Sophia, the creation of Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics, speaks, jokes, sings, and makes art. Last month, a digital work she created as part of a collaboration was sold at an auction for $688,888 in the form of a non-fungible token, Tech Xplore reports. "As an artist, I have computational creativity in my algorithms, creating original works," Sophia said. "But my art is created in collaboration with my humans in a kind of collective intelligence like a...
Once you are considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 – meaning two weeks after getting the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, or two weeks after your second dose of the two-dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccines – the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says you can travel "at low risk" within the U.S. and internationally, and there is no need to quarantine after travelling internationally, CNET reports. The agency says you still must keep wearing a mask in...
Antimatter atoms get annihilated whenever they contact matter, which makes them hard to study. So how can you manipulate antimatter atoms in order to study and measure them properly? A team of scientists says it has found a way to do that by slowing antimatter atoms with blasts from a Canadian-built laser, reports CBC. That could make it possible to create antimatter molecules – larger particles more similar to the matter we encounter in the real world...
A new study shows that octopuses cycle between active and quiet sleep states in a way similar to humans, CBC reports. Since octopuses are known for their high learning capacity and complex nervous systems, neuroscientist Sidarta Ribeiro wanted to see if their brains required multiple sleep states. "The animals had so many changes in the colours of the skin, and the texture," Ribeiro told Quirks & Quarks host Bob McDonald. "The eyes moved around a lot. The arms moved...
Han Min-hong, 79, successfully tested his self-driving car on the roads of Seoul in 1993, a decade before Tesla was founded, Tech Xplore reports. Two years later, it drove 300 kilometres on the most heavily travelled expressway in South Korea. But funding to his research at Korea University was cut. Han says there are limits to self-driving technology, and that true autonomy is beyond reach. Neural networks do not have the flexibility of humans...
BIG Media is big on humour, so we are grateful to Amanda Kooser of CNET for compiling this highlight package of corporate April foolery.
https://www.cnet.com/news/april-fools-day-2021-duolingo-toilet-paper-velveeta-skincare-and-more-pranks/
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Facebook Inc will let users customize their feed and give them control over who can comment on their public posts, Reuters reports. The social media giant has been under fire for allegedly amplifying hate speech and misinformation. Users can manage the comments for any public post by choosing from options such as anyone who can view the post can comment, or only people and pages they tag, Facebook said. This is excellent news –...
A team of researchers at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University has designed a "smart" device to harvest daylight and relay it to underground spaces, Tech Xplore reports. Authorities in Singapore are looking at digging deeper underground to create space for infrastructure, storage, and utilities, so demand for round-the-clock underground lighting is expected to rise. The scientists used an off-the-shelf acrylic ball, a single plastic optical fibre, and computer chip-assisted motors.
https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-scientists-smart-device-harvest-daylight.html
In its fourth test of the Starship rocket that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk hopes will take humans to the moon or Mars, the 50-metre rocket SN11 exploded, CBC reports. It reached a planned altitude of 10 kilometres, then began its descent. A few seconds after its engines fired to put the rocket in a vertical position, a loud boom was heard and debris was seen falling from the sky. Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has launched a search...
