Thursday - May 11 2023, 19:45 UTC - 1 year ago

Google announced a suite of AI-powered products and features at its annual I/O conference. The products range from an improved version of its chatbot, Bard, to coding assistants and much more. Google hopes its tools will become an essential part of day-to-day life. There are however, cons to these AI language models and they likely won't see widespread use until the kinks are sorted out.

Thursday - May 11 2023, 18:42 UTC - 1 year ago

Chinese startup Galactic Energy is preparing to launch its own reusable Pallas 1 rocket, with the hopes of becoming the third company in the world to launch reusable rockets and the first in China. Last year, Galactic Energy raised $200 million to develop their reusable Pallas 1, with their competition coming from other Chinese rocket companies, including Space Pioneer who recently launched the Tianlong-2 rocket.

Thursday - May 11 2023, 17:05 UTC - 1 year ago

Earth and Venus are very similar in many ways, such as size, formation location and materials. However, the two planets have ended up wildly different due to Venus's thick carbon dioxide atmosphere causing a harsh, hot greenhouse effect. To understand the difference between the two, scientists have embarked on a decade-long mission to learn more about their respective evolutions and why Venus has earned the namesake of Earths evil twin.

Thursday - May 11 2023, 15:22 UTC - 1 year ago

The Human Genome Project has been announced as "finished" multiple times, but today's announcement of a "pangenome" map of 47 people's genomes is said to better capture the genetic diversity of our species and will only get bigger. The new Pangenome will allow for better understanding of rare diseases and previously unseen "dark matter" of the genome.

Thursday - May 11 2023, 13:37 UTC - 1 year ago

The EU's AI Act, which focuses on reining in risky but narrowly focused applications, could become the de facto global standard for artificial intelligence. Authorities worldwide are scrambling to figure out how to control the rapidly evolving technology to ensure that it improves people's lives without threatening their rights or safety. The AI Act is expected to be approved in a European Parliament committee Thursday 11 May 2023 and move into negotiations between the 27 member countries, Parliament and the EU's executive commission.

Thursday - May 11 2023, 12:02 UTC - 1 year ago

MIT researchers have developed a highly detailed 3D genome mapping technique named RCMC that allows much cheaper and more accurate gene and regulatory region analysis. RCMC can be applied to genome areas connected to multiple metabolic disorders and blood conditions to gain insight into gene regulation at an unprecedented resolution.

Thursday - May 11 2023, 10:50 UTC - 1 year ago

The Human Pangenome Reference Consortium, comprising of UCSC professors and students, have released a draft of the first ever human pangenome—which combines data from 47 diverse DNA sources—to provide a more accurate understanding of worldwide genomic diversity. This new pangenome adds 119 million DNA bases to the existing reference genome, increasing the detection of variants in the human genome, making it more accurate, complete and usable. The project will continue until 2024, when a final pangenome with genomic information from 350 individuals is planned for release.

Thursday - May 11 2023, 08:58 UTC - 1 year ago

Scientists have developed two wearable interfaces that use miniaturized odor generators to create smells in virtual reality. Previous attempts to create odors in VR failed due to bulky contraptions and mess. This could redefine the way we explore virtual spaces, if done properly.

Thursday - May 11 2023, 07:32 UTC - 1 year ago

A group of researchers from MIT and Rice University recently unveiled a computer vision technology that can enable people to see around corners and beyond obstructions when reflections are captured on a shiny object. This breakthrough has the potential to revolutionize safety and navigation of autonomous vehicles, as well as numerous other fields, including health care and search and rescue.

Thursday - May 11 2023, 05:53 UTC - 1 year ago

NIST researchers have developed a combined ion trap/photon detector device to improve quantum computing systems, featuring an aluminum barrier that helps balance the competing needs of both the ion trap and photon detector.

Thursday - May 11 2023, 04:25 UTC - 1 year ago

President and COO of Quantinuum, Tony Uttley and scientific lead, Dr Henrik Dreyer, developed a new Non-Abelian Topological Quantum state, achieved by engineering a waveform with the H2 32 Qubit quantum computer chip. This opens up new fields of condensed matter physics research that were previously impossible, overcoming regular computer limitations up to 50 qubit. Reducing noise by thousands of times with SuperQubits increases performance from 9 to 17 qubit and unlocks the Topological Waveform, making the new state useful for physics research the same way particle accelerators are.

Thursday - May 11 2023, 02:34 UTC - 1 year ago

In their new study in Nature Machine Intelligence, Bojian Yin and Sander Bohté from CWI demonstrate a major step forward in developing artificial intelligence programs that are more responsive and energy-efficient. By using brain-like neurons and their novel learning algorithm, they are able to train a spiking neural network of 6 million neurons, which is much larger than any other that has been trained before.

Thursday - May 11 2023, 01:28 UTC - 1 year ago

Recent studies suggest that sleep duration and daytime napping amount play a role in developing and elevating the risk of peripheral artery disease (PAD). Short night-time sleep was associated with a nearly doubled risk, while daytime nappers were associated with a 32% higher risk, in comparison to those who do not nap, and no causal relationships were found between long sleep and PAD.

Thursday - May 11 2023, 00:06 UTC - 1 year ago

WhimsyWorks have released MetaGPT, an AI-powered no-coding website builder that could replace conventional website designers. The tool is powered by ChatGPT, a conversational AI that uses OpenAI's GPT-4. It lets users key in requirements in specific formats, generates results almost instantaneously, and allows users to modify as they please. It's been used to create more than 11,000 apps so far.

Wednesday - May 10 2023, 22:11 UTC - 1 year ago

Knowledge Pixel is a software company that developed a framework for publishing scientific findings in an actionable and human-readable manner. The company has used FAIR principles to make sure the research data is organised in a machine-interactive way, with Nanopublications at the core of the mission. The duo have teamed up with academic publishers Pensoft and IOS Press in order to implement their vision.

Wednesday - May 10 2023, 20:37 UTC - 1 year ago

In conclusion, although people with legume allergies were co-sensitized to other legumes, their risk of having a co-allergy was minimal. However, it is still necessary to be informed about the content of the food being consumed and to note anything that may cause an allergic reaction.

Wednesday - May 10 2023, 19:08 UTC - 1 year ago

The Morpho VTOL drone developed by Swiss firm Elythor is a combination of the best of a multi-rotor drone and a fixed-wing drone to help reduce power consumption, especially when it's windy. The drone has four wings, four quadcopter-style propeller arms, and an aerodynamic bullet-shaped body. The Morpho can adjust its wings symmetrically and asymmetrically to reduce wind resistance and catch the wind. It is designed for industrial applications, such as power line inspections, power plant inspections, and wind turbine inspections.

Wednesday - May 10 2023, 17:51 UTC - 1 year ago

Peridot is Niantic's newest mobile augmented-reality game, inspired by the '90s Tamagotchi phenomenon. Players raise and nurture cartoonish characters known as 'Dots', earning rewards for exploring the environment and taking pictures with their virtual pet. The game offers in-game currency, rewards and many opportunities to explore the real world with your pet Dot. It is Niantic's first original in-house game since 2014's Ingress.

Wednesday - May 10 2023, 16:35 UTC - 1 year ago

Dubai is setting a record for the biggest 3D printed mosque of its kind, with the collaboration between the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department (IACAD) and an architectural firm. Renderings of the mosque show intricate design, featuring tall, angled pillars connected by lattice-like panels. The project will be difficult due to its ambitious scale, and also has some challenges with budgeting as well as extra emissions, yet these are worthwhile issues to work through as it can be done with great success.