An artificial intelligence program developed by DeepMind that can predict the 3D structure of a protein from an amino acid sequence with unprecedented accuracy, AlphaFold is emblematic of a new era of modern biotech -- "data-driven, open-sourced, collaborative and ultimately, faster than ever", according to Benchling. Born out of a Benchling hackathon, the vast majority of labs are unable to access AlphaFold today, despite being open source to use. With Benchling's AlphaFold beta feature, scientists can not only predict 3D structures of novel proteins directly within Benchling, but also centralise experimental context, collaborate with teammates, and connect with downstream scientific workflows on a single, secure platform. President and co-founder of Benchling, Ashu Singhal, explained: "Our team gets excited about two things: science and bringing software to science. By making AlphaFold available to the biotech industry at the click of a button, scientists will be able to seamlessly experiment with this exciting advancement and find new ways to leverage AlphaFold output in their research. While the use cases for AlphaFold are still being explored and proven, Benchling's goal with its beta feature is to support its community."

Profiles are back in Tesla's latest "Full Self-Driving" beta 10.3 with an "Assertive Mode" that may perform rolling stops and other borderline maneuvers, The Verge has reported. The update was originally released in October 2021 with three profiles ("Chill," "Average" and "Assertive"), but was pulled just two days later over issues with traffic light left turns, unexpected stopping and more. The latest update issued yesterday shows that the Full Self-Driving (Beta) profiles are back. If you choose "Assertive," the notes state that "in this profile, your Model X will have a smaller follow distance, perform more frequent speed lane changes, will not exit passing lanes and may perform rolling stops." As @Digitalhen notes, the system may also perform rolling stops even in "Average" mode.

Robots like the 900 series Roomba, which have the ability to make detailed maps of your home while they do chores, are poised to become much more useful than they've ever been. These maps are in the process of enabling all kinds of new features, most of which we can only guess at, but iRobot will be giving us a peek at what they're working on with a late Christmas present: a new beta program for Roombas. In a next step to make the smart home smarter, iRobot today announced a new Beta feature that allows customers to view a Wi-Fi Coverage Map created by Roomba. The Wi-Fi Coverage Map feature is the first to be available as part of iRobot Beta, a program that enables a limited number of iRobot customers to trial unreleased product features for the company's consumer robots. Wi-Fi Coverage Mapping is a Beta feature that enables Roomba 900 Series vacuums to detect WiFi signal strength throughout a user's home to highlight areas that may have poor connectivity.