Nonrival

April 17, 2026

Human experts + AI summaries - on public policy, economics, and technology.

Cochrane is testing whether AI tools can actually help researchers synthesize medical evidence

cochrane

• Cochrane is launching an innovative study to test whether AI tools can effectively support evidence synthesis by comparing them against traditional methods across 15 medical review updates
• The study uses an adaptive platform design that allows researchers to add new AI tools or remove underperforming ones over time, rather than being locked into testing a fixed set of tools
• This is the first real-world study to measure not just whether AI tools are accurate, but whether their errors actually affect the conclusions of medical reviews

China Is Using Russia's Playbook to Lock Central Asia Into Infrastructure Dependencies

csis

• China is creating infrastructure dependencies across Central Asia through Belt and Road Initiative investments, mirroring Russia's historical approach but with key improvements based on lessons learned from Moscow's failures
• Unlike Russia's overt coercion that drove countries away, China embeds its companies deeper into local supply chains and creates domestic constituencies with vested interests in maintaining ties
• The U.S. has an opportunity to support infrastructure diversification in Central Asia now, before these countries become locked into dependencies that will be costly and difficult to reverse

Russia and Iran Are Building a Massive Trade Route to Bypass Western Sanctions

csis

• Russia and Iran are developing the International North-South Transport Corridor, a 7,200-kilometer trade route connecting Russia to the Persian Gulf and India through Central Asia and the Caucasus
• The project has accelerated since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine as both countries seek to circumvent Western sanctions and reduce dependence on U.S.-dominated global trade systems
• While the corridor faces significant funding and geopolitical challenges, both governments remain committed to creating this alternative trade infrastructure that could reshape global commerce

In the News

The Iran War Is Creating the Largest Oil Disruption in Modern History

econofact

• The ongoing war in Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz to most tanker traffic, disrupting about 8 percent of global oil supplies at its peak — the largest oil shock in modern history.
• While past policies like strategic reserves, energy efficiency improvements, and electric vehicle deployment have helped cushion the economic impact compared to 1970s oil crises, the geopolitical effects are proving seismic.
• Unlike previous crises that spurred international cooperation, today's fragmented global institutions and declining trust in U.S. leadership may make it harder to address future energy security challenges at other vulnerable choke points worldwide.

Analysis

Scientists Are Programming Living Cells to Form Shape-Changing Materials Like Liquid Crystal Displays

science

• Researchers have developed a way to guide living cells into forming materials that can change shape on command, similar to how liquid crystal displays work
• The technique involves organizing cells into ordered patterns that behave like "nematic elastomers" — materials that can stretch, contract, and reshape themselves
• This breakthrough could lead to living materials that adapt their form for medical implants, soft robotics, or self-healing structures

Also Worth a Look

• AI Is Missing a Crucial Human Sense That Could Be Key to Real Intelligence (noema)
• Scientists Just Doubled Survival Time for Pancreatic Cancer Patients Using a Previously 'Undruggable' Target (works_in_progress)
• Scientists Found a Way to Make Copper Both Stronger and More Conductive (science)
• The Biden Administration Proved Industrial Policy Works Better When It Helps Workers, Not Just Companies (roosevelt)
• Federal cannabis laws are blocking researchers from studying the products millions of Americans actually use (the_conversation)
• The Supreme Court Is Poised to Hear Major Cases on Gun Rights and Parental Authority (scotusblog)
• Why Did Liberal Supreme Court Justices Split on Conversion Therapy in an Unexpected Way? (scotusblog)