Most of us have likely experienced artificial intelligence (AI) voices through personal assistants like Siri or Alexa, with their flat intonation and mechanical delivery giving us the impression that we could easily distinguish between an AI-generated voice and a real person. But scientists now say the average listener can no longer tell the difference between … Read more
A Chinese company has released footage of a lifelike robot head that blinks, nods, and looks around in a convincing imitation of a real human face. The video, posted to YouTube, shows the robot head’s quizzical expression as it appears to take in its surroundings. The head, created by robotics company AheadForm, might find use … Read more
Scientists are considering the possibility of launching a nuclear weapon at an asteroid that could potentially hit the moon in 2032 — but they say more research is needed before taking this forward as an option. The investigation concerns asteroid 2024 YR4, which reached notoriety shortly after its discovery in December 2024 when scientists (working … Read more
Around 66 million years ago, the reign of the dinosaurs came to a fiery end. An asteroid about 7 miles (12 kilometers) wide, flying at 27,000 mph (43,000 km/h), slammed directly into Earth. The impact triggered a cascade of deadly events that led to the fifth mass extinction that eliminated dinosaurs, with the exception of … Read more
Pluto is a bit of a loner. The dwarf planet is no longer considered a regular planet; it does not orbit on the same plane as the solar system’s eight planets; and its orbit is both highly elliptical and extremely tilted. In fact, its orbit is much more similar to that of its neighbors in … Read more
Is there a scientific reason why the universe exists? In other words, what is the science of why there is anything at all, instead of only nothing? The answer has to do with opposites. Scientists have found that the universe exists because it began with a slight imbalance between matter and antimatter. Particles of matter … Read more
Red onion dye could be the missing ingredient required to bolster ultraviolet (UV) protection for solar cells, scientists say. Solar cells are typically coated with a petroleum-based film to protect them from UV-induced degradation. These films include oil-based materials such as polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). In the quest to drive the adoption … Read more
At first glance, Nam-Joon Cho’s lab at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University looks like your typical research facility — scientists toiling away, crowded workbenches, a hum of machinery in the background. But the orange-yellow stains on the lab coats slung on hooks hint at a less-usual subject matter under study. The powdery stain is pollen: microscopic … Read more
Scientists have suggested that when artificial intelligence (AI) goes rogue and starts to act in ways counter to its intended purpose, it exhibits behaviors that resemble psychopathologies in humans. That’s why they have created a new taxonomy of 32 AI dysfunctions so people in a wide variety of fields can understand the risks of building … Read more
Early Earth was a barren wasteland incapable of supporting life until a big protoplanet crash carried in the necessary ingredients, a new study suggests. That collision of the proto-Earth and a Mars-size body — nicknamed Theia — has been theorized for decades, especially in discussions of how our moon may have formed from the resulting … Read more
