Computer & Information Technology

18 Dec 23

Gemini Is Google’s Best AI Model Yet, But Who Cares?

Computer & Information Technology

Google’s reveal of Gemini, an AI model built to close the gap between the search giant and OpenAI, made a great first impression. Strong benchmarks, a flashy video demo, and immediate availability (albeit for a cut-back version) signaled confidence. But the positivity soured as AI engineers and enthusiasts picked through…

14 Dec 23

Cryo-Electron Microscopy at Just One-Tenth the Cost

Computer & Information Technology

Over the past decade, cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM) has emerged as a powerful tool for determining the detailed structures of complex molecules. Now, a new design from researchers at the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC-LMB) in the United Kingdom and their collaborators could slash the cost of cryoEM…

12 Dec 23

Next-Gen fMRI Improves Spatial Resolution 10-Fold

Computer & Information Technology

Neuroscience is going high-def.Researchers have developed a series of technological improvements that dramatically increase the spatial resolution of an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) machine. The improvements allow an fMRI to image voxels—the 3D equivalent of pixels—that are less than half a millimeter on each side. In doing so, they…

12 Dec 23

COP28 Takeaway: Are Low-Carbon Websites Possible?

Computer & Information Technology

The website of the U.N.’s annual climate change conference—dubbed COP28 this year—has a “Switch to Low Carbon Version” toggle at the top of the page. It seems a salutary touch, one that might encourage other websites to add less carbon to the atmosphere. But it is instead an example of…

10 Dec 23

Electrocharged Fibers Spark Stem Cells for Bone Repair

Computer & Information Technology

Broken bones can be an incredibly painful experience, but they also signal the start of a healing process that, for some patients, takes far too long to happen. In healthy patients with a bone fracture, after about two weeks, bodies begin to fill in the break with new bone cells—called…

06 Dec 23

Neuralink Barrels Into Human Tests Despite Fraud Claims

Computer & Information Technology

US lawmakers have urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate Elon Musk for making allegedly false statements about animal testing of a surgically implanted brain chip developed by Musk’s neurotechnology startup Neuralink.In a letter to the SEC on 21 November, four members of the U.S. House of…

02 Dec 23

IBM Offers Quantum Error Suppression Out Of The Box

Computer & Information Technology

The error-prone nature of today’s quantum computers can make doing any useful computation on them a major headache. IBM has announced that, as of this past week, they have integrated error suppression technology from Q-CTRL into IBM cloud quantum services, letting users slash error rates by simply flicking a switch.…

01 Dec 23

Is the Turing Test Dead?

Computer & Information Technology

When in 1950 Alan Turing first proposed an approach to distinguish the “minds” of machines from those of human beings, the idea that a machine could ever achieve human-level intelligence was almost laughable. In the Turing test—which Turing himself originally called the “imitation game“—human participants conduct a conversation with unknown…

26 Nov 23

New Neurotech Eschews Electricity for Ultrasound

Computer & Information Technology

2023 has been a year chock-full of developments in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology: devices that can decode brain signals and use them to control an external device, or use a device to alter brain signals. BCI developers Neuralink, Paradromics, and Synchron all reached important milestones in the clinical trial process,…

24 Nov 23

Butterfly-Eyed Sensors Capture UV Images

Computer & Information Technology

The compound eyes of an insect are structurally very different from that of a human—almost a separate category of organ altogether from the more familiar ocular arrangement of lens, cornea, iris, and retina. For instance, Papillio xuthus, the Asian Swallowtail Butterfly, can see wavelengths of light in the ultraviolet spectrum,…