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This week · October 22, 2026 · Issue 1

5 things in AI for science this week.

Each one is a release or a real use, with why it matters for a lab or science company.

Issue 1

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1
Tool

PaperBanana turns your methods into figures

Google's free tool drafts a diagram from your methodology text. For a lab that writes papers, that is time back on every figure. Source

2
Money

Free Google Antigravity Ultra for scientists, six months

An interest form for PIs, postdocs, students and nonprofit lab researchers, reviewed weekly. Only selected applicants hear back. If your team codes analysis pipelines, apply. Source

3
Announcement

HHMI is hiring a program manager for its $500M AI initiative

A sign of where research money is going. The role runs projects, budgets and hiring for AI@HHMI. Applications close December 14. Source

4
Job

Anthropic wants a DevRel for scientists

Applied AI Architect, Life Sciences. Someone whose job is helping labs use Claude well. Source

5
Money

Foresight Institute funds AI-first neuroscience

Grants of $30,000 to $100,000 for AI-driven work toward whole-brain emulation, with compute and desk space in San Francisco or Berlin. Due October 31. Source

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Your invitation

Paste one methods section into PaperBanana before Friday.

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Also on the timeline

Full timeline

  1. Oct 18, 2026 · Release

    Google releases PaperBanana

    Methods text in, a draft figure out.

  2. Oct 15, 2026 · Release

    Anthropic opens STEM Fellows

    Four months at Anthropic from January 2027, helping Claude reason about hard science problems.

  3. Oct 12, 2026 · Someone did this

    Vicena AI wins the Claude Community Impact Challenge

    Mehdi Farza's team wants designing a drug or a battery to be as simple as building an app.

  4. Oct 11, 2026 · Release

    Meta funds an open brain dataset

    $15M for 15,000 hours of brain recordings from 100 people, planned as open source.

  5. Oct 11, 2026 · Release

    NSF and DOE put $100M+ into autonomous labs

    Money for AI-enabled instruments and self-driving labs.

  6. Oct 7, 2026 · Release

    A $1.8B push for open, AI-ready biology data

    Biohub, DOE, NIH, Meta, Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs.