoxDespués de ver al Guapo en la cámara de La Hielería deambulé por el arroyo seco y tropecé con un montón de heces. Heces de jaguar, sospechaba Gómez Ramírez. Nunca en mi vida me había emocionado tanto encontrar un montón de caca. Personas como Gómez Ramírez, quienes han pasado más de una década en la reserva, nunca han visto jaguares cara a cara. Mi probabilidad era casi nula. Entonces me conformé con ver caca.La reserva es esencial aunque insuficiente — es relativamente pequeña y cubre menos del 3 por ciento del área de Yellowstone, por ejemplo. Mientras tanto, los jaguares en Sonora tienen áreas de distribución increíblemente grandes y pueden viajar hasta 16 km por día, dijo Gómez Ramírez.Protegerlos en un área pequeña no es suficiente en una región donde todavía hay caza. Así que el Proyecto Jaguar del Norte tuvo que encontrar otra solución.Una mañana después de algunas noches en la reserva, manejamos a un rancho ganadero un poco más allá del límite. Estacionamos nuestra polvorienta 4Runner junto a un puñado de vacas y sus becerros, quienes se congelaron y nos miraron como si nunca antes hubieran visto humanos.Uriel Villarreal Peña en su rancho, Saucito, cerca de la Northern Jaguar Reserve. Ash Ponders para VoxUn ganadero llamado Uriel Villarreal Peña, dueño de la propiedad, salió a recibirnos, seguido por dos perros. Mientras nos sentábamos alrededor de su mesa al aire libre bajo la sombra de un techo de lámina, nos dijo que tiene un poco más de 100 animales de ganado. Cada uno tiene un valor de varios cientos de dólares y los vende en Sahuaripa para exportarlos a Estados Unidos.Durante más de una década, Villarreal Peña, quien vestía con gorra de béisbol, jeans y camisa con botones, ha sido parte de un programa llamado Viviendo con Felinos. El programa, lanzado por NJP en 2007, trabaja con ganaderos para colocar cámaras con sensores de movimiento en sus terrenos. Cuando esas cámaras detectan a un felino salvaje — un jaguar, un puma, un ocelote o un gato montés — la ONG le paga al ganadero con un fondo común de recursos que ha recaudado a través de donantes. La idea, me dijo Wolf, es “hacer que los animales salvajes vivos sean más valiosos que los muertos”.Las fotos de jaguares valen 5.000 pesos cada una — similar a lo que los cazadores podrían ganar matándolos. Las fotos de ocelotes generan alrededor de 1.500, las de pumas 1.000 y las de gato montés 500 pesos. Cada ganadero puede ganar un máximo de aproximadamente 20.000 pesos al mes por sus fotos — más del doble del salario mínimo mensual en México. Al unirse a Viviendo con Felinos, los ganaderos también se comprometen a no matar ningún animal salvaje en su rancho, incluyendo venados y jabalíes. Roberto Wolf descansa por un momento durante nuestra caminata en La Hielería. Ash Ponders para Vox(México tiene otro programa, no relacionado, dirigido por la Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Ganaderas que reembolsa parcialmente a los ganaderos por ganado que haya sido matado por depredadores salvajes. Los ganaderos se quejan de que estos fondos, que también están destinados a reducir la caza, son de difícil acceso e inadecuados).Villarreal Peña me dijo que se unió al programa NJP en parte por el dinero. Las fotografías de felinos tomadas en su rancho le hacen ganar unos cuantos miles de dólares cada año, dijo, lo que representa entre el 10 y el 15 por ciento de sus ingresos anuales. Pero también le gustan los jaguares. “Me interesa ver animales, conservarlos porque se ven bonitos”, dijo. El hecho de que los jaguares no le hayan causado muchos problemas ayuda. Cuando era joven, Villarreal Peña pensaba que los felinos salvajes eran malos porque comían ganado, el medio de vida de los ganaderos. Pero con el tiempo aprendió que los depredadores evitarán a los becerros siempre que tengan suficientes venados y jabalíes para comer. Después de probar un poco de la bacanora casera de Villarreal Peña, un licor a base de agave similar al mezcal —¡Mi trabajo es duro, lo juro! — Villarreal Peña nos llevó a ver una de sus cámaras con sensores de movimiento. Estaba “cerca”, aunque llegar allí implicaba un corto viaje en auto, una caminata de media hora bajo el sol y un encuentro con un correcaminos, un pájaro terrestre de aspecto maníaco que siempre parece tener prisa.Wolf y Heraclio “Laqui” Duarte López, técnico de campo de NJP, nos muestran un mapa en un mirador camino a la reserva. Ash Ponders para VoxLa caminata a la reserva te lleva por piedras volcánicas y matorrales, típicamente bajo extremo calor. Ash Ponders para VoxEl cráneo de un ganado en las afueras del rancho de Villarreal Peña. Ash Ponders para VoxUn papamoscas bermellón cruza el Aros River en la reserva. Ash Ponders para VoxAtada a un poste de madera, la cámara era de plástico, pintada de camuflaje y aproximadamente del tamaño de un ladrillo. La abrimos y vimos las fotos más recientes. Yo acercándome. Conejo. Venado. Zorro. Una criatura parecida a un mapache llamada cacomixtle. Coatí. Ocelote. Pecarí. Pecarí. Pecarí. Pecarí. Pecarí.Y más pecaríes. Le pregunté a Villarreal Peña qué piensa cuando ve un felino salvaje en la cámara. “¡1,500!”, bromeó, refiriéndose al dinero en pesos mexicanos que gana con cada fotografía de un ocelote. Luego añadió, más seriamente: “Se siente bonito poder decir que sí hay.”Hasta la fecha, 21 ganaderos cerca de la reserva se han unido a Viviendo con Felinos. Y en conjunto, su terreno comprende 50.990 hectáreas, un área de más del doble del tamaño de la reserva. De hecho, el programa ha ampliado el área de protección de los jaguares y sus presas. Además, es tan popular entre los ganaderos que en realidad hay una lista de espera informal para unirse, dijo Wolf.NJP ha estado ampliando lentamente el programa, pero agregar más ranchos — y todas las fotografías que puedan tomar— es costoso, señaló Wolf. Entre el otoño de 2023 y el otoño de 2024, NJP gastó más de 2 millones de pesos (alrededor de $107.000) sólo en premios de fotografía. Eso no incluye el tiempo del personal ni el costo de las cámaras de alrededor de 2.900 pesos (o $150) cada una. Y esas cámaras necesitan ser reemplazadas frecuentemente porque, entre todas las cosas, los pájaros carpinteros ocasionalmente destrozan los lentes y los sensores, me dijo Gómez Ramírez.Viviendo con Felinos has ha dado más espacio a los jaguares para moverse en Sonora, y eso por sí solo es algo enorme. Pero estos animales icónicos también se están beneficiando de un cambio más fundamental en la región — un cambio de cultura y de costumbres. Después de nuestra visita con Villarreal Peña, nos detuvimos en la propiedad de su vecino, un gran rancho que le pertenece a Agustín Hurtado Aguayo. Hurtado Aguayo, ahora de unos 80 años, es el ex-presidente de la asociación ganadera del estado y una figura importante en la comunidad ganadera de Sonora. Hace varios años “detestaba a los felinos”, me dijo Hurtado Aguayo en su casa de la ciudad de Hermosillo, capital de Sonora, a unas horas al oeste de Sahuaripa. En la pared colgaban sombreros de vaquero y un par de cuernos de toro. “Tenía muy mala imagen de ellos”, dijo.Agustín Hurtado Aguayo en su casa de Hermosillo. Ash Ponders para VoxFotos sobre la vida del rancho y un cuerno largo de toro de cuelgan en la pared de la casa de Hurtado Aguayo. Ash Ponders para VoxCazar felinos salvajes era una práctica que las antiguas generaciones transmitían, dijo, y surgía de la creencia de que los felinos dañaban a la producción. “Esa es la formación que teníamos”, me dijo. También era normal que los ganaderos cazaran y comieran venados, dijo, lo que disminuía una importante fuente de alimento para los depredadores.Tras unirse a Viviendo con Felinos, Hurtado sintió curiosidad por el programa porque le gustaban las fotos de felinos del rancho de su vecino. “Al comenzar a ver las fotos que tomaban las cámaras comencé a apreciar los animales”, dijo, mostrándome a un puma de fondo de pantalla en su iPhone. “Poco a poco comenzó a cambiar mi visión del felino”.Hurtado Aguayo, quien luego también se sumó al programa, se dio cuenta de que al limitar el número de ganado en su rancho, sus vacas estarían más sanas y sobraría más pasto para los venados. Si tenía más venados —y sus trabajadores se abstenían de cazarlos—, los felinos salvajes matarían menos animales. Estas ideas son cada vez más comunes entre los ganaderos que se han sumado al programa en Sonora. “Si nosotros como ganaderos o como dueños de un predio conservamos la cadena alimenticia normal, no tenemos problema”, dijo José de la Cruz Coronado Aguayo, otro ganadero de Viviendo con Felinos. Existen otras maneras de proteger al ganado de los depredadores, como asegurarse de que los becerros no anden solos por las montañas. En otras regiones del mundo, la instalación de elementos disuasorios como cercas eléctricas, alarmas y luces intermitentes, también son una opción eficaz para prevenir la depredación.“Realmente los felinos pueden convivir con el ganado”, me dijo Hurtado Aguayo.La reserva está rodeada de ranchos de ganado que en su mayoría venden becerros de carne. Ash Ponders para VoxEstá claro que las fotografías de jaguares pueden hacer que alguien se enamore de los felinos. Esto no explica cómo ganaderos como Hurtado Aguayo aprendieron a criar ganado de tal manera que protegen tanto a los felinos como al ganado. Wolf, de NJP, dice que a menudo todo se reduce a las experiencias individuales. Los ganaderos aprenden con el tiempo que al dejar a los venados o al crear nuevas fuentes de agua para los animales, se pierde menos ganado. Lo que también es crucial, dijo, es que al ganar dinero con fotografías de felinos, las personas en el programa se vuelven más tolerantes con su presencia — y más abiertas a comprometerse y encontrar formas de vivir con ellos.Antes de salir de su casa, Hurtado Aguayo sacó su laptop y nos mostró fotos de las cámaras de vigilancia de su rancho. Eran espectaculares: un puma, cerca de la cámara y con cara de sorpresa. Un ocelote con lo que parece un ratón en su boca. Y varios jaguares, incluyendo la imagen de abajo, tomada en 2023, que tenía guardada en su fondo de escritorio. 1/3Fotos tomadas por cámaras trampa en el rancho de Hurtado Aguayo. Northern Jaguar ProjectNo todos en Sonora aman de repente a los felinos. Los ganaderos todavía culpan a los jaguares cuando sus becerros desaparecen o aparecen muertos. Y es probable que todavía maten a jaguares discretamente. Un ganadero que no forma parte de Viviendo con Felinos me dijo que desde noviembre ha perdido más de una docena de sus becerros y sospecha que los felinos están detrás del daño. Él dice que la reserva debería estar cercada para beneficio de los ganaderos. (No hay evidencia de que los pumas o los jaguares mataran a sus becerros, dijo Wolf).La tensión en la región se desbordó a principios de este año, cuando aparentemente un puma entró a una casa donde un trabajador de rancho se estaba quedando y atacó a su perro. El trabajador, un hombre llamado Ricardo Vázquez Paredes, dice que golpeó al felino con un tubo y el puma se escapó, no sin antes herir a su perro, Blaki. Si bien Wolf y algunos de los otros ganaderos con los que hablé sospechan que su relato podría ser exagerado —es raro que los pumas se acerquen a viviendas humanas— la historia generó preocupaciones en Sahuaripa sobre los jaguares y los esfuerzos para protegerlos.El cambio climático también podría empeorar los conflictos en la región. Los ganaderos con los que hablé dicen que Sonora está cada vez más seco, lo que significa que habrá cada vez menos pastizal para el ganado y para animales como los venados que son el alimento de los felinos salvajes. Esto podría hacer que las vacas sean más débiles y más propensas a morir de hambre y los jaguares estén más hambrientos y más propensos a atacar. La investigación sugiere que los jaguares matan más becerros cuando está seco. En 2023, un ganadero de Viviendo con Felinos llamado Diego Ezrre Romero perdió un becerro a manos de un jaguar. “Lo más crítico en el rancho que tengo es el agua”, me dijo Ezrre Romero. “Hay poco venado por las condiciones”.Diego Ezrre Romero, un ranchero del programa de Viviendo con Felinos, en el verdoso patio de su casa en Sahuaripa. Ash Ponders para VoxEl conflicto en Sonora no está a punto de resolverse del todo. Sin embargo, está claro que Viviendo con Felinos está ayudando. Junto con otros esfuerzos de NJP para involucrar a la comunidad — programas educativos, por ejemplo, y pinturas de murales que representan a los felinos icónicos en Sahuaripa y otras ciudades — el grupo está haciendo que los ganaderos en el territorio de los jaguares sean más tolerantes con los felinos. Y gracias a los pagos, está ayudando a que se vuelvan más tolerantes a las pérdidas que estos puedan ocasionar. “Sin ellos [NJP] ahorita no hubiera ni un jaguar aquí”, dijo Fausto Lorenzo, un ganadero cerca de Sahuaripa que no está afiliado a la reserva. “Ya se lo hubieran matado todos los rancheros porque esa era la costumbre”.Desde la casa de Hurtado Aguayo en Hermosillo, manejamos de regreso a Arizona. La carretera atravesaba campos de cactus saguaro. Los remolinos de polvo giraban a la distancia, moviéndose a través del matorral.El sol se acuesta detrás de las montañas de la Sierra Madre Occidental cerca de la reserva. Ash Ponders para VoxEl éxito que el NJP ha tenido en México es a fin de cuentas un buen augurio para los esfuerzos por restaurar los jaguares en Estados Unidos. El número de jaguares en la reserva es estable, dice Gutiérrez, pero las cámaras con sensores de movimiento sugieren que año tras año más individuos pasan por la región. Se trata de más individuos que potencialmente podrían llegar a los Estados Unidos.Pero persiste un gran problema. A medida que nos acercábamos a la frontera, el muro apareció ante nosotros. Era de metal y de color café y se elevaba 5 metros sobre el desierto. Extendiéndose cientos de kilómetros a través de la frontera de Arizona y Nuevo México, el muro ha hecho que la frontera sea en gran medida impasable para la vida silvestre, incluidos los jaguares. Y continúa expandiéndose. Actualmente, la administración de Trump está planeando completar una de las últimas secciones no amuralladas de la frontera, una brecha de 40 km en San Rafael Valley, alrededor de 240 km al noroeste del refugio, donde los jaguares han cruzado a los Estados Unidos.El futuro de los jaguares de Sonora parece prometedor independientemente de si Trump termina su muro. NJP y otras organizaciones han dado más espacio a estos animales y han erosionado las amenazas más severas.La verdadera pérdida se sentirá en los Estados Unidos, y no sólo entre los ambientalistas. Los jaguares han vivido en Estados Unidos desde mucho antes que nosotros. Son parte del patrimonio natural del país — de ecosistemas verdaderamente estadounidenses — y su ausencia perjudicaría nuestros paisajes. Los ganaderos en Sonora nos enseñan que podemos convivir con los grandes depredadores del continente. Sólo tenemos que elegir hacerlo.See More:

Key Take-aways on the Hubble Space Telescope: The Hubble Space Telescope launched on April 24, 1990 and is celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2025.The telescope has a 2.4-meter mirror, main types of science instruments, including a suite of spectrographs and cameras that have been upgraded through five astronaut-serviced missions.From mapping dark matter to refining the Hubble Constant, the rate at which the universe expands, the Hubble Space Telescope has been central to some of the most transformative discoveries of the past half-century.On April 24, 1990, Space Shuttle Discovery launched from Kennedy Space Center carrying one of the most ambitious science instruments ever built: the Hubble Space Telescope. Suspended in low-Earth orbit at an altitude of some 320 miles, far above the atmospheric distortions that blur ground-based views, Hubble promised to revolutionize astronomy. And though it had a bit of a bumpy start, over the past 35 years, it has done just that.From capturing the earliest glimpses of galaxy formation to measuring the expansion rate of the universe, Hubble has been at the heart of modern astronomy for decades. Its images are now iconic: pillars of gas birthing stars, spirals of galactic arms stretching into the void, and clusters of galaxies bending light itself with their gravity."As we celebrate Hubble’s 35th anniversary," reads a recent Presidential Message, "we honor the brilliant scientists, engineers, and visionaries who made such a daring feat possible. Their courage and innovation inspire us all to take risks, dream big, and forge new paths into the unknown."Hubble Space Telescope Keeps EvolvingLaunched before the birth of today’s youngest astronomers, Hubble remains a vital part of modern astrophysics.Sam Cutler, a Ph.D. student in astronomy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has worked with Hubble data throughout his academic career, even contributing to the telescope’s widest near-infrared (NIR) image of the universe. That image was made possible by a clever and innovative technique called Drift And SHift (DASH), which dramatically boosts the telescope’s data collection rate."The most surprising thing about being a part of this imaging," Cutler says, "was how, even 30+ years after launch, we were still learning new ways to utilize Hubble to expand our understanding of the Universe. […] It was a lot of fun to share these results and pitch it as ‘we can teach this old dog new tricks.’"The DASH method allowed astronomers to collect eight times more NIR data in a single orbit compared to typical observing strategies. This efficiency gives Hubble the power to scan much larger areas of the sky while retaining its signature resolution, which is something ground-based telescopes have long struggled to match.JWST and the Hubble TelescopePillars of Creation - furnished by NASA. (Image Credit: Mikolaj Niemczewski/Shutterstock)Even as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) captures headlines for its stunning early-universe observations, Hubble still provides critical context and groundwork. That’s especially true for rare or distant galaxies that require both high resolution and wide survey coverage."Although [DASH] doesn’t go as deep as something like the Ultra-Deep Field, it covers a lot of on-sky area, which is really important when you’re trying to find very rare things," says Cutler. "DASH combines the survey area of a ground-based telescope with the depth and spatial resolution of Hubble, which really allows us to find these more distant, massive galaxies that are both rare and faint."Hubble, in other words, has become a sort of cosmic scout later in life. It often surveys broad swaths of the universe, flagging intriguing targets for more detailed scrutiny by JWST. "The two telescopes work really well together," says Cutler, “with JWST able to go back and answer all the questions we had about these galaxies that were discovered with Hubble."This synergy is no accident. In fact, the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in May 2027, is explicitly designed to complement both Hubble and JWST. Roman will offer image quality on par with Hubble but with a field of view 100 times larger, says Cutler, helping accelerate wide-area surveys of the universe.Technical Aspects and Hubble’s Missions(Image Credit: Dima Zel/Shutterstock)Despite its age, Hubble’s technical specs are still impressive: a 2.4-meter mirror, five main types of science instruments, including a suite of spectrographs and cameras that have been upgraded through five astronaut-serviced missions. But its most enduring contribution may be the culture it created around open data, long-term research, and collaboration.The Hubble Legacy Archive has amassed more than 160 terabytes of data, freely available to the global scientific community. This treasure trove from over a million Hubble observations has led to the publication of more than 21,000 scientific papers."To have been able to work with Hubble data and use this abundance of knowledge that generations of astronomers have passed down, it really makes me appreciate all the work that has gone into that," says Cutler. "It also makes me hopeful that one day the tips I’ve learned about JWST and the months of head scratching won’t be in vain, and a future grad student will be able to use them in their research someday!"Hubble’s Lifespan and BeyondHubble’s longevity is itself a scientific marvel. Designed for a roughly 15-year mission, the telescope has more than doubled that lifespan, continuing to operate despite aging components and the end of crewed servicing missions in 2009. NASA and ESA engineers have kept it going through remote upgrades, software patches, and careful planning around equipment failures.From mapping dark matter to refining the Hubble Constant, the rate at which the universe expands, the Hubble Space Telescope has been central to some of the most transformative discoveries of the past half-century. And as it marks 35 years in space, it remains an enduring symbol of both scientific ambition and engineering excellence.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:NASA. Hubble ImagesNASA. InstrumentsJake Parks is a freelance writer and editor who specializes in covering science news. He has previously written for Astronomy magazine, Discover Magazine, The Ohio State University, the University of Wisconson-Madison, and more.

AI’s thirst for energy is ballooning into a monster of a challenge. And it’s not just about the electricity bills. The environmental fallout is serious, stretching to guzzling precious water resources, creating mountains of electronic waste, and, yes, adding to those greenhouse gas emissions we’re all trying to cut.As AI models get ever more complex and weave themselves into yet more parts of our lives, a massive question mark hangs in the air: can we power this revolution without costing the Earth?The numbers don’t lie: AI’s energy demand is escalating fastThe sheer computing power needed for the smartest AI out there is on an almost unbelievable upward curve – some say it’s doubling roughly every few months. This isn’t a gentle slope; it’s a vertical climb that’s threatening to leave even our most optimistic energy plans in the dust.To give you a sense of scale, AI’s future energy needs could soon gulp down as much electricity as entire countries like Japan or the Netherlands, or even large US states like California. When you hear stats like that, you start to see the potential squeeze AI could put on the power grids we all rely on.2024 saw a record 4.3% surge in global electricity demand, and AI’s expansion was a big reason why, alongside the boom in electric cars and factories working harder. Wind back to 2022, and data centres, AI, and even cryptocurrency mining were already accounting for nearly 2% of all the electricity used worldwide – that’s about 460 terawatt-hours (TWh).Jump to 2024, and data centres on their own use around 415 TWh, which is roughly 1.5% of the global total, and growing at 12% a year. AI’s direct share of that slice is still relatively small – about 20 TWh, or 0.02% of global energy use – but hold onto your hats, because that number is set to rocket upwards.The forecasts? Well, they’re pretty eye-opening. By the end of 2025, AI data centres around the world could demand an extra 10 gigawatts (GW) of power. That’s more than the entire power capacity of a place like Utah.Roll on to 2026, and global data centre electricity use could hit 1,000 TWh – similar to what Japan uses right now. And, by 2027, the global power hunger of AI data centres is tipped to reach 68 GW, which is almost what California had in total power capacity back in 2022. Towards the end of this decade, the figures get even more jaw-dropping. Global data centre electricity consumption is predicted to double to around 945 TWh by 2030, which is just shy of 3% of all the electricity used on the planet.OPEC reckons data centre electricity use could even triple to 1,500 TWh by then. And Goldman Sachs? They’re saying global power demand from data centres could leap by as much as 165% compared to 2023, with those data centres specifically kitted out for AI seeing their demand shoot up by more than four times.There are even suggestions that data centres could be responsible for up to 21% of all global energy demand by 2030 if you count the energy it takes to get AI services to us, the users.When we talk about AI’s energy use, it mainly splits into two big chunks: training the AI, and then actually using it.Training enormous models, like GPT-4, takes a colossal amount of energy. Just to train GPT-3, for example, it’s estimated they used 1,287 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity, and GPT-4 is thought to have needed a whopping 50 times more than that. While training is a power hog, it’s the day-to-day running of these trained models that can chew through over 80% of AI’s total energy. It’s reported that asking ChatGPT a single question uses about ten times more energy than a Google search (we’re talking roughly 2.9 Wh versus 0.3 Wh).With everyone jumping on the generative AI bandwagon, the race is on to build ever more powerful – and therefore more energy-guzzling – data centres.So, can we supply energy for AI – and for ourselves?This is the million-dollar question, isn’t it? Can our planet’s energy systems cope with this new demand? We’re already juggling a mix of fossil fuels, nuclear power, and renewables. If we’re going to feed AI’s growing appetite sustainably, we need to ramp up and diversify how we generate energy, and fast.Naturally, renewable energy – solar, wind, hydro, geothermal – is a huge piece of the puzzle. In the US, for instance, renewables are set to go from 23% of power generation in 2024 to 27% by 2026. The tech giants are making some big promises; Microsoft, for example, is planning to buy 10.5 GW of renewable energy between 2026 and 2030 just for its data centres. AI itself could actually help us use renewable energy more efficiently, perhaps cutting energy use by up to 60% in some areas by making energy storage smarter and managing power grids better.But let’s not get carried away. Renewables have their own headaches. The sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow, which is a real problem for data centres that need power around the clock, every single day. The batteries we have now to smooth out these bumps are often expensive and take up a lot of room. Plus, plugging massive new renewable projects into our existing power grids can be a slow and complicated business.This is where nuclear power is starting to look more appealing to some, especially as a steady, low-carbon way to power AI’s massive energy needs. It delivers that crucial 24/7 power, which is exactly what data centres crave. There’s a lot of buzz around Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) too, because they’re potentially more flexible and have beefed-up safety features. And it’s not just talk; big names like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are seriously looking into nuclear options.Matt Garman, who heads up AWS, recently put it plainly to the BBC, calling nuclear a “great solution” for data centres. He said it’s “an excellent source of zero carbon, 24/7 power.” He also stressed that planning for future energy is a massive part of what AWS does.“It’s something we plan many years out,” Garman mentioned. “We invest ahead. I think the world is going to have to build new technologies. I believe nuclear is a big part of that, particularly as we look 10 years out.”Still, nuclear power isn’t a magic wand. Building new reactors takes a notoriously long time, costs a fortune, and involves wading through complex red tape. And let’s be frank, public opinion on nuclear power is still a bit shaky, often because of past accidents, even though modern reactors are much safer.The sheer speed at which AI is developing also creates a bit of a mismatch with how long it takes to get a new nuclear plant up and running. This could mean we end up leaning even more heavily on fossil fuels in the short term, which isn’t great for our green ambitions. Plus, the idea of sticking data centres right next to nuclear plants has got some people worried about what that might do to electricity prices and reliability for everyone else.Not just kilowatts: Wider environmental shadow of AI loomsAI’s impact on the planet goes way beyond just the electricity it uses. Those data centres get hot, and cooling them down uses vast amounts of water. Your average data centre sips about 1.7 litres of water for every kilowatt-hour of energy it burns through.Back in 2022, Google’s data centres reportedly drank their way through about 5 billion gallons of fresh water – that’s a 20% jump from the year before. Some estimates suggest that for every kWh a data centre uses, it might need up to two litres of water just for cooling. Put it another way, global AI infrastructure could soon be chugging six times more water than the entirety of Denmark.And then there’s the ever-growing mountain of electronic waste, or e-waste. Because AI tech – especially specialised hardware like GPUs and TPUs – moves so fast, old kit gets thrown out more often. We could be looking at AI contributing to an e-waste pile-up from data centres hitting five million tons every year by 2030. Even making the AI chips and all the other bits for data centres takes a toll on our natural resources and the environment. It means mining for critical minerals like lithium and cobalt, often using methods that aren’t exactly kind to the planet.Just to make one AI chip can take over 1,400 litres of water and 3,000 kWh of electricity. This hunger for new hardware is also pushing for more semiconductor factories, which, guess what, often leads to more gas-powered energy plants being built.And, of course, we can’t forget the carbon emissions. When AI is powered by electricity generated from burning fossil fuels, it adds to the climate change problem we’re all facing. It’s estimated that training just one big AI model can pump out as much CO2 as hundreds of US homes do in a year.If you look at the environmental reports from the big tech companies, you can see AI’s growing carbon footprint. Microsoft’s yearly emissions, for example, went up by about 40% between 2020 and 2023, mostly because they were building more data centres for AI. Google also reported that its total greenhouse gas emissions have shot up by nearly 50% over the last five years, with the power demands of its AI data centres being a major culprit.Can we innovate our way out?It might sound like all doom and gloom, but a combination of new ideas could help.A big focus is on making AI algorithms themselves more energy-efficient. Researchers are coming up with clever tricks like “model pruning” (stripping out unnecessary bits of an AI model), “quantisation” (using less precise numbers, which saves energy), and “knowledge distillation” (where a smaller, thriftier AI model learns from a big, complex one). Designing smaller, more specialised AI models that do specific jobs with less power is also a priority.Inside data centres, things like “power capping” (putting a lid on how much power hardware can draw) and “dynamic resource allocation” (shifting computing power around based on real-time needs and when renewable energy is plentiful) can make a real difference. Software that’s “AI-aware” can even shift less urgent AI jobs to times when energy is cleaner or demand on the grid is lower. AI can even be used to make the cooling systems in data centres more efficient.On-device AI could also help to reduce power consumption. Instead of sending data off to massive, power-hungry cloud data centres, the AI processing happens right there on your phone or device. This could slash energy use, as the chips designed for this prioritise being efficient over raw power.And we can’t forget about rules and regulations. Governments are starting to wake up to the need to make AI accountable for its energy use and wider environmental impact.Having clear, standard ways to measure and report AI’s footprint is a crucial first step. We also need policies that encourage companies to make hardware that lasts longer and is easier to recycle, to help tackle that e-waste mountain. Things like energy credit trading systems could even give companies a financial reason to choose greener AI tech.It’s worth noting that the United Arab Emirates and the United States shook hands this week on a deal to build the biggest AI campus outside the US in the Gulf. While this shows just how important AI is becoming globally, it also throws a spotlight on why all these energy and environmental concerns need to be front and centre for such huge projects.Finding a sustainable future for AIAI has the power to do some amazing things, but its ferocious appetite for energy is a serious hurdle. The predictions for its future power demands are genuinely startling, potentially matching what whole countries use.If we’re going to meet this demand, we need a smart mix of energy sources. Renewables are fantastic for the long run, but they have their wobbles when it comes to consistent supply and scaling up quickly. Nuclear power – including those newer SMRs – offers a reliable, low-carbon option that’s definitely catching the eye of big tech companies. But we still need to get our heads around the safety, cost, and how long they take to build.And remember, it’s not just about electricity. AI’s broader environmental impact – from the water it drinks to cool data centres, to the growing piles of e-waste from its hardware, and the resources it uses up during manufacturing – is huge. We need to look at the whole picture if we’re serious about lessening AI’s ecological footprint.The good news? There are plenty of promising ideas and innovations bubbling up. Energy-saving AI algorithms, clever power management in data centres, AI-aware software that can manage workloads intelligently, and the shift towards on-device AI all offer ways to cut down on energy use. Plus, the fact that we’re even talking about AI’s environmental impact more means that discussions around policies and rules to push for sustainability are finally happening.Dealing with AI’s energy and environmental challenges needs everyone – researchers, the tech industry, and policymakers – to roll up their sleeves and work together, and fast.If we make energy efficiency a top priority in how AI is developed, invest properly in sustainable energy, manage hardware responsibly from cradle to grave, and put supportive policies in place, we can aim for a future where AI’s incredible potential is unlocked in a way that doesn’t break our planet.The race to lead in AI has to be a race for sustainable AI too.(Photo by Nejc Soklič)Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is co-located with other leading events including Intelligent Automation Conference, BlockX, Digital Transformation Week, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo.Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

"We're excited to become a clinical-stage biotech company; it's exciting from an AI drug discovery standpoint," says Absci founder and CEO Sean McClain. AbsciArtificial intelligence has been working its way into the drug development process for years now, but with little to show so far in revamping the notoriously burdensome process. While drugs are being developed using AI in a variety of ways, no drugs developed completely by AI, from start to finish, have so far made it over the finish line of regulatory approval. For that reason, every attempt by an AI drug to get approval is a landmark of sorts. Tuesday, drug development startup Absci, based in Vancouver, Washington, announced such a landmark, the beginning of a Phase I clinical trial for a therapy it built from scratch using generative AI to treat irritable bowel disease. The company announced it has "dosed" the first patients in Phase I trials, meaning, administering doses of its drug, ABS-101, to healthy volunteers. "This is a very big milestone for the company," said Sean McClain, founder and CEO of Absci, in a conversation with me via Google Meet Tuesday afternoon."We're excited to become a clinical-stage biotech company; it's exciting from an AI drug discovery standpoint," he said.Phase I is the first of three phases in a proposed drug's clinical trial process that must be completed in order for the drug to be considered for approval by regulators (the Food & Drug Administration in the US). The purpose of Phase I is to prove that no adverse side effects result from the drug being put into humans for the first time.  Absci describes the process:The Phase 1 (ACTRN12625000212459p) randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, first-in-human study of single ascending doses of ABS-101 will evaluate safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK), and pharmacodynamics (PD) in healthy volunteers. The study is expected to enroll approximately 40 healthy adult participants. The primary endpoint is safety and tolerability, with PK, PD, and immunogenicity serving as secondary endpoints. The Phase 1 interim data readout is expected in the second half of 2025. Absci has used AI to dramatically streamline the drug development and pre-clinical process, known as the "front end" of drug development, where the discovery of drugs happens, and the initial validation using in vitro and in vivo animal models, before being put into human subjects. ABS-101 was developed from scratch and brought to the clinic in just 24 months, and at a cost of $15 million."Because of AI, we got to the clinic in roughly half the time, from five years to just over 24 months," McClain told me, "and with an order-of-magnitude less cost, $15 million to get this asset into the clinic versus what typically costs $50 to $100 million.Absci's AI-driven software tools, combined with its own wet lab, are a virtual reinvention of laboratory procedures.The company uses generative AI "to predict antibodies from scratch that can bind to a target of interest," McClain said. Traditionally, scientists in a wet lab would use an animal's immune system to generate an antibody. With generative AI, the antibody can be created as a computer model.Absci's ABS-101 is the first drug the company has ever brought to the clinic after over a decade spent on fundamental computer work and wet lab work. It is the company's lead drug candidate in its pipeline of drugs. The novel ABS-101 antibody, developed using generative AI, binds to the TL1A protein in immune cells whose over-expression has been linked to a variety of inflammatory autoimmune diseases.  Absci AbsciNot only did AI cut time and costs, but it has brought other novel advantages, said Christian Stegmann, the company's head of drug development, on the same call."Others have brought antibodies to the clinic that have had shortcomings, which we've tried to address," he said. A big issue has been that prior therapies "lead the patient to develop anti-drug antibodies, which can lead the patients to needing to switch treatments." The ABS-101, he said, is intended to have "reduced immunogenicity risk" by design, which will hopefully mean less drug resistance.In addition, the AI techniques allowed the company to go immediately to a "subcutaneous" method of administering the dose, rather than via a drip into the vein, as is standard in Phase I trials. "That is unusual; it usually comes much later in clinical development settings," said Stegmann. Using a needle versus a drip is important because, ideally, the final drug will be self-administered by patients. If the drug is already being tried out via needle rather than drip, it brings the therapy that much closer to its final form. "That allows us to be quicker in the overall clinical development pipeline, and to gather data for the setting that is actually going to reach the market" in the drug's final form, assuming it is ultimately approved."This is an advantage of AI," McClain said, "this ability to model not just for affinity and potency, but also to optimize for the manufacturability and such -- to go to all the attributes you want in the first go-around; that really helps."The full Phase I clinical trial will extend well into next year, said McClain and Stegmann. Gathering results is somewhat longer than for other Phase I trials because ABS-101 was designed to extend the time between doses. That is a benefit for patients as it makes less frequent dosing (less frequent needle pricks) possible, but it means the trial takes longer to carry out those dosages. "We have a long half life we have to monitor for a while," explained Stegmann.Well before the completion of Phase I, later this year, McClain expects to have a meaningful "read-out" of initial data from the Phase I. "We are going to, in Phase I, understand important pieces [of the whole trial process], as well as confirming whether we see the extended half-life" of the dosage, said McClain. "We will also get a look at the immunogenicity profile; there will be a lot of good information, as far as being able to show the efficacy" of ABS-101.Because of the incremental data Absci will get later this year, they will know enough to seek approval for Phase II and begin recruiting subjects before the completion of Phase I. Phase II is where the intense work of measuring the drug's effectiveness takes place, said McClain. "It's fair to say we will be moving faster into Phase II" than might otherwise be the case, he said. After ABS-101, McClain's next candidate approaching clinical trials is ABS-201, which has two indications of note, one for treating hair loss in the form of alopecia, and another for endometriosis. ABS-201 is expected to enter a Phase I trial in the first half of next year, McClain said.By any measure, drug development needs an overhaul. Creating new drugs, or even repurposing old ones, comes with an enormous cost. A new drug takes, on average, 10 years to develop, from fundamental chemistry through clinical trials to regulatory approval. It can cost almost $3 billion, and the failure rate of most new drug candidates is 96%. There has been a lot of activity so far, without a breakthrough AI drug. The US Food & Drug Administration's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research received over 500 drug applications through 2023 that used some sort of "AI component," according to CDER's materials on AI in drug development. But, as Nature Magazine's Melanie Senior reported in December, "No AI-enabled drug candidate has yet made it past regulators, despite several being in clinical trials."Aside from Absci, a small cohort of startups have made progress getting into trials even if they don't yet have a clinical result. For example, BPGbio of Framingham, Mass., has a drug for pancreatic cancer, developed using AI approaches, that is working its way through Phase II clinical trials.  Beyond the results of ABS-101, and other trials, the goal of Absci is to ultimately "predict the biology." That means the company will seek to "actually start to predict where an antibody should bind to a target to give us the biological response that we want."Absci's stock is publicly traded on Nasdaq. The shares have defied a tough stock market this year, rising 12% versus a 2% decline for the Nasdaq Composite Index. After hours on Tuesday, as Absci issued its press release, the stock surged by as much as 25% in late trading. Featured

U.S. President Donald Trump opened his four-day Middle East trip on Tuesday by paying a visit to Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for talks on U.S. efforts to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, end the war in Gaza, hold down oil prices and more.Prince Mohammed warmly greeted Trump as he stepped off Air Force One at King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital and kicked off his Middle East tour.The two leaders then retreated to a grand hall at the Riyadh airport, where Trump and his aides were served traditional Arabic coffee by waiting attendants wearing ceremonial gun-belts. Fighter jet escort The pomp began before Trump even landed. Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s provided an honorary escort for Air Force One as it approached the kingdom’s capital.Trump and Prince Mohammed also took part in a lunch at the Royal Court, gathering with guests and aides in an ornate room with blue accents and massive crystal chandeliers.As he greeted business titans with Trump by his side, Prince Mohammed was animated and smiling.It was a stark contrast to his awkward fist bump with then-President Joe Biden, who looked to avoid being seen on camera shaking hands with the prince during a 2022 visit to the kingdom.Biden had decided to pay a visit to Saudi Arabia as he looked to alleviate soaring prices at the pump for motorists at home and around the globe.At the time, Prince Mohammed’s reputation had been badly damaged by a U.S. intelligence determination that found he had ordered the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.But that dark moment appeared to be distant memory for the prince as he rubbed elbows with high-profile business executives — including Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — in front of the cameras and with Trump by his side.Later, the crown prince will fete Trump with a formal dinner. Trump is also slated to take part Tuesday in a U.S.-Saudi investment conference.“When Saudis and Americans join forces, very good things happen — more often than not, great things happen,” Saudi Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih said. Oil production Saudi Arabia and fellow OPEC+ nations have already helped their cause with Trump early in his second term by stepping up oil production. Trump sees cheap energy as a key component to lowering costs and stemming inflation for Americans. The Republican president has also made the case that lower oil prices will hasten an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.But Saudi Arabia’s economy remains heavily dependent on oil, and the kingdom needs a fiscal break-even oil price of $96 to $98 a barrel to balance its budget. It’s questionable how long OPEC+, of which Saudi Arabia is the leading member, is willing to keep production elevated. The price of a barrel of Brent crude closed Monday at $64.77.“One of the challenges for the Gulf states of lower oil prices is it doesn’t necessarily imperil economic diversification programs, but it certainly makes them harder,” said Jon Alterman, a senior Middle East analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Qatar and UAE next Trump picked the kingdom for his first stop, because it has pledged to make big investments in the U.S., but Trump ended up traveling to Italy last month for Pope Francis’ funeral. Riyadh was the first overseas stop of his first term.The three countries on the president’s itinerary — Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — are all places where the Trump Organization, run by Trump’s two elder sons, is developing major real estate projects. They include a high-rise tower in Jeddah, a luxury hotel in Dubai and a golf course and villa complex in Qatar.Trump is trying to demonstrate that his transactional strategy for international politics is paying dividends as he faces criticism from Democrats who say his global tariff war and approach to Russia’s war on Ukraine are isolating the United States from allies.He’s expected to announce deals with the three wealthy countries that will touch on artificial intelligence, expanding energy cooperation and perhaps new arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The administration earlier this month announced initial approval to sell $3.5 billion worth of air-to-air missiles for Saudi Arabia’s fighter jets.But Trump arrived in the Middle East at a moment when his top regional allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia, are far from neatly aligned with his approach. Trump’s decision to skip Israel remarkable, expert says Before the trip, Trump announced that Washington was halting a nearly two-month U.S. airstrike campaign against Yemen’s Houthis, saying the Iran-backed rebels have pledged to stop attacking ships along a vital global trade route.The administration didn’t notify Israel — which the Houthis continue to target — of the agreement before Trump publicly announced it. It was the latest example of Trump leaving the Israelis in the dark about his administration’s negotiations with common adversaries.In March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t notified by the administration until after talks began with Hamas about the war in Gaza. And Netanyahu found out about the ongoing U.S. nuclear talks with Iran only when Trump announced them during an Oval Office visit by the Israeli leader last month.“Israel will defend itself by itself,” Netanyahu said last week following Trump’s Houthi truce announcement. “If others join us — our American friends — all the better.”William Wechsler, senior director of the Rafik Hariri Center and Middle East Programs at the Atlantic Council, said Trump’s decision to skip Israel on his first Middle East visit is remarkable.“The main message coming out of this, at least as the itinerary stands today, is that the governments of the Gulf … are in fact stronger friends to President Trump than the current government of Israel at this moment,” Wechsler said. Restarting efforts to normalize Israel-Saudi ties Trump, meanwhile, hopes to restart his first-term effort to normalize relations between the Middle East’s major powers, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Trump’s Abraham Accords effort led to Sudan, the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco agreeing to normalize relations with Israel.But Riyadh has made clear that in exchange for normalization it wants U.S. security guarantees, assistance with the kingdom’s nuclear program and progress on a pathway to Palestinian statehood. There seems to be scant hope for making headway on a Palestinian state with the Israel-Hamas war raging and the Israelis threatening to flatten and occupy Gaza.Prince Mohammed last week notably hosted Palestinian Vice President Hussein Sheikh in Jeddah on the sheikh’s first foreign visit since assuming office in April.Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the crown prince appeared to be subtly signaling to Trump that the kingdom needs to see progress on Palestinian statehood for the Saudis to begin seriously moving on a normalization deal with the Israelis.“Knowing how the Saudis telegraph their intentions, that’s a preemptive, ‘Don’t even think of asking us to show any goodwill toward normalization,'” Abdul-Hussain said. Madhani reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. —Zeke Miller, Aamer Madhani and Jon Gambrell, Associated Press