Current approaches to artificial intelligence (AI) are unlikely to create models that can match human intelligence, according to a recent survey of industry experts. Out of the 475 AI researchers queried for the survey, 76% said the scaling up of large language models (LLMs) was “unlikely” or “very unlikely” to achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI), … Read more
Physicists have created a new type of time crystal that may help confirm some fundamental theories about quantum interactions. A standard time crystal is a new phase of matter that features perpetual motion without expending energy. According to Chong Zu, an assistant professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis and one of the … Read more
A new kind of road-legal flying car is now a step closer to hitting the roads, and skies, after its maker Alef Aeronautics signed an agreement with aerospace companies PUCARA Aero and MYC to build it. The Alef Model A is designed to work as both a road vehicle and aircraft, with its aim being … Read more
“Space tornadoes” are swirling near the supermassive black hole at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy, new telescope observations have revealed in unprecedented detail. Astronomers recently zoomed in on the cosmic twisters using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. Although these rotating structures had been seen previously, the new observations with ALMA … Read more
The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), currently under construction in northern Chile, will give us a better view of the Milky Way than any ground-based telescope before it. It’s difficult to overstate how transformative it will be. The ELT’s primary mirror array will have an effective diameter of 39 meters. It will gather more light than … Read more
The burning of fossil fuels — coal, oil and gas — propelled humanity into the industrial revolution, remaking civilization in its wake. Gasoline powers many of the cars we drive; coal and natural gas are central to global energy. But if aliens were building their own society, would they have to go down the same … Read more
Dormant genes on the X chromosome may reawaken in old age, potentially giving the aging female brain a boost that the male brain doesn’t receive. This phenomenon may help to explain why, on many measures, females show a higher level of cognitive resilience in old age than males do. The findings come from a new … Read more
What if you could listen to music or a podcast without headphones or earbuds and without disturbing anyone around you? Or have a private conversation in public without other people hearing you? Our newly published research introduces a way to create audible enclaves — localized pockets of sound that are isolated from their surroundings. In … Read more
Scientists have developed a new method to break down plastic waste, using moisture from the air. By exposing a common type of plastic to an inexpensive catalyst and leaving it exposed to ambient air, researchers broke down 94% of the material in just four hours. The plastic transformed into terephthalic acid (TPA), a highly valuable … Read more
NASA scientists have confirmed that a mysterious object shooting toward us through the solar system is an “interstellar object” — only the third of its kind ever seen. Experts have also given the cosmic interloper an official name, and revealed new information about its origins and trajectory. News of the extrasolar entity, initially dubbed A11pl3Z, … Read more
