When TikTok videos emerged in 2021 that seemed to show “Tom Cruise” making a coin disappear and enjoying a lollipop, the account name was the only obvious clue that this wasn’t the real deal. The creator of the “deeptomcruise” account on the social media platform was using “deepfake” technology to show a machine-generated version of […]
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AI Outraces Human Champs at the Video Game Gran Turismo
To hurtle around a corner along the fastest “racing line” without losing control, race car drivers must brake, steer and accelerate in precisely timed sequences. The process depends on the limits of friction, and they are governed by known physical laws—which means self-driving cars can learn to complete a lap at the fastest possible speed […]
How Climate Change Will Hit Younger Generations
A new analysis shows that people born later will experience vastly more severe weather events Credit: Amanda Montañez Advertisement Babies born today will experience far more disruptions fueled by climate change than their parents or grandparents. In a study published recently in Science, Wim Thiery of Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium and his colleagues combined […]
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Crowdfunding Isn’t Enough in a Crisis
Many of us are familiar with crowdfunding: donating money to people and their projects using one of many platforms on the internet. During the pandemic, people have sought help through crowdfunding in record numbers, making the activity seem like a de facto part of the American safety net. Some of these campaigns are truly transformative. […]
New Maps Show US Flood Damage Rising 26 Percent in Next 30 Years
The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Climate change is raising flood risks in neighborhoods across the U.S. much faster than many people realize. Over the next three decades, the cost of flood damage is on pace to rise 26% due to climate change alone, an […]
What is a Bomb Cyclone?
The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. A bomb cyclone is a large, intense midlatitude storm that has low pressure at its center, weather fronts and an array of associated weather, from blizzards to severe thunderstorms to heavy precipitation. It becomes a bomb when its […]
Gas Stoves Leak More Methane than Previously Thought
A new study is reporting a larger climate impact from gas stoves than previously thought, stoking a debate about one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions: buildings. Published by a team of four Stanford University Earth-system scientists today in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology, the study concluded that U.S. gas stoves could […]
Webb Telescope Reaches Its Final Destination Far from Earth
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has just reached its final destination—around a gravitationally special spot in space known as the second Lagrange point, or L2. The US$10-billion observatory could spend 20 or more years there, gathering unprecedented insights about the Universe as it stares into deep space. Webb, which is the most complex telescope ever […]
Discarded 1990s Energy Invention Makes a Comeback
In 1991, a team of scientists patented what appeared to be a breakthrough for one of the nation’s most serious energy efficiency problems. Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory had invented a “thin triple-pane” glass window. On paper the better-insulated window had the potential to cut annual energy for heating buildings by 39 percent […]