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.
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through October 26)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Anthropic Wants Its AI Agent to Control Your Computer Will Knight | Wired “It took a while for people to adjust to the idea of chatbots that seem to have minds of their own. The next leap into the unknown may involve trusting artificial intelligence to take over our computers, too. Anthropic, a...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/26/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-october-26-2/
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Anthropic Wants Its AI Agent to Control Your Computer Will Knight | Wired “It took a while for people to adjust to the idea of chatbots that seem to have minds of their own. The next leap into the unknown may involve trusting artificial intelligence to take over our computers, too. Anthropic, a...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/26/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-october-26-2/
Singularity Hub
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through October 26)
From AI agents taking over computers to implants that restore vision to the legally blind, check out this week's awesome tech stories from around the web.
The Legally Blind See Again With an Implant the Size of a Grain of Salt
Seeing is believing. Our perception of the world heavily relies on vision. What we see depends on cells in the retina, which sit behind the eyes. These delicate cells transform light into electrical pulses that go to the brain for further processing. But because of age, disease, or genetics, retinal cells often break down. For...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/28/the-clinically-blind-see-again-with-an-implant-the-size-of-a-grain-of-sand/
Seeing is believing. Our perception of the world heavily relies on vision. What we see depends on cells in the retina, which sit behind the eyes. These delicate cells transform light into electrical pulses that go to the brain for further processing. But because of age, disease, or genetics, retinal cells often break down. For...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/28/the-clinically-blind-see-again-with-an-implant-the-size-of-a-grain-of-sand/
Singularity Hub
The Legally Blind See Again With an Implant the Size of a Grain of Salt
Each chip contains nearly 400 light-sensitive pixels, which convert light patterns into electrical pulses the brain can interpret.
Did the Early Cosmos Inflate Like a Balloon? A Mirror Universe Going Backwards in Time May Be a Simpler Explanation
We live in a golden age for learning about the universe. Our most powerful telescopes have revealed that the cosmos is surprisingly simple on the largest visible scales. Likewise, our most powerful “microscope,” the Large Hadron Collider, has found no deviations from known physics on the tiniest scales. These findings were not what most theorists...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/29/did-the-early-cosmos-inflate-like-a-balloon-a-mirror-universe-going-backwards-in-time-may-be-a-simpler-explanation/
We live in a golden age for learning about the universe. Our most powerful telescopes have revealed that the cosmos is surprisingly simple on the largest visible scales. Likewise, our most powerful “microscope,” the Large Hadron Collider, has found no deviations from known physics on the tiniest scales. These findings were not what most theorists...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/29/did-the-early-cosmos-inflate-like-a-balloon-a-mirror-universe-going-backwards-in-time-may-be-a-simpler-explanation/
Singularity Hub
Did the Early Cosmos Inflate Like a Balloon? A Mirror Universe Going Backwards in Time May Be a Simpler Explanation
There may well be simpler, more powerful and more testable explanations for the basic properties of the universe than those the standard orthodoxy provides.
The US Says Electric Air Taxis Can Finally Take Flight Under New FAA Rules
Electric air taxis have seen rapid technological advances in recent years, but the industry has had a regulatory question mark hanging over its head. Now, the US Federal Aviation Authority has published rules governing the operation of this new class of aircraft. Startups developing electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft have attracted billions of...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/31/the-us-says-electric-air-taxis-can-finally-take-flight-under-new-faa-rules/
Electric air taxis have seen rapid technological advances in recent years, but the industry has had a regulatory question mark hanging over its head. Now, the US Federal Aviation Authority has published rules governing the operation of this new class of aircraft. Startups developing electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft have attracted billions of...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/10/31/the-us-says-electric-air-taxis-can-finally-take-flight-under-new-faa-rules/
Singularity Hub
The US Says Electric Air Taxis Can Finally Take Flight Under New FAA Rules
The FAA published the rules governing eVTOLs from the likes of Archer and Joby, recognizing the first new aircraft category in 80 years.
What Is AI Superintelligence? Could It Destroy Humanity? And Is It Really Almost Here?
In 2014, the British philosopher Nick Bostrom published a book about the future of artificial intelligence with the ominous title Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. It proved highly influential in promoting the idea that advanced AI systems—“superintelligences” more capable than humans—might one day take over the world and destroy humanity. A decade later, OpenAI boss Sam...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/01/what-is-ai-superintelligence-could-it-destroy-humanity-and-is-it-really-almost-here/
In 2014, the British philosopher Nick Bostrom published a book about the future of artificial intelligence with the ominous title Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. It proved highly influential in promoting the idea that advanced AI systems—“superintelligences” more capable than humans—might one day take over the world and destroy humanity. A decade later, OpenAI boss Sam...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/01/what-is-ai-superintelligence-could-it-destroy-humanity-and-is-it-really-almost-here/
Singularity Hub
What Is AI Superintelligence? Could It Destroy Humanity? And Is It Really Almost Here?
Broadly speaking, superintelligence is anything more intelligent than humans. But unpacking what that might mean in practice can get a bit tricky.
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through November 2)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Google CEO Says Over 25% of New Google Code Is Generated by AI Benj Edwards | Ars Technica “We’ve always used tools to build new tools, and developers are using AI to continue that tradition. On Tuesday, Google’s CEO revealed that AI systems now generate more than a quarter of new code for...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/02/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-november-2-2/
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Google CEO Says Over 25% of New Google Code Is Generated by AI Benj Edwards | Ars Technica “We’ve always used tools to build new tools, and developers are using AI to continue that tradition. On Tuesday, Google’s CEO revealed that AI systems now generate more than a quarter of new code for...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/02/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-november-2-2/
Singularity Hub
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through November 2)
From AI taking over coding at Google to an off-the-shelf fusion reactor, check out this week's awesome tech stories from around the web.
Watch: Boston Dynamics’ New Electric Atlas Robot Gets Down to Work
One of the world’s most advanced humanoid robots has been all play and no work. Boston Dynamics’ Atlas is famous for backflips, parkour, and dance mobs. These require extremely impressive robotic control, but they’re also mostly fun research demos. Now, six months after the legendary robotics lab unveiled an all-new electric Atlas, they’re showing off...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/04/watch-boston-dynamics-new-electric-atlas-robot-gets-down-to-work/
One of the world’s most advanced humanoid robots has been all play and no work. Boston Dynamics’ Atlas is famous for backflips, parkour, and dance mobs. These require extremely impressive robotic control, but they’re also mostly fun research demos. Now, six months after the legendary robotics lab unveiled an all-new electric Atlas, they’re showing off...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/04/watch-boston-dynamics-new-electric-atlas-robot-gets-down-to-work/
Singularity Hub
Watch: Boston Dynamics’ New Electric Atlas Robot Gets Down to Work
A recent video shows Atlas picking auto parts from one set of shelves and moving them over to another set, a job currently handled by factory workers.
Europe Aims to Visit This Large Asteroid When It Brushes by Earth in 2029
The European Space Agency has given the go-ahead for initial work on a mission to visit an asteroid called Apophis. If approved at a key meeting next year, the robotic spacecraft, known as the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses), will rendezvous with the asteroid in February 2029. Apophis is 340 meters wide, about...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/05/europe-hopes-to-visit-this-large-asteroid-when-it-brushes-by-earth-in-2029/
The European Space Agency has given the go-ahead for initial work on a mission to visit an asteroid called Apophis. If approved at a key meeting next year, the robotic spacecraft, known as the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses), will rendezvous with the asteroid in February 2029. Apophis is 340 meters wide, about...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/05/europe-hopes-to-visit-this-large-asteroid-when-it-brushes-by-earth-in-2029/
Singularity Hub
Europe Aims to Visit This Large Asteroid When It Brushes by Earth in 2029
A close flyby of an asteroid as large as Apophis happens only once every 5,000 to 10,000 years. Scientists plan to learn all they can.
The First Cells May Have Formed From Simple Fatty Bubbles Like These Ones
The first spark of cellular life on Earth likely needed gift packaging. Let me explain. With the holidays around the corner, we’re all beginning to order presents. Each is carefully packaged inside a box or bubble-wrapped envelope and addressed for shipping. Without packaging, items would tumble together in a chaotic mess and miss their destination....
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/07/the-first-cells-may-have-formed-from-simple-fatty-bubbles-like-these-ones/
The first spark of cellular life on Earth likely needed gift packaging. Let me explain. With the holidays around the corner, we’re all beginning to order presents. Each is carefully packaged inside a box or bubble-wrapped envelope and addressed for shipping. Without packaging, items would tumble together in a chaotic mess and miss their destination....
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/07/the-first-cells-may-have-formed-from-simple-fatty-bubbles-like-these-ones/
Singularity Hub
The First Cells May Have Formed From Simple Fatty Bubbles Like These Ones
Scientists have long wondered how the first cell membranes formed from the primordial soup—a new study offers up a recipe.
Solar-Powered ‘Planimal’ Cells? Chloroplasts in Hamster Cells Make Food From Light
The ability of plants to convert sunlight into food is an enviable superpower. Now, researchers have shown they can get animal cells to do the same thing. Photosynthesis in plants and algae is performed by tiny organelles known as chloroplasts, which convert sunlight into oxygen and chemical energy. While the origins of these structures are...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/08/solar-powered-planimal-cells-chloroplasts-in-hamster-cells-make-food-from-light/
The ability of plants to convert sunlight into food is an enviable superpower. Now, researchers have shown they can get animal cells to do the same thing. Photosynthesis in plants and algae is performed by tiny organelles known as chloroplasts, which convert sunlight into oxygen and chemical energy. While the origins of these structures are...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/08/solar-powered-planimal-cells-chloroplasts-in-hamster-cells-make-food-from-light/
Singularity Hub
Solar-Powered ‘Planimal’ Cells? Chloroplasts in Hamster Cells Make Food From Light
The ability of plants to convert sunlight into food is an enviable superpower. Now, researchers have shown they can get animal cells to do the same thing.
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through November 9)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Why AI Could Eat Quantum Computing’s Lunch Edd Gent | MIT Technology Review “The scale and complexity of quantum systems that can be simulated using AI is advancing rapidly, says Giuseppe Carleo, a professor of computational physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL). …Given the pace of recent advances, a growing...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/09/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-november-9-2/
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Why AI Could Eat Quantum Computing’s Lunch Edd Gent | MIT Technology Review “The scale and complexity of quantum systems that can be simulated using AI is advancing rapidly, says Giuseppe Carleo, a professor of computational physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL). …Given the pace of recent advances, a growing...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/09/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-november-9-2/
Singularity Hub
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through November 9)
From a universal robot brain to how AI could be better than quantum computing, check out this week's awesome tech stories from around the web.
This Ambitious Project Wants to Sequence the DNA of All Complex Life on Earth
“We’re only just beginning to understand the full majesty of life on Earth,” wrote the founding members of the Earth BioGenome Project in 2018. The ambitious project raised eyebrows when first announced. It seeks to genetically profile over a million plants, animals, and fungi. Documenting these genomes is the first step to building an atlas...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/11/this-ambitious-project-wants-to-sequence-the-dna-of-all-complex-life-on-earth/
“We’re only just beginning to understand the full majesty of life on Earth,” wrote the founding members of the Earth BioGenome Project in 2018. The ambitious project raised eyebrows when first announced. It seeks to genetically profile over a million plants, animals, and fungi. Documenting these genomes is the first step to building an atlas...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/11/this-ambitious-project-wants-to-sequence-the-dna-of-all-complex-life-on-earth/
Singularity Hub
This Ambitious Project Wants to Sequence the DNA of All Complex Life on Earth
The Earth BioGenome Project seeks to genetically profile over a million plants, animals, and fungi as they build an atlas of complex life on Earth.
Could We Ever Decipher an Alien Language? Uncovering How AI Communicates May Be Key
In the 2016 science fiction movie Arrival, a linguist is faced with the daunting task of deciphering an alien language consisting of palindromic phrases, which read the same backwards as they do forwards, written with circular symbols. As she discovers various clues, different nations around the world interpret the messages differently—with some assuming they convey...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/12/could-we-ever-decipher-an-alien-language-uncovering-how-ai-communicates-may-be-key/
In the 2016 science fiction movie Arrival, a linguist is faced with the daunting task of deciphering an alien language consisting of palindromic phrases, which read the same backwards as they do forwards, written with circular symbols. As she discovers various clues, different nations around the world interpret the messages differently—with some assuming they convey...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/12/could-we-ever-decipher-an-alien-language-uncovering-how-ai-communicates-may-be-key/
Singularity Hub
Could We Ever Decipher an Alien Language? Uncovering How AI Communicates May Be Key
New tools help us peek into the “black box” of AI communication, revealing how AI agents develop their own unique ways of sharing information.
Sweet CRISPR Tomatoes May Be Coming to a Supermarket Near You
When I was a young kid, our neighborhood didn’t have any grocery stores. The only place to buy fruits and vegetables was at our local farmer’s market. My mom would pick out the freshest tomatoes and sauté them with eggs into a simple dish that became my comfort food. The tomatoes were hideous to look...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/14/sweet-crispr-tomatoes-may-be-coming-to-a-supermarket-near-you/
When I was a young kid, our neighborhood didn’t have any grocery stores. The only place to buy fruits and vegetables was at our local farmer’s market. My mom would pick out the freshest tomatoes and sauté them with eggs into a simple dish that became my comfort food. The tomatoes were hideous to look...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/14/sweet-crispr-tomatoes-may-be-coming-to-a-supermarket-near-you/
Singularity Hub
Sweet CRISPR Tomatoes May Be Coming to a Supermarket Near You
Using CRISPR, the popular gene-editing tool, scientists bumped up the fruit’s sugar content by 30 percent without sacrificing size or yields.