The world's leading drug companies are turning to artificial intelligence to improve the hit-and-miss business of finding new medicines, with GlaxoSmithKline PLC unveiling a new $43-million (U.S.) deal in the field on Sunday. Other pharmaceutical giants including Merck & Co. Inc.,Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi are also exploring the potential of artificial intelligence to help streamline the drug discovery process. The aim is to harness modern supercomputers and machine learning systems to predict how molecules will behave and how likely they are to make a useful drug, thereby saving time and money on unnecessary tests. AI systems already play a central role in other high-tech areas such as the development of driverless cars and facial-recognition software. "Many large pharma companies are starting to realize the potential of this approach and how it can help improve efficiencies," said Andrew Hopkins, chief executive of privately owned Exscientia, which announced the new tie-up with GSK. Mr. Hopkins, who used to work at Pfizer, said Exscientia's AI system could deliver drug candidates in roughly one-quarter of the time and at one-quarter of the cost of traditional approaches.

This year's historic gush of water through California's rivers brings the dawning of a renaissance for lampreys, a peculiar fish that migrates upstream to spawn but without the fanfare of its salmon and steelhead compatriots. While the critters' nocturnal life and brown, camouflage bodies make them largely invisible to even the most veteran fishermen and paddlers, their sheer abundance has led to more sightings? Watching the lampreys scale the side of Van Arsdale Dam, or opt for an adjacent fish ladder built for spawning salmon, Goodman acknowledged that the fish are a bit off-putting. The Pacific lamprey, native to the state and dating back to before the dinosaurs, doesn't bite humans and provides a slew of environmental benefits. While biologists believe this year's surge of lampreys is tied to high river flows after a near-record wet winter, the fact is they don't know for sure.