Meta Has Launched the World’s ‘Most Advanced’ Glasses. Will They Replace Smartphones?
Humans are increasingly engaging with wearable technology as it becomes more adaptable and interactive. One of the most intimate ways gaining acceptance is through augmented reality glasses. Last week, Meta debuted a prototype of the most recent version of their AR glasses—Orion. They look like reading glasses and use holographic projection to allow users to...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/01/meta-has-launched-the-worlds-most-advanced-glasses-will-they-replace-smartphones/
Humans are increasingly engaging with wearable technology as it becomes more adaptable and interactive. One of the most intimate ways gaining acceptance is through augmented reality glasses. Last week, Meta debuted a prototype of the most recent version of their AR glasses—Orion. They look like reading glasses and use holographic projection to allow users to...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/01/meta-has-launched-the-worlds-most-advanced-glasses-will-they-replace-smartphones/
Singularity Hub
Meta Has Launched the World’s ‘Most Advanced’ Glasses. Will They Replace Smartphones?
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Orion offers a “glimpse of the future” in which smart glasses will replace smartphones as the main mode of communication.
Groundbreaking Brain Map Reveals Fruit Fly Brain in Stunning Detail
With a brain the size of a sesame seed, the lowly fruit fly is often considered a kitchen pest. But to neuroscientists, the flies are a treasure trove of information detailing how the brain’s intricate connections guide thoughts, decisions, and memories—not just for the critters, but also for us. Mapping these connections is the first...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/03/groundbreaking-brain-map-reveals-fruit-fly-brain-in-stunning-detail/
With a brain the size of a sesame seed, the lowly fruit fly is often considered a kitchen pest. But to neuroscientists, the flies are a treasure trove of information detailing how the brain’s intricate connections guide thoughts, decisions, and memories—not just for the critters, but also for us. Mapping these connections is the first...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/03/groundbreaking-brain-map-reveals-fruit-fly-brain-in-stunning-detail/
Singularity Hub
Groundbreaking Brain Map Reveals Fruit Fly Brain in Stunning Detail
The approach used to make the map—which heavily relied on artificial intelligence—could chart more complex brains, such as zebrafish, mice, and even humans.
These Mini AI Models Match OpenAI With 1,000 Times Less Data
The artificial intelligence industry is obsessed with size. Bigger algorithms. More data. Sprawling data centers that could, in a few years, consume enough electricity to power whole cities. This insatiable appetite is why OpenAI—which is on track to make $3.7 billion in revenue but lose $5 billion this year—just announced it’s raised $6.6 billion more...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/04/these-mini-ai-models-match-openai-with-1000-times-less-data/
The artificial intelligence industry is obsessed with size. Bigger algorithms. More data. Sprawling data centers that could, in a few years, consume enough electricity to power whole cities. This insatiable appetite is why OpenAI—which is on track to make $3.7 billion in revenue but lose $5 billion this year—just announced it’s raised $6.6 billion more...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/04/these-mini-ai-models-match-openai-with-1000-times-less-data/
Singularity Hub
These Mini AI Models Match OpenAI With 1,000 Times Less Data
Ai2 new family of open-source AI models are competitive with state-of-the-art models like OpenAI's GPT-4o—but an order of magnitude smaller.
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through October 5)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MIT Spinoff Liquid Debuts Non-Transformer AI Models and They’re Already State-of-the-Art Carl Franzen | VentureBeat “Unlike most others of the current generative AI wave, these models are not based around the transformer architecture outlined in the seminal 2017 paper ‘Attention Is All You Need.’ Instead, Liquid states that its goal ‘is to explore...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/05/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-october-5-2/
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MIT Spinoff Liquid Debuts Non-Transformer AI Models and They’re Already State-of-the-Art Carl Franzen | VentureBeat “Unlike most others of the current generative AI wave, these models are not based around the transformer architecture outlined in the seminal 2017 paper ‘Attention Is All You Need.’ Instead, Liquid states that its goal ‘is to explore...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/05/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-october-5-2/
Singularity Hub
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through October 5)
From Meta's new AI video generator to the UK shutting down its last coal plant, check out this week's awesome tech stories from around the web.
DeepMind and BioNTech Bet AI Lab Assistants Will Accelerate Science
There has long been hope that AI could help accelerate scientific progress. Now, companies are betting the latest generation of chatbots could make useful research assistants. Most efforts to accelerate scientific progress using AI have focused on solving fundamental conceptual problems, such as protein folding or the physics of weather modeling. But a big chunk...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/07/deepmind-and-biontech-bet-ai-lab-assistants-will-accelerate-science/
There has long been hope that AI could help accelerate scientific progress. Now, companies are betting the latest generation of chatbots could make useful research assistants. Most efforts to accelerate scientific progress using AI have focused on solving fundamental conceptual problems, such as protein folding or the physics of weather modeling. But a big chunk...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/07/deepmind-and-biontech-bet-ai-lab-assistants-will-accelerate-science/
Singularity Hub
DeepMind and BioNTech Bet AI Lab Assistants Will Accelerate Science
Several companies and labs are betting the latest generation of chatbots could make useful research assistants, accelerating science.
Witness 1.8 Billion Years of Earth’s Tectonic Dance in a New Animation
Using information from inside the rocks on Earth’s surface, my colleagues and I have reconstructed the plate tectonics of the planet over the last 1.8 billion years. It is the first time Earth’s geological record has been used like this, looking so far back in time. This has enabled us to make an attempt at...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/08/witness-1-8-billion-years-of-earths-tectonic-dance-in-a-new-animation/
Using information from inside the rocks on Earth’s surface, my colleagues and I have reconstructed the plate tectonics of the planet over the last 1.8 billion years. It is the first time Earth’s geological record has been used like this, looking so far back in time. This has enabled us to make an attempt at...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/08/witness-1-8-billion-years-of-earths-tectonic-dance-in-a-new-animation/
Singularity Hub
Witness 1.8 Billion Years of Earth’s Tectonic Dance in a New Animation
In a new animation, scientists map the planet's plate tectonics over the last 40 percent of its history. It's the longest such reconstruction yet.
In a First, Woman’s Type 1 Diabetes Reversed by a Stem Cell Transplant
The 25-year-old woman had suffered through decades of medical nightmares. A native of Tianjin, a city roughly two hours west of Beijing, she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 11 years ago. A chronic autoimmune disease, her body’s immune system savagely attacks the cells in her pancreas that produce insulin, spiking blood sugar to deadly...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/09/in-a-first-womans-type-1-diabetes-reversed-by-a-stem-cell-transplant/
The 25-year-old woman had suffered through decades of medical nightmares. A native of Tianjin, a city roughly two hours west of Beijing, she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 11 years ago. A chronic autoimmune disease, her body’s immune system savagely attacks the cells in her pancreas that produce insulin, spiking blood sugar to deadly...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/09/in-a-first-womans-type-1-diabetes-reversed-by-a-stem-cell-transplant/
Singularity Hub
In a First, Woman’s Type 1 Diabetes Reversed by a Stem Cell Transplant
The cells restored the woman’s ability to process sugar and carbohydrates to that of non-diabetic people. In a sense, it reversed her condition completely.
You’ll Soon Be Able to Book a Room at the World’s First 3D-Printed Hotel
The first 3D-printed house in the US was unveiled just over six years ago. Since then, homes have been printed all over the country and the world, from Virginia to California and Mexico to Kenya. If you’re intrigued by the concept but not sure whether you’re ready to jump on the bandwagon, you’ll soon be...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/10/youll-soon-be-able-to-book-a-room-at-the-worlds-first-3d-printed-hotel/
The first 3D-printed house in the US was unveiled just over six years ago. Since then, homes have been printed all over the country and the world, from Virginia to California and Mexico to Kenya. If you’re intrigued by the concept but not sure whether you’re ready to jump on the bandwagon, you’ll soon be...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/10/youll-soon-be-able-to-book-a-room-at-the-worlds-first-3d-printed-hotel/
Singularity Hub
You’ll Soon Be Able to Book a Room at the World’s First 3D-Printed Hotel
El Cosmico, a hotel in Texas, will gain 43 new rooms and 18 houses, which will be printed using Icon's giant gantry-style Vulcan printer.
AI Agents Could Collaborate on Far Grander Scales Than Humans, Study Says
Humans are social animals, but there appear to be hard limits to the number of relationships we can maintain at once. New research suggests AI may be capable of collaborating in much larger groups. In the 1990s, British anthropologist Robin Dunbar suggested that most humans can only maintain social groups of roughly 150 people. While...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/11/ai-agents-could-collaborate-on-far-grander-scales-than-humans-study-says/
Humans are social animals, but there appear to be hard limits to the number of relationships we can maintain at once. New research suggests AI may be capable of collaborating in much larger groups. In the 1990s, British anthropologist Robin Dunbar suggested that most humans can only maintain social groups of roughly 150 people. While...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/11/ai-agents-could-collaborate-on-far-grander-scales-than-humans-study-says/
Singularity Hub
AI Agents Could Collaborate on Far Grander Scales Than Humans, Study Says
A new study found the most capable AI models could cooperate in groups of at least 1,000—an order of magnitude more than humans.
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through October 12)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AI’s Penicillin and X-Ray Moment Matteo Wong | The Atlantic “When the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel wrote his will in 1895, he designated funds to reward those who ‘have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.’ The resulting Nobel Prizes have since been awarded to the discoverers of penicillin, X-rays, and the structure of DNA—and,...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/12/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-october-12-2/
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AI’s Penicillin and X-Ray Moment Matteo Wong | The Atlantic “When the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel wrote his will in 1895, he designated funds to reward those who ‘have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.’ The resulting Nobel Prizes have since been awarded to the discoverers of penicillin, X-rays, and the structure of DNA—and,...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/12/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-october-12-2/
Singularity Hub
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through October 12)
From AI's Nobel prizes to the case for radical optimism, check out this week's awesome tech stories from around the web.
Are We Reaching the Limit of Human Longevity? A New Study Says Yes
Human life expectancy dramatically increased last century. Compared to babies born in 1900, those born at the turn of the 21st century could live, on average, three decades longer—with many living to celebrate their 100th birthdays. In other words, for much of the century, each passing year added something like three months to a person’s...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/14/are-we-reaching-the-limit-of-human-longevity-a-new-study-says-yes/
Human life expectancy dramatically increased last century. Compared to babies born in 1900, those born at the turn of the 21st century could live, on average, three decades longer—with many living to celebrate their 100th birthdays. In other words, for much of the century, each passing year added something like three months to a person’s...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/14/are-we-reaching-the-limit-of-human-longevity-a-new-study-says-yes/
Singularity Hub
Are We Reaching the Limit of Human Longevity? A New Study Says Yes
A new paper is sparking debate with its finding that, despite progress in medicine, increases in life expectancy are slowing.
AI Has a Secret: We’re Still Not Sure How to Test for Human Levels of Intelligence
Two of San Francisco’s leading players in artificial intelligence have challenged the public to come up with questions capable of testing the capabilities of large language models (LLMs) like Google Gemini and OpenAI’s o1. Scale AI, which specializes in preparing the vast tracts of data on which the LLMs are trained, teamed up with the...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/15/ai-has-a-secret-were-still-not-sure-how-to-test-for-human-levels-of-intelligence/
Two of San Francisco’s leading players in artificial intelligence have challenged the public to come up with questions capable of testing the capabilities of large language models (LLMs) like Google Gemini and OpenAI’s o1. Scale AI, which specializes in preparing the vast tracts of data on which the LLMs are trained, teamed up with the...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/15/ai-has-a-secret-were-still-not-sure-how-to-test-for-human-levels-of-intelligence/
Singularity Hub
AI Has a Secret: We’re Still Not Sure How to Test for Human Levels of Intelligence
We need to know when machines are getting close to human-level reasoning, with all the safety, ethical, and moral questions this raises.
Autoimmune Diseases Stopped in Their Tracks by ‘Phenomenal’ Donor Cell Therapy
For the first time, an off-the-shelf CAR T cell therapy has been used to treat potentially life-threatening autoimmune disorders in three people. With a single shot, the treatment rapidly reversed their debilitating symptoms for up to a year. The treatment changed one recipient’s life. Diagnosed with systemic sclerosis—an autoimmune condition that wrecked his muscles and...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/17/autoimmune-diseases-stopped-in-their-tracks-by-phenomenal-donor-cell-therapy/
For the first time, an off-the-shelf CAR T cell therapy has been used to treat potentially life-threatening autoimmune disorders in three people. With a single shot, the treatment rapidly reversed their debilitating symptoms for up to a year. The treatment changed one recipient’s life. Diagnosed with systemic sclerosis—an autoimmune condition that wrecked his muscles and...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/17/autoimmune-diseases-stopped-in-their-tracks-by-phenomenal-donor-cell-therapy/
Singularity Hub
Autoimmune Diseases Stopped in Their Tracks by ‘Phenomenal’ Donor Cell Therapy
Living drugs like these are costly. By using donor cells, the new study hints we might be able to mass produce them in the future and thereby slash costs.
This DeepMind AI Helps Polarized Groups of People Find Common Ground
In our polarized times, finding ways to get people to agree with each other is more important than ever. New research suggests AI can help people with different views find common ground. The ability to effectively make collective decisions is crucial for an open and free society. But it is a skill that’s atrophied in...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/18/this-deepmind-ai-helps-polarized-groups-of-people-find-common-ground/
In our polarized times, finding ways to get people to agree with each other is more important than ever. New research suggests AI can help people with different views find common ground. The ability to effectively make collective decisions is crucial for an open and free society. But it is a skill that’s atrophied in...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/18/this-deepmind-ai-helps-polarized-groups-of-people-find-common-ground/
Singularity Hub
This DeepMind AI Helps Polarized Groups of People Find Common Ground
In our polarized times, finding ways to get people to agree with each other is more important than ever. New research suggests AI can help.
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through October 19)
SPACE SpaceX Catches Returning Rocket in Mid-Air, Turning a Fanciful Idea Into Reality Stephen Clark | Ars Technica “This achievement is the first of its kind, and it’s crucial for SpaceX’s vision of rapidly reusing the Starship rocket, enabling human expeditions to the moon and Mars, routine access to space for mind-bogglingly massive payloads, and...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/19/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-october-19-2/
SPACE SpaceX Catches Returning Rocket in Mid-Air, Turning a Fanciful Idea Into Reality Stephen Clark | Ars Technica “This achievement is the first of its kind, and it’s crucial for SpaceX’s vision of rapidly reusing the Starship rocket, enabling human expeditions to the moon and Mars, routine access to space for mind-bogglingly massive payloads, and...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/19/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-october-19-2/
Singularity Hub
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through October 19)
From the key to human-level AI to hope for limitless geothermal energy, check out this week's awesome tech stories from around the web.
Dusty Snow on Mars Could Harbor Life According to a New NASA Simulation
Water is the essence of life. When scientists discovered permafrost ice caps on Mars’ north pole in 1976, the news immediately sparked speculation about potential life on the red planet. The later discovery of exposed ice on the south pole further teased the idea. In 2003, the Mars Odyssey orbiter spacecraft, equipped with cameras that...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/21/dusty-snow-on-mars-could-harbor-life-according-to-a-new-nasa-simulation/
Water is the essence of life. When scientists discovered permafrost ice caps on Mars’ north pole in 1976, the news immediately sparked speculation about potential life on the red planet. The later discovery of exposed ice on the south pole further teased the idea. In 2003, the Mars Odyssey orbiter spacecraft, equipped with cameras that...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/21/dusty-snow-on-mars-could-harbor-life-according-to-a-new-nasa-simulation/
Singularity Hub
Dusty Snow on Mars Could Harbor Life According to a New NASA Simulation
If life exists on Mars, a creature would have to withstand radiation and have access to water. One potential niche fulfilling these requirements? Dusty ice.
Nuclear Rockets Could Take Us to Mars in Half the Time. NASA Plans to Fly One by 2027.
NASA plans to send crewed missions to Mars over the next decade—but the 140 million-mile (225 million-kilometer) journey to the red planet could take several months to years round trip. This relatively long transit time is a result of the use of traditional chemical rocket fuel. An alternative technology to the chemically propelled rockets the...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/22/nuclear-rockets-could-take-us-to-mars-in-half-the-time-nasa-plans-to-fly-one-by-2027/
NASA plans to send crewed missions to Mars over the next decade—but the 140 million-mile (225 million-kilometer) journey to the red planet could take several months to years round trip. This relatively long transit time is a result of the use of traditional chemical rocket fuel. An alternative technology to the chemically propelled rockets the...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/22/nuclear-rockets-could-take-us-to-mars-in-half-the-time-nasa-plans-to-fly-one-by-2027/
Singularity Hub
Nuclear Rockets Could Take Us to Mars in Half the Time. NASA Plans to Fly One by 2027.
NASA and DARPA will fly a prototype nuclear rocket in 2027—potentially making it one of the first of its kind built and operated by the US.
Scientists Just Discovered Over 70,000 Bizarre New Viruses With AI
Viruses are everywhere. They’re in the air; in sewage, lakes, and oceans; in grasslands and decaying wood. Some thrive in extreme conditions, like hydrothermal vents, Antarctic ice, and potentially even outer space. They’re also ancient. Some are likely as old as, if not even older than, the very first cells. Despite cohabitating with viruses since...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/23/scientists-just-discovered-over-70000-bizarre-new-viruses-with-ai/
Viruses are everywhere. They’re in the air; in sewage, lakes, and oceans; in grasslands and decaying wood. Some thrive in extreme conditions, like hydrothermal vents, Antarctic ice, and potentially even outer space. They’re also ancient. Some are likely as old as, if not even older than, the very first cells. Despite cohabitating with viruses since...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/23/scientists-just-discovered-over-70000-bizarre-new-viruses-with-ai/
Singularity Hub
Scientists Just Discovered Over 70,000 Bizarre New Viruses With AI
Charting the "dark matter" of the viral universe has implications not just for biotechnology—but potentially for battling the next pandemic too.
This Radical New Farming Method Would Replace Photosynthesis With Solar Power
Farming immediately sparks images of lush fields of leafy greens under a blue sky, corn blowing in the wind, or majestic terraced rice paddies carved into mountainsides. Agriculture changed societies and our food habits roughly 12,000 years ago when humans switched from nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles to more permanent settlements. In recent centuries, innovative farming equipment...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/24/this-radical-new-farming-method-would-replace-photosynthesis-with-solar-power/
Farming immediately sparks images of lush fields of leafy greens under a blue sky, corn blowing in the wind, or majestic terraced rice paddies carved into mountainsides. Agriculture changed societies and our food habits roughly 12,000 years ago when humans switched from nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles to more permanent settlements. In recent centuries, innovative farming equipment...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/24/this-radical-new-farming-method-would-replace-photosynthesis-with-solar-power/
Singularity Hub
This Radical New Farming Method Would Replace Photosynthesis With Solar Power
Dubbed “electro-agriculture,” the approach uses solar panels to trigger a chemical reaction that turns ambient CO2 into an energy source called acetate.
‘Electric Plastic’ Could Merge Technology With the Body in Future Wearables and Implants
Finding ways to connect the human body to technology could have broad applications in health and entertainment. A new “electric plastic” could make self-powered wearables, real-time neural interfaces, and medical implants that merge with our bodies a reality. While there has been significant progress in the development of wearable and implantable technology in recent years,...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/25/electric-plastic-could-more-closely-merge-technology-with-the-body-in-future-wearables/
Finding ways to connect the human body to technology could have broad applications in health and entertainment. A new “electric plastic” could make self-powered wearables, real-time neural interfaces, and medical implants that merge with our bodies a reality. While there has been significant progress in the development of wearable and implantable technology in recent years,...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/25/electric-plastic-could-more-closely-merge-technology-with-the-body-in-future-wearables/
Singularity Hub
‘Electric Plastic’ Could Merge Technology With the Body in Future Wearables and Implants
A new "electric plastic" could make self-powered wearables, real-time neural interfaces, and medical implants that merge with our bodies a reality.