Deciphering ancient charred texts - the power of a prize.
The Vesuvius Prize reward has encouraged work on deciphering scans of ancient charred scrolls from Herculaneum. "First passages of rolled-up Herculaneum scroll revealed Marchant, Jo. Nature 2024. ... Researchers used artificial intelligence to decipher the text of 2,000-year-old charred papyrus scripts,...
Source: nature.com
65 Reasons To Celebrate The 6502
"The legendary chip from 1975 that helped start the home computer revolution." I can remember sharing the manual for the 6502 with my school friend, Chris. He had a BBC micro computer and I had a Commodore Vic 20. To do the machine code I remember you had to: compile into 6502 instructions what you...
Source: substack.com
AI Watermarking Won't Curb Disinformation
"Generative AI allows people to produce piles upon piles of images and words very quickly. It would be nice if there were some way to reliably distinguish AI-generated content from human-generated content. It would help people avoid endlessly arguing with bots online, or believing what a fake image purports...
Source: eff.org
Kenya's push to make 'boda-boda' motorbike taxis go electric
"The government wants Kenya's three million motorbike taxi riders to go green but only a few have done so." I last went to Kenya over 10 years ago and I got around Kitale on the back of push bikes by local riders. Motorised bikes 'boda-boda' were only just being introduced at the time. Apparently there...
Source: bbc.com
OpenAI announces first partnership with a university
"Starting in February, Arizona State University will have full access to OpenAI's ChatGPT Enterprise." "With the OpenAI partnership, ASU plans to build a personalized AI tutor for students, not only for certain courses, but also for study topics. STEM subjects are a focus and are “the make-or-break...
Source: cnbc.com
Microsoft Cloud AI Accelerates Search for New Battery Materials
Extremetech report that "Microsoft and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory used AI to narrow a list of 32 million candidate materials down to 18 in hours instead of years."
Source: extremetech.com
A checklist for reporting, reading and evaluating Artificial Intelligence Technology Enhanced Learning (AITEL) research
"This paper proposes a checklist for reporting on AI systems, and covers the initial protocols and scoping, modelling and code, algorithm design, training data, testing and validation, usage, comparisons, real-world requirements, results and limitations, and ethical considerations. The aim is to have...
Source: tandfonline.com
Apple knew AirDrop users could be identified and tracked as early as 2019, researchers say | CNN Business
Security researchers warned Apple as early as 2019 about vulnerabilities in its AirDrop wireless sharing function that Chinese authorities claim they recently used to track down users of the feature, the researchers told CNN, in a case that experts say has sweeping implications for global privacy.
Source: cnn.com
Evidence grows of air pollution link with dementia and stroke risk
Long-term UK study adds to body of research associating pollutants with declining brain health
Source: theguardian.com
'It hasn't delivered': The spectacular failure of self-checkout technology Sam Becker.
Unstaffed tills were supposed to revolutionise shopping. Now, both retailers and customers are bagging many self-checkout kiosks.
Source: bbc.com
Huge ancient city found in the Amazon
The city was built 2,500 years ago but may have been abandoned after a volcanic eruption.
Source: bbc.com
How the Post Office's Horizon system failed: a technical breakdown
"From bugs to unqualified staff, the Post Office's point-of-sale system was inadequate on many levels." The code was poor from the start and the small team of developers were not up to the job. However, the problems were apparent in 1999 before it was launched. Includes a discussion of the Dalmellington...
Source: theguardian.com
Yaws could soon be eradicated — 70 years behind schedule Jones, Sam. Nature 2024.
Researchers are cautiously optimistic that the neglected tropical disease could be gone by 2030, but new barriers — including antibiotic resistance and primate reservoirs — might stand in the way. Researchers are cautiously optimistic that the neglected tropical disease could be gone by 2030, but...
Source: nature.com
Workplace well-being initiatives don't boost employee mental health
"The mental health of people who undertake mindfulness or meditation courses offered by their employer is generally no better than those who are not offered such programmes." "Instead of offering these initiatives, Fleming suggests that employers focus on bettering the work environment. For example,...
Source: newscientist.com
Elevated genetic risk for multiple sclerosis emerged in steppe pastoralist populations
"The last 10,000 years have seen some of the most extreme global changes in lifestyle, with the emergence of farming in some regions and pastoralism in others. While 5,000 years ago farmer ancestry predominated across Europe, a relatively diverged genetic ancestry arrived with the steppe migrations around...
Source: nature.com
How machine learning might unlock earthquake prediction
Researchers are applying artificial intelligence and other techniques in the quest to forecast quakes in time to help people find safety.
Source: technologyreview.com
A New Kind of AI Copy Can Fully Replicate Famous People. The Law Is Powerless.
New AI-generated digital replicas of real experts expose an unnerving policy gray zone. Washington wants to fix it, but it’s not clear how.
Source: politico.com
Isomorphic Labs kicks off 2024 with two pharmaceutical collaborations - Isomorphic Labs
Isomorphic Labs kicks off 2024 with two pharmaceutical collaborations
Source: isomorphiclabs.com
Wearable Soft Robot Helps Parkinson's Patients Avoid 'Freezing'
A collaboration between Harvard University and Boston University, this device offers a solution to one of the most debilitating hallmarks of Parkinson's disease.
Source: extremetech.com
AI will be deeply disruptive to Higher Education
Paul LeBlanc and George Siemens are teaming up to explore how AI is going to change higher education. "LeBlanc transformed SNHU from 2500 students in 2003 to over 200,000 students in 20 years by using technology to switch delivery online." Siemens is one of the proposers of connectivism - a theory...
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