Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Artificial Intelligence
Spotting climate misinformation with AI requires expertly trained models
When classifying climate misinformation, general-purpose large language models lag behind models trained on expert-curated climate data.
- Computing
New computer chips do math with light
Two companies have announced photonic devices that could solve specific real-world problems faster and with less energy than conventional computers.
- Earth
The ozone layer shields life on Earth. We’ll soon lose a key way to monitor its health
Imminent loss of NASA's Aura and Canada's SCISAT will severely diminish scientists’ ability to monitor ozone-depleting substances in the stratosphere.
- Artificial Intelligence
AI is helping scientists decode previously inscrutable proteins
A new set of artificial intelligence models could make protein sequencing even more powerful for better understanding cell biology and diseases.
- Space
‘Star Wars’ holds clues to making speedier spacecraft in the real world
Controlled fusion, solar sails or ion engines could someday help spaceships travel between star systems.
- Tech
A hopping robot shows off its squirrel-like skills
Salto the jumping robot can take a flying leap and land on a narrow pipe — just like a squirrel soaring from branch to branch.
- Artificial Intelligence
As AI advances, the meaning of artificial general intelligence remains murky
AI models are growing ever-more capable, accurate and impressive. The question of if they represent “general intelligence” is increasingly moot.
- Artificial Intelligence
Medical AI tools are growing, but are they being tested properly?
AI medical benchmark tests fall short because they don’t test efficiency on real tasks such as writing medical notes, experts say.
- Tech
Squirty gels bring the taste of cake and coffee to virtual reality
By squirting chemicals onto a person’s tongue to taste, a new device aims to replicate food flavors for fuller virtual experiences.
- Tech
Robots are gaining new capabilities thanks to plants and fungi
Biohybrid robots made with plant and fungal tissue are more sensitive to their surroundings.
- Artificial Intelligence
More brainlike computers could change AI for the better
New brain-inspired hardware, architectures and algorithms could lead to more efficient, more capable forms of AI.
- Artificial Intelligence
Are AI chatbot ‘personalities’ in the eye of the beholder?
Defining AI chatbot personality could be based on how a bot “feels” about itself or on how a person feels about the bot they’re interacting with.
