Falsified videos created by AI—in particular, by deep neural networks (DNNs)—are a recent twist to the disconcerting problem of online disinformation. Although fabrication and manipulation of digital images and videos are not new, the rapid development of AI technology in recent years has made the process to create convincing fake videos much easier and faster. […]
Smallpox was eradicated worldwide in 1980—so generations of people have never had to experience the devastation the disease once brought. “It could cause sometimes even in excess of 30 percent mortality. It caused these very painful blisters that covered the entire body.” McMaster University’s Ana Duggan. She studies how genomes evolve. The first vaccine for […]
Months of pandemic-induced lockdowns have stymied international travel. And scientists say there could be an unexpected casualty: weather and climate forecasts. In normal times, hundreds of thousands of planes and ships crisscross the planet daily, ferrying passengers or transporting cargo. Many of these vessels are equipped with sensitive instruments that can collect a variety of […]
Originally published in January 1848 Credit: Scientific American Advertisement “The eclipses of the moons of Jupiter had been carefully observed and a rule was obtained, which foretold the instants when the moons were to glide into the shadow of the planet and disappear, and then appear again. It was found that these appearances took place […]
The United Arab Emirates’ Hope orbiter is now winging its way to Mars after launching successfully from the Tanegashima Space Center near Minamitane, Japan. The probe, built by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) together with US partners, is the first interplanetary mission from any Arab state. The car-sized, US$200-million craft lifted into Earth’s orbit on a […]
What can former U.S. president Richard Nixon possibly teach us about artificial intelligence today and the future of misinformation online? Nothing. The real Nixon died 26 years ago. But an AI-generated likeness of him shines new light on a quickly evolving technology with sizable implications, both creative and destructive, for our current digital information ecosystem. […]
Falsified videos created by AI—in particular, by deep neural networks (DNNs)—are a recent twist to the disconcerting problem of online disinformation. Although fabrication and manipulation of digital images and videos are not new, the rapid development of AI technology in recent years has made the process to create convincing fake videos much easier and faster. […]
In March, as COVID-19 was spreading rapidly, and the lives of Americans were turned upside down, the country was deeply worried about ventilators. There did not seem to be enough of the breathing machines to treat the gravely ill. In response, in April the U.S. government allocated nearly $3 billion to build more than 135,000 […]
Comet NEOWISE has been entertaining space enthusiasts across the Northern Hemisphere. Although its official name is C/2020 F3, the comet has been dubbed NEOWISE after the Near-Earth Object Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) space telescope that first noticed it earlier this year. This “icy snowball” with a gassy tail made its closest approach to the […]
Red blood cells are not just vehicles that transport oxygen in our bodies: they also clear harmful substances from the bloodstream. Scientists at Johns Hopkins University recently investigated how synthetic biomimicking (or “biomimetic”) nanoparticles, masquerading as red blood cells, can best pull off the same feat in mice. They found that molding these impostors into […]