This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through August 31)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Generative AI Creates Playable Version of Doom Game With No Code Matthew Sparkes | New Scientist “An AI-generated re-creation of the classic computer game Doom can be played normally despite having no computer code or graphics. Researchers behind the project say similar AI models could be used to create games from scratch in the...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/08/31/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-august-31-2/
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Generative AI Creates Playable Version of Doom Game With No Code Matthew Sparkes | New Scientist “An AI-generated re-creation of the classic computer game Doom can be played normally despite having no computer code or graphics. Researchers behind the project say similar AI models could be used to create games from scratch in the...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/08/31/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-august-31-2/
Singularity Hub
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through August 31)
From an AI-generated version of the video game Doom to a robotic metalsmith, check out this week's awesome tech stories from around the web.
The US Is Adding Grid-Scale Batteries at 10 Times the Pace of Natural Gas This Year
As our energy mix shifts towards intermittent renewable sources, utility-scale batteries will be crucial for balancing power supply. The latest figures from the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) show batteries are being deployed at 10 times the rate of new gas power capacity. The pace of the green transition has been remarkable in recent years,...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/02/the-us-is-adding-grid-scale-batteries-at-10-times-the-pace-of-natural-gas-this-year/
As our energy mix shifts towards intermittent renewable sources, utility-scale batteries will be crucial for balancing power supply. The latest figures from the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) show batteries are being deployed at 10 times the rate of new gas power capacity. The pace of the green transition has been remarkable in recent years,...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/02/the-us-is-adding-grid-scale-batteries-at-10-times-the-pace-of-natural-gas-this-year/
Singularity Hub
The US Is Adding Grid-Scale Batteries at 10 Times the Pace of Natural Gas This Year
Grid-scale batteries accounted for nearly a fifth of new energy capacity installed in the first half of this year, outpacing wind, nuclear, and gas.
Robots Are Coming to the Kitchen—What That Could Mean for Society and Culture
Automating food is unlike automating anything else. Food is fundamental to life—nourishing body and soul—so how it’s accessed, prepared, and consumed can change societies fundamentally. Automated kitchens aren’t sci-fi visions from The Jetsons or Star Trek. The technology is real and global. Right now, robots are used to flip burgers, fry chicken, create pizzas, make...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/03/robots-are-coming-to-the-kitchen-what-that-could-mean-for-society-and-culture/
Automating food is unlike automating anything else. Food is fundamental to life—nourishing body and soul—so how it’s accessed, prepared, and consumed can change societies fundamentally. Automated kitchens aren’t sci-fi visions from The Jetsons or Star Trek. The technology is real and global. Right now, robots are used to flip burgers, fry chicken, create pizzas, make...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/03/robots-are-coming-to-the-kitchen-what-that-could-mean-for-society-and-culture/
Singularity Hub
Robots Are Coming to the Kitchen—What That Could Mean for Society and Culture
Food is fundamental to life—nourishing body and soul—so how it’s accessed, prepared, and consumed can change societies fundamentally.
Waymo Robotaxis Are Giving 100,000 Rides a Week. It’ll Soon Be More.
After years of overly aggressive forecasts about self-driving cars, here’s a statistic that snuck up on us: People are now hailing 100,000 automated rides a week—a number that’s double the 50,000 weekly rides provided a few months ago. These rides are courtesy of Waymo, the self-driving car project incubated by Google and spun out as...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/05/waymo-robotaxis-are-giving-100000-rides-a-week-itll-soon-be-more/
After years of overly aggressive forecasts about self-driving cars, here’s a statistic that snuck up on us: People are now hailing 100,000 automated rides a week—a number that’s double the 50,000 weekly rides provided a few months ago. These rides are courtesy of Waymo, the self-driving car project incubated by Google and spun out as...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/05/waymo-robotaxis-are-giving-100000-rides-a-week-itll-soon-be-more/
Singularity Hub
Waymo Robotaxis Are Giving 100,000 Rides a Week. It’ll Soon Be More.
Commerical self-driving cars are no longer a fantasy. Tens of thousands of paying customers are trusting them for rides on congested city streets.
A New Brain Mapping Study Reveals Depression’s Signature in the Brain
Depression doesn’t mean you’re always feeling low. Sure, most times it’s hard to crawl out of bed or get motivated. Once in a while, however, you feel a spark of your old self—only to get sucked back into an emotional black hole. There’s a reason for this variability. Depression changes brain connections, even when the...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/06/a-brain-signature-of-depression-revealed-by-new-brain-mapping-study/
Depression doesn’t mean you’re always feeling low. Sure, most times it’s hard to crawl out of bed or get motivated. Once in a while, however, you feel a spark of your old self—only to get sucked back into an emotional black hole. There’s a reason for this variability. Depression changes brain connections, even when the...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/06/a-brain-signature-of-depression-revealed-by-new-brain-mapping-study/
Singularity Hub
A New Brain Mapping Study Reveals Depression’s Signature in the Brain
With brain imaging technology called precision functional mapping, researchers captured the brains of 135 people with depression for over a year and a half.
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through September 7)
ROBOTICS This Could Be the Start of Amazon’s Next Robot Revolution Will Knight | Wired “In 2012, Amazon quietly acquired a robotics startup called Kiva Systems, a move that dramatically improved the efficiency of its ecommerce operations and kickstarted a wider revolution in warehouse automation. Last week, the ecommerce giant announced another deal that could prove similarly profound,...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/07/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-september-7-2/
ROBOTICS This Could Be the Start of Amazon’s Next Robot Revolution Will Knight | Wired “In 2012, Amazon quietly acquired a robotics startup called Kiva Systems, a move that dramatically improved the efficiency of its ecommerce operations and kickstarted a wider revolution in warehouse automation. Last week, the ecommerce giant announced another deal that could prove similarly profound,...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/07/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-september-7-2/
Singularity Hub
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through September 7)
From Amazon's robot revolution to a quantum network buried under New York City, check out this week's awesome tech stories from around the web.
Meta Looks to Next-Gen Geothermal to Fuel Ravenous Data Centers
Concerns about the environmental impact of AI have prompted big tech firms to explore exotic options for reducing their emissions. Now, Meta plans to try fueling its data centers with geothermal power. Today’s largest AI models consume vast amounts of electricity. This is significantly increasing energy bills for the tech firms building these models and...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/09/meta-looks-to-next-gen-geothermal-to-fuel-increasingly-ravenous-data-centers/
Concerns about the environmental impact of AI have prompted big tech firms to explore exotic options for reducing their emissions. Now, Meta plans to try fueling its data centers with geothermal power. Today’s largest AI models consume vast amounts of electricity. This is significantly increasing energy bills for the tech firms building these models and...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/09/meta-looks-to-next-gen-geothermal-to-fuel-increasingly-ravenous-data-centers/
Singularity Hub
Meta Looks to Next-Gen Geothermal to Fuel Ravenous Data Centers
Concerns about the environmental impact of AI are prompting big tech firms to explore exotic options for reducing emissions.
Life on Alien Planets Probably Wouldn’t Experience Day and Night—Here’s How That May Change Evolution
Do aliens sleep? You may take sleep for granted, but research suggests many planets that could evolve life don’t have a day and night cycle. It’s hard to imagine, but there are organisms living in Earth’s lightless habitats, deep underground or at the bottom of the sea, that give us an idea of what alien...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/10/life-on-alien-planets-probably-wouldnt-experience-day-and-night-heres-how-that-may-change-evolution/
Do aliens sleep? You may take sleep for granted, but research suggests many planets that could evolve life don’t have a day and night cycle. It’s hard to imagine, but there are organisms living in Earth’s lightless habitats, deep underground or at the bottom of the sea, that give us an idea of what alien...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/10/life-on-alien-planets-probably-wouldnt-experience-day-and-night-heres-how-that-may-change-evolution/
Singularity Hub
Life on Alien Planets Probably Wouldn’t Experience Day and Night—Here’s How That May Change Evolution
If life exists out there, it will upend assumptions we didn’t know we had. The only certainty is that it will surprise us.
UK Gives Sneak Peek of a Novel Fusion Reactor Shaped Like a Cored Apple
Nuclear fusion has experienced something of a renaissance in recent years with a host of startups and governments seriously pursuing the idea. UK scientists have now provided a sneak peek of a novel reactor design that could be providing power to the grid by 2040. Despite a reputation for being a technology that’s always 20...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/12/uk-gives-sneak-peek-of-a-novel-fusion-reactor-shaped-like-a-cored-apple/
Nuclear fusion has experienced something of a renaissance in recent years with a host of startups and governments seriously pursuing the idea. UK scientists have now provided a sneak peek of a novel reactor design that could be providing power to the grid by 2040. Despite a reputation for being a technology that’s always 20...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/12/uk-gives-sneak-peek-of-a-novel-fusion-reactor-shaped-like-a-cored-apple/
Singularity Hub
UK Gives Sneak Peek of a Novel Fusion Reactor Shaped Like a Cored Apple
Recent years have seen a flurry of investment in fusion as optimism grows that the technology's time may finally have come.
A New Gene Therapy Reprograms Cancer Cells to Fight Themselves
Cancer cells are tricky foes. Our body’s immune system is normally on the lookout for signs of tumor cells. If any are detected, it launches killer T cells—a type of immune cell—to seek and destroy the threat. But it’s a cat-and-mouse game: As tumors grow, they form a protective barrier to counteract immune attacks. Immune...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/13/a-new-gene-therapy-reprograms-cancer-cells-to-fight-themselves/
Cancer cells are tricky foes. Our body’s immune system is normally on the lookout for signs of tumor cells. If any are detected, it launches killer T cells—a type of immune cell—to seek and destroy the threat. But it’s a cat-and-mouse game: As tumors grow, they form a protective barrier to counteract immune attacks. Immune...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/13/a-new-gene-therapy-reprograms-cancer-cells-to-fight-themselves/
Singularity Hub
A New Gene Therapy Reprograms Cancer Cells to Fight Themselves
Mice treated with the gene therapy remained cancer-free for at least 100 days and resisted cancer resurgence in a lab test.
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through September 14)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OpenAI Announces a New AI Model, Code-Named Strawberry, That Solves Difficult Problems Step by Step Will Knight | Wired “The company today announced a new advance that signals a shift in approach—a model that can ‘reason’ logically through many difficult problems and is significantly smarter than existing AI without a major scale-up. The...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/14/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-september-14-2/
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OpenAI Announces a New AI Model, Code-Named Strawberry, That Solves Difficult Problems Step by Step Will Knight | Wired “The company today announced a new advance that signals a shift in approach—a model that can ‘reason’ logically through many difficult problems and is significantly smarter than existing AI without a major scale-up. The...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/14/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-september-14-2/
Singularity Hub
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through September 14)
From a new AI model that can 'reason' to a quantum computing breakthrough, check out this week's awesome tech stories from around the web.
Elderly Monkeys Aged More Slowly When Given a Cheap Diabetes Drug Used by Millions
A drug that slows aging may already be on the market. Scientists have long been interested in metformin, a widely prescribed drug used to treat Type 2 diabetes, for its potential to delay aging. In worms, fruit flies, and rodents, the drug—on average less than a dollar per pill—shows promising anti-aging effects. Last week, a...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/16/elderly-monkeys-aged-more-slowly-when-given-a-cheap-diabetes-drug-used-by-millions/
A drug that slows aging may already be on the market. Scientists have long been interested in metformin, a widely prescribed drug used to treat Type 2 diabetes, for its potential to delay aging. In worms, fruit flies, and rodents, the drug—on average less than a dollar per pill—shows promising anti-aging effects. Last week, a...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/16/elderly-monkeys-aged-more-slowly-when-given-a-cheap-diabetes-drug-used-by-millions/
Singularity Hub
Elderly Monkeys Aged More Slowly When Given a Cheap Diabetes Drug Used by Millions
Scientists have long been interested in metformin, a widely prescribed drug used to treat Type 2 diabetes, for its potential to delay aging.
Scientists Discover New Evidence Earth May Once Have Had a Ring Like Saturn
The rings of Saturn are some of the most famous and spectacular objects in the solar system. Earth may once have had something similar. In a paper published last week in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, my colleagues and I present evidence that Earth may have had a ring. The existence of such a ring,...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/17/scientists-discover-new-evidence-earth-may-once-have-had-a-ring-like-saturn/
The rings of Saturn are some of the most famous and spectacular objects in the solar system. Earth may once have had something similar. In a paper published last week in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, my colleagues and I present evidence that Earth may have had a ring. The existence of such a ring,...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/17/scientists-discover-new-evidence-earth-may-once-have-had-a-ring-like-saturn/
Singularity Hub
Scientists Discover New Evidence Earth May Once Have Had a Ring Like Saturn
The existence of a ring, forming around 466 million years ago and lasting tens of millions of years, could explain several puzzles in our planet’s past.
There Are Now More Electric Vehicles Than Gas-Powered Cars in Norway
Norway’s sizable oil and gas deposits have made it one of the wealthiest countries in the world. That’s why it might come as a surprise that it’s the first country to have more electric vehicles than gasoline-powered ones. Transportation is the single biggest contributor to climate change in the US—accounting for 28 percent of total...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/19/there-are-now-more-electric-vehicles-than-gas-powered-cars-in-norway/
Norway’s sizable oil and gas deposits have made it one of the wealthiest countries in the world. That’s why it might come as a surprise that it’s the first country to have more electric vehicles than gasoline-powered ones. Transportation is the single biggest contributor to climate change in the US—accounting for 28 percent of total...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/19/there-are-now-more-electric-vehicles-than-gas-powered-cars-in-norway/
Singularity Hub
There Are Now More Electric Vehicles Than Gas-Powered Cars in Norway
Norway shows that with the right incentives, the goal of a completely electrified road network is a tangible possibility.
DNA Computing Evolves: New System Stores Data, Plays Chess, and Solves Sudoku Puzzles
DNA is nature’s computing device. Unlike data centers, DNA is incredibly compact. These molecules package an entire organism’s genetic blueprint into tiny but sophisticated structures inside each cell. Kept cold—say, inside a freezer or in the Siberian tundra—DNA and the data encoded within can last millennia. But DNA is hardly just a storage device. Myriad...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/20/dna-computing-evolves-with-system-that-stores-data-plays-chess-and-solves-sudoku/
DNA is nature’s computing device. Unlike data centers, DNA is incredibly compact. These molecules package an entire organism’s genetic blueprint into tiny but sophisticated structures inside each cell. Kept cold—say, inside a freezer or in the Siberian tundra—DNA and the data encoded within can last millennia. But DNA is hardly just a storage device. Myriad...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/20/dna-computing-evolves-with-system-that-stores-data-plays-chess-and-solves-sudoku/
Singularity Hub
DNA Computing Evolves: New System Stores Data, Plays Chess, and Solves Sudoku Puzzles
Unlike previous DNA computers, the data can be erased and replaced like memory on classical computers to solve multiple problems.
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through September 21)
TECH AI’s Hungry Maw Drives Massive $100B Investment Plan by Microsoft and BlackRock Benj Edwards | Ars Technica “The partnership initially aims to raise $30 billion in private equity capital, which could later turn into $100 billion in total investment when including debt financing. The group will invest in data centers and supporting power infrastructure...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/21/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-september-21-2/
TECH AI’s Hungry Maw Drives Massive $100B Investment Plan by Microsoft and BlackRock Benj Edwards | Ars Technica “The partnership initially aims to raise $30 billion in private equity capital, which could later turn into $100 billion in total investment when including debt financing. The group will invest in data centers and supporting power infrastructure...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/21/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-september-21-2/
Singularity Hub
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through September 21)
From a $100 billion AI investment to a cancer vaccine trial, check out this week's awesome tech stories from around the web.
First Panda Stem Cells Made in the Lab Bring New Hope for These Beloved Bears
Roughly 20 years ago, at the dawn of YouTube, a video of a sneezing baby panda—and its mom’s gasp in surprise—captured the internet’s heart. With their distinctive black and white fur, giant pandas are known for their calm nature, playfulness, and utter cuteness. The gentle beasts are native to China, but their charm has enthralled...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/23/first-panda-stem-cells-made-in-the-lab-offer-new-hope-for-these-beloved-bears/
Roughly 20 years ago, at the dawn of YouTube, a video of a sneezing baby panda—and its mom’s gasp in surprise—captured the internet’s heart. With their distinctive black and white fur, giant pandas are known for their calm nature, playfulness, and utter cuteness. The gentle beasts are native to China, but their charm has enthralled...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/23/first-panda-stem-cells-made-in-the-lab-offer-new-hope-for-these-beloved-bears/
Singularity Hub
First Panda Stem Cells Made in the Lab Bring New Hope for These Beloved Bears
Scientists suggest we might conserve pandas by converting their skin cells into stem cells—and eventually reproductive cells for breeding.
Cosmology Is at a Tipping Point—We May Be on the Verge of Discovering New Physics
For the past few years, a series of controversies have rocked the well-established field of cosmology. In a nutshell, the predictions of the standard model of the universe appear to be at odds with some recent observations. There are heated debates about whether these observations are biased, or whether the cosmological model, which predicts the...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/24/cosmology-is-at-a-tipping-point-we-may-be-on-the-verge-of-discovering-new-physics/
For the past few years, a series of controversies have rocked the well-established field of cosmology. In a nutshell, the predictions of the standard model of the universe appear to be at odds with some recent observations. There are heated debates about whether these observations are biased, or whether the cosmological model, which predicts the...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/24/cosmology-is-at-a-tipping-point-we-may-be-on-the-verge-of-discovering-new-physics/
Singularity Hub
Cosmology Is at a Tipping Point—We May Be on the Verge of Discovering New Physics
A series of controversies has rocked the field of cosmology. The standard model of the universe appears to be at odds with recent observations.
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Scientists Say Net Zero Aviation Is Possible by 2050—If We Act Now
Aviation has proven to be one of the most stubbornly difficult industries to decarbonize. But a new roadmap outlined by University of Cambridge researchers says the sector could reach net zero by 2050 if urgent action is taken. The biggest challenge when it comes to finding alternatives to fossil fuels in aviation is basic physics....
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/27/scientists-say-net-zero-aviation-is-possible-by-2050-if-we-act-now/
Aviation has proven to be one of the most stubbornly difficult industries to decarbonize. But a new roadmap outlined by University of Cambridge researchers says the sector could reach net zero by 2050 if urgent action is taken. The biggest challenge when it comes to finding alternatives to fossil fuels in aviation is basic physics....
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/27/scientists-say-net-zero-aviation-is-possible-by-2050-if-we-act-now/
Singularity Hub
Scientists Say Net Zero Aviation Is Possible by 2050—If We Act Now
A University of Cambridge report outlines four sustainable aviation goals that, if implemented by 2030, could help make the sector carbon neutral.
AI and Scientists Face Off to See Who Can Come Up With the Best Ideas
Scientific breakthroughs rely on decades of diligent work and expertise, sprinkled with flashes of ingenuity and, sometimes, serendipity. What if we could speed up this process? Creativity is crucial when exploring new scientific ideas. It doesn’t come out of the blue: Scientists spend decades learning about their field. Each piece of information is like a...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/27/ai-and-scientists-face-off-to-see-who-can-come-up-with-the-best-ideas/
Scientific breakthroughs rely on decades of diligent work and expertise, sprinkled with flashes of ingenuity and, sometimes, serendipity. What if we could speed up this process? Creativity is crucial when exploring new scientific ideas. It doesn’t come out of the blue: Scientists spend decades learning about their field. Each piece of information is like a...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/27/ai-and-scientists-face-off-to-see-who-can-come-up-with-the-best-ideas/
Singularity Hub
AI and Scientists Face Off to See Who Can Come Up With the Best Ideas
The team pitted 49 scientists against a state-of-the-art AI based on Anthropic’s Claude 3.5.
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through September 28)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE A Tiny New Open-Source AI Model Performs as Well as Powerful Big Ones Melissa Heikkiläarchive page | MIT Technology Review “[The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Ai2)] claims that its biggest Molmo model, which has 72 billion parameters, outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-4o, which is estimated to have over a trillion parameters, in tests that...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/28/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-september-28/
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE A Tiny New Open-Source AI Model Performs as Well as Powerful Big Ones Melissa Heikkiläarchive page | MIT Technology Review “[The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Ai2)] claims that its biggest Molmo model, which has 72 billion parameters, outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-4o, which is estimated to have over a trillion parameters, in tests that...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/09/28/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-september-28/
Singularity Hub
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through September 28)
From Meta's first pair of AR glasses to OpenAI's bid to become a for-profit company, check out this week's awesome tech stories from around the web.