Technology News Era

Scientists have tapped neuromorphic computing to keep robots learning about new objects after they’ve been deployed. For the uninitiated, neuromorphic computing replicates the neural structure of the human brain to create algorithms that can deal with the uncertainties of the natural world. Intel Labs has developed one of the most notable architectures in the field: the Loihi neuromorphic chip. Loihi is comprised of around 130,000 artificial neurons, which send information to each other across a “spiking” neural network (SNN). The chips had already powered a range of systems, from an smart artificial skin to an electronic “nose” that recognizes scents emitted from… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/ytBj84Y

Europe is experiencing one of the hottest summers on record. July 18th was the hottest day recorded in France in almost 20 years and London experienced a sweltering 40 degrees for the first time ever in July. Countries like Switzerland and Sweden also broke their previous records. When the weather is this hot, it’s hard to focus on anything work-related. Emails seem just a little bit unimportant when your friends are going on a beach trip. Meetings are a nuisance when you want to sunbathe in the back garden in peace. However, if you’re currently searching for your next role… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/k2QU5ap

A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics recently demonstrated a record-breaking experiment that could turn the quantum computing industry on its head. The quantum slalom One of the biggest challenges facing STEM researchers today is the difficulty of building a fault-tolerant, stable quantum computer. In essence, modern physicists are darting back and forth between trying to scale quantum computers to functional sizes and attempting to squelch all the noisy errors as the systems grow. When it comes to qubits, the quantum equivalent of computer bits, bigger is usually better. But it’s also much noisier. The… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/zZtJPSE

Nikita Gourianov, a physicist at Oxford university, yesterday published a scathing article full of wild, damning claims about the field of quantum computing and the scientists who work in it. According to Gourianov, the quantum computing industry has been led astray by greedy physicists who’ve hyped up the tech’s possibilities in order to rip off VCs and get paid private-sector salaries for doing academic research. Double, double Per Gourianov’s article, the real problems started in the 2010s after investors started taking notice of the hype surrounding quantum physics: As more money flowed in, the field grew, and it became progressively… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/QBAiUaL

If you’re impressed by the recent spate of text-to-image generators, get ready for the next step in AI artistry: text-to-video. While the huge compute costs and scarcity of text-to-video datasets have stunted the technique’s growth, recent research has brought the promise closer to reality. A computer artist called Glenn Marshall has given a glimpse at the potential. The Belfast-based composer recently won the Jury Award at the Cannes Short Film Festival for his AI The Crow. Marshall had previously earned plaudits for an AI-generated Daft Punk video, but he applied a different approach to The Crow. While his earlier technique turned… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/Pbicxom

Vivek Wadhwa and Mauritz Kop recently penned an op-ed urging governments around the world to get ahead of the threat posed by the emerging technology known as quantum computing. They even went so far as to title their article “Why Quantum Computing is Even More Dangerous Than Artificial Intelligence.” Up front: This one gets a very respectful hard-disagree from me. While I do believe that quantum computing does pose an existential threat to humanity, my reasons differ wildly from those proposed by Wadhwa and Kop. Point Wadhwa and Kop open their article with a description of AI’s failures, potential misuse,… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/06mlVaS

A new “water map” of Mars could offer fresh clues about the planet’s past — and potential landing spots for the future. Researchers from the European Space Agency (ESA) spent a decade developing the map from data collected by two Mars orbiters. They found hundreds of thousands of areas containing aqueous mineral deposits, which are created though interactions between rock and water. As the minerals still contain water molecules, they could show locations where we can extract water for human bases on the planet. These outcrops may also provide ideal sites for exploring whether life once began on Mars. The map… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/57g0HvI

The City of New York is grappling with a problem — fire. Specifically, escooter and ebike lithium-ion batteries catch fire and sometimes explode. And there’s no sign of it ending anytime soon. Earlier this year, I wrote an introductory article detailing the rate of lithium-ion battery fires. Today I want to look at New York as a cautionary tale in the struggle of dealing with battery fires as ebikes (and, to a lesser extent, escooters) become mainstream.  I’ll follow up with a third article tomorrow, exploring potential technological solutions to prevent battery fires.  What causes battery fires?  In the case… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/w8hmB6S

As you probably already know, workcations are pretty straightforward. Basically, you pack up your laptop case, jet off to a far-flung destination, and work remotely for a couple of days, weeks or even months. So, instead of answering your morning emails in a flat in Birmingham, you could be sitting by a beach in Bermuda. This new trend is a direct byproduct of the pandemic. The rise of remote working, coupled with a growing hunger for international travel means that more and more employees are deciding to take multiple breaks per year and save their annual leave while doing so.… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/8nQidp6

We all know the drill. During the pandemic, offices shut-down, employees worked from home… and companies discovered, it wasn’t all bad. Now, with half of workers wanting to continue the work from home life and the other half running back to the office with open arms, companies are weighing the potential benefits of remote, hybrid, and flexible work arrangements. In the wake of the ‘Great Resignation,’ some say that offering remote and hybrid work options can even help create a more equitable work environment by leveling the playing field, allowing for more flexibility, and limiting the microaggressions people of color… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/JNgse1j

Europe has some of the most progressive, human-centric artificial intelligence governance policies in the world. Compared to the heavy-handed government oversight in China or the Wild West-style anything goes approach in the US, the EU’s strategy is designed to stoke academic and corporate innovation while also protecting private citizens from harm and overreach. But that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. The 2018 initiative In 2018, the European Commission began its European AI Alliance initiative. The alliance exists so that various stakeholders can weigh-in and be heard as the EU considers its ongoing policies governing the development and deployment of AI technologies.… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/CHW1vd0

Gen Xers and boomers will remember the musical powerhouse that was Janet Jackson in the late 1980s. But now her music has been found to have a new power — it can crash laptops.  This week Microsoft chief software engineer Raymond Chen shared the story of what happens when older Windows XP laptops play the music video for Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation.” Specifically, Chen recalls a colleague’s tale from Windows XP product support. An unnamed major computer manufacturer discovered that playing the video would crash certain models of laptops.  Even weirder, playing the music video on one laptop resulted in a… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/tM5sfxD

This article was originally published on .cult by Saudamani Singh. .cult is a Berlin-based community platform for developers. We write about all things career-related, make original documentaries, and share heaps of other untold developer stories from around the world. If you’ve ever used Alexa or Siri, sat in a self-driving car, talked to a chatbot, or even watched something recommended to you by Netflix, you’ve come across Artificial Intelligence, or AI, as it’s commonly known. AI is a major driving force behind the world’s advancement in almost every field of study including healthcare, finance, entertainment, and transport. Simply put, Artificial… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/LSCfHxq

Late last week, the City of New York announced a revolutionary way to curb the problem of speeding using speed limiters. It’s not only a first for the city, but a massive upgrade on efforts rolled out this year in Europe.  As part of a new six-month pilot program, 50 city fleet vehicles are fitted with active intelligent speed assistance (ISA), which restricts a vehicle’s maximum speed, preventing it from exceeding local speed limits. If successful, the City of New York will extend the initiative across the City’s entire 30,000 vehicle fleet, which includes fire engines, police cars, sanitation trucks,… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/gMjKSoe

There’s nothing quite so dramatic and inspirational as a scientific breakthrough. But what happens when different groups of scientists can’t seem to agree on the science? DeepMind, an Alphabet research company based in London, published a fascinating research paper last year wherein it claimed to have solved the huge challenge of “simulating matter on the quantum scale with AI.” Now, nearly eight months later, a group of academic researchers from Russia and South Korea may have uncovered a problem with the original research that places the paper’s entire conclusion in doubt. The implications for this cutting-edge research could be huge,… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/4glAHLx

Drone deliveries are hot right now. In the US, companies like Walmart and Amazon taking the lead. As well as the industry rollout, there’s a slew of innovation in technology and hardware solutions that augment and enhance the delivery experience.  Let’s take a look. Dronedek drone docking stations  I’ve raised the challenge of what I call “the last steps” to get the package to the customer. This especially becomes a challenge when they don’t have a backyard for easy drop-off.  US company Dronedek might just have the solution.  Meet the Dronedek delivery platform that can also charge drone batteries The company… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/JkRKzxy

During the Covid-19 pandemic, international travel pretty much came to a halt. As countries around the globe closed their borders and put extra security measures in place, people were forced to holiday a little bit closer to home. Staycations were all the rage and for a while, they seemed to fill a void. But now, we’ve moved on. 2022 is officially the year of revenge travel. Already, according to MarketWatch, 1.5 billion more passengers are flying internationally compared to 2021. It seems like the whole world is trying to make up for lost time with many households scheduling more than… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/kpwmFnN

Picture it. Using an app, you order a new mobile phone on Amazon or a burger from your favorite restaurant. A mere 20 minutes later, you get an alert on your phone and head out to the backyard to see a drone descending from the sky holding your package. Your package gently drops to the ground, and the drone flies off. And it’s being led by retail behemoths Amazon, Walmart, and a slew of food delivery companies. I spoke to industry insiders to get the state of play and see an industry evolving from nascent to the mainstream, but for… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/VmWNnkL

Researchers have discovered a surprisingly simple way to detect deepfake video calls: ask the suspect to turn sideways. The trick was shared this week by Metaphysic.ai, a London-based startup behind the viral  Tom Cruise deepfakes. The company used DeepFaceLive, a popular app for video deepfakes, to transform a volunteer into various celebrities. Most of the recreations were impressive when they looked straight-ahead. But once the faces rotated a full 90-degrees, the images became distorted and the spell was broken. The fakes fell apart at a sharp 90° profile. Credit: Metaphysic.ai The team believes the defects emerge because the software uses fewer… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/GHtxQiE

The idea of a car that turns into a plane in three minutes sounds like a dream. Imagine you’re driving along during peak hour. You get an alert of incoming traffic and shapeshift into an aircraft that takes to the skies, overtaking commuter delays, toll bridges, and construction delays — suck it, gridlock! But the reality of the flying car (aka air car) is a lot less spontaneous and a lot less flexible.  And I’m here to burst your bubble following the news of Samson Sky’s successful FAA inspection.  This week, after 14 years of design, R&D, and fundraising, Samson… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/EdNrWGs

In this series we examine some of the most popular doomsday scenarios prognosticated by modern AI experts. Previous articles include Misaligned Objectives, Artificial Stupidity, Wall-E Syndrome, Humanity Joins the Hivemind, and Killer Robots. We’ve covered a lot of ground in this series (see above), but nothing comes close to our next topic. The “democratization of expertise” might sound like a good thing — democracy, expertise, what’s not to like? But it’s our intent to convince you that it’s the single greatest AI-related threat our species faces by the time you finish reading this article. In order to properly understand this, we’ll have to… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/TwHOaFl

It’s strike season on the London Underground, and that means one thing for the UK’s interminable Tory governments: time to rev-up the driverless hype train. Conservative politicians have long called for a fully-autonomous metro. In 2012, then-London Mayor Boris Johnson said Britain’s capital would have driverless trains within 10 years. A decade later, he claimed the switch would free people from being “prisoners of the unions.” The government reiterated the case during recent funding talks with Transport for London (TfL), which operates the local underground network. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps made working towards driverless trains a condition of the bailout. Shapps… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/DCcqTyu

The future of last-mile package delivery is fast and contactless, with delivery providers focused on eliminating traffic and parking challenges. An increasingly prominent option is the use of uncrewed aerial vehicles or drones.  This week research comparing the environmental impact of different forms of last-mile delivery was published in the scientific journal Patterns. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University compared the energy consumption of quadcopter drones against diesel and electric medium-duty trucks, small vans, and electric cargo bicycles on a per-package basis. They found that greenhouse-gas emissions per parcel were 84% lower for drones than for diesel trucks. Unsurprisingly, drones consumed… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/atubImz

Say you had millions of dollars to spend. If you’re an automotive enthusiast, perhaps you’d buy the latest Ferrari or a 1956 Aston Martin. But would you spend an exorbitant amount for a car you can’t physically drive? It may sound illogical, but research by Vanarama shows people are digging deep into their pockets to buy car-related NFTs. This means that they own the cars’ digital rendering (although anyone can view and download it), but they’ll never get to lay a single hand on the vehicle. In fact, as per the study, buyers are willing to pay even more for… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/XOoy9tB

Have you ever been catfished? Maybe you’ve met someone on a dating app and decided to go for a coffee or a drink, but when you showed up, the person looked nothing like their profile pictures. Unfortunately, this kind of deception is such a part of dating in 2022 that we’ve almost come to accept it. But that kind of deceit would never happen in a professional setting… would it? By now, you’ve probably heard about the Madbird job scam that hit the news back in February. Madbird was advertised as a British-based design agency run by a charismatic and… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/S1sXH4c

Experts believe some 80-percent of the universe could be made up of a mysterious substance called “dark matter.” Some even think there’s an entire group of particles forming a “dark sector” that could be as complex as the matter and antimatter families. Unfortunately, the quest to finally observe dark matter is hitting a wall. Simply put we need more particle colliders. And whether they get built is, seemingly, completely up to the powers-that-be in the European and US political arenas. Cash rules everything The development of particle colliders has been one of humankind’s most expensive scientific endeavors. However, they haven’t… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/s3X6Z0A

In an effort to bring personal flying machines to the skies, French inventor and former jet-ski champion Franky Zapata is taking invites for people to try out his latest flying machine – the JetRacer.  Meet the JetRacer  The JetRacer is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft powered by ten kerosene-fueled micro-turbo-jet engines.  The Zapata JetRacer Controlled by two joysticks, it’s capable of a high degree of maneuverability, with a video of flipping and turning the aircraft at speed while flying over water.   Not Zapata’s first rodeo Zapata crossing the English Channel Zapata’s had a long history with flying… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/KJ6crhe

What if wearable electronics could monitor your health and detect diseases even before symptoms appear? That’s exactly the vision of Sihong Wang and his research team at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME). “With this work we’ve bridged wearable technology with artificial intelligence and machine learning to create a powerful device which can analyze health data right on our own bodies,” Wang says. The assistant professor and his team envision a future where wearable biosensors can track indicators of health, including sugar, oxygen, and metabolites in people’s blood. With this purpose in mind, they have developed… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/VXNYibl

Today, social media users want serendipitous shopping experiences — where new brands and ideas pop up on their feeds like wizened wizards in an RPG. In this world, your social media profile is your shop window. How you dress it up, counts. If you’re a solopreneur or an influencer, social media will likely be one of the first touchpoints your audience will have with your brand and it will be the key to expanding your reach to new audiences in the future. Of course, when you’re running a company of one, time is in short supply. If there’s a choice… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/lJ1xj6D

The USA’s “love affair with the automobile” hasn’t been kind to pedestrians. In 2020, more than 6,500 people were struck and killed while walking in the country. A new report by Smart Growth America lays most of the blame on roadways. “Our nation’s streets are dangerous by design, designed primarily to move cars quickly at the expense of keeping everyone safe,” the study authors wrote. The campaigners have called for streets to be redesigned for pedestrian safety. A new AI experiment imagines the possibilities. US-19, "the deadliest road in America" (New Port Richey, Florida) pic.twitter.com/dZRsaALn83 — AI-generated street transformations (@betterstreetsai)… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/YIbkBpg

Last month saw the Eurobike 2022 conference in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, bringing a swag of new ebikes, cargo bikes, and escooters to industry professionals and product enthusiasts. Here’s some of the tech that caught my eye: The Noordung ebike  At first glance, the Slovakian Noordung ebike looks like any cool, retro-inspired lightweight carbon fiber ebike. But it possesses a couple of superpowers. It comes with a detachable Bluetooth boombox equipped with four speakers, so you can play music as you ride.  A boombox with air quality sensors PM 2.5 and PM 10 particle sensors are embedded in the speakers.… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/UfSArTX

Two Stanford heavyweights have weighed in on the fiery AI sentience debate — and the duo is firmly in the “BS” corner. The wrangle recently rose to a crescendo over arguments about Google’s LaMDA system. Developer Blake Lemoine sparked the controversy. Lemoine, who worked for Google’s Responsible AI team, had been testing whether the large-language model (LLM) used harmful speech. The 41-year-old told The Washington Post that his conversations with the AI convinced him that it had a sentient mind. “I know a person when I talk to it,” he said. “It doesn’t matter whether they have a brain made… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Google from The Next Web https://ift.tt/IVzve5h

This week an inquiry into the lies of truck and bus maker Hino Motors revealed why the brand doctored emissionsdata on gas-guzzling engines over the last 20 years. Their excuse: company culture.   Hino Motors, a Toyota Motor Corp affiliate, was found in March to have falsified data related to the carbon emissions and fuel performance of four engines – a deception that dates back to at least 2003.  Unfortunately, emissions scandals are nothing new.   The Hino company is 51% owned by Toyota Motor Corp. Image credit: Hino The company joins the ranks of big dirty liars Volkswagen and Stellantis, who… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/oX7YR4e

Litigants could game Wikipedia to influence legal decisions, according to new research. A study led by Neil Thompson from MIT’s Computer Science and AI Laboratory (CSAIL) discovered that judges were more likely to cite legal cases that have a Wikipedia article. The finding has sparked  concerns that judicial decisions are being shaped by unreliable information. The openness of Wikipedia could also lead legal judgements to be manipulated. “A well-resourced litigant could encourage his legal team to anonymously integrate their own analysis of a relevant precedent into a Wikipedia article at an early stage of litigation, in the hope of later… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Wikipedia from The Next Web https://ift.tt/iWme5ps

This week farmers found big chunks of metal from a SpaceX Crew-1 Trunk in a remote paddock in rural Australia. While it’s not an everyday occurrence, rocket body reentries (parts of space debris returning to Earth) are a trend that’s likely to increase. The body of a Crew-1 trunk before it burned and landed back on earth.  Dr. Brad Tucker, Astrophysicist, and Cosmologist at Mt Stromlo Observatory at the Australian National University, went to check it out. He found that the pieces of rocket debris were 3 meters long and weighed 20-30kg each.  While it sounds like something cool to… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/nCNhud4

AAA research shows that consumers may encounter as many as 20 names for a singleadvanced driver assistance system (ADAS) feature.  For example, take blind spot warning. This functionality detects vehicles in the blind spot while driving and notifies the driver of their presence. Some systems provide an additional warning if the driver activates the turn signal).  Audi calls blind spot warning “Audi side assist,” while Toyota calls it “blind spot monitor.” On some GM vehicles, it’s called “side blind zone alert.”  Feeling confused?  Even worse, as Kelly Funkhouser, Consumer Report’s head of connected and automated vehicles, notes, “sometimes there’s a… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/LcKupUF

You might think new ideas in food startups are done to death. From ghost kitchens to 10- minute grocery deliveries, many people buy and cook our food, so we don’t have to.  Now, a US company called Wonder has created an entirely new business model: chefs-on-wheels.  It’s a somewhat novel idea. Consumers order food through a mobile app. The food is par-cooked (in ghost or restaurant kitchens), but it comes to you in a van equipped with a kitchen and a chef that finishes your meal in the truck right outside your door — using equipment like sous vides and… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/uOkdSh2