Facebook AI learned object recognition from 1 billion Instagram pics

Artificial intelligence built by Facebook has learned to classify images from 1 billion Instagram photos. The AI used a different learning technique to many other similar algorithms, relying less on input from humans. Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2270102-facebook-ai-learned-object-recognition-from-1-billion-instagram-pics/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

How our abuse of nature makes pandemics like covid-19 more likely

From habitat degradation to squalid animal treatment, our part in allowing “zoonotic” diseases like covid-19 to leap into humans is becoming ever clearer Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933240-800-how-our-abuse-of-nature-makes-pandemics-like-covid-19-more-likely/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Help is a long way away: The challenges of sending humans to Mars

On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stepped out a lunar lander onto the surface of the moon. The landscape in front of him, which was made up of stark blacks and grays, resembled what he later called “magnificent desolation.” Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-03-humans-mars.html…

Dolphins that help humans catch fish are being disturbed by ship noise

Some dolphins help humans catch fish, but an uptick in the levels of noise pollution from nearby ships is changing the way the dolphins communicate with one another Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2269425-dolphins-that-help-humans-catch-fish-are-being-disturbed-by-ship-noise/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Neanderthal ears were tuned to hear speech just like modern humans

Virtual reconstructions of Neanderthal ears show that our extinct cousins had the same physical capacity for hearing as modern humans, and so could probably also make the same sounds we can – although whether they actually spoke a language is still unknown Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2269577-neanderthal-ears-were-tuned-to-hear-speech-just-like-modern-humans/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

A ‘Terminator’ Anime Series is Coming to Netflix

Variety magazine reports that Netflix has ordered Terminator anime series: “‘Terminator’ is one of the most iconic sci-fi stories ever created — and has only grown more relevant to our world over time,” said John Derderian, Netflix’s vice president of Japan and anime. “The new animated series will explore this universe in a way that has never been done before. We…

World’s oldest DNA sheds light on mammoth evolution

A mammoth tooth uncovered from the Siberian permafrost yields the oldest DNA yet discovered and provides insight into the evolution of the giant beasts. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/worlds-oldest-dna-mammoth-evolution-video…

Stanford Researchers Identify Four Causes For ‘Zoom Fatigue’ and Their Simple Fixes

In the first peer-reviewed article that systematically deconstructs Zoom fatigue from a psychological perspective, published in the journal Technology, Mind and Behavior on Feb. 23, Professor Jeremy Bailenson, founding director of the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL), has taken the medium apart and assessed Zoom on its individual technical aspects. He has identified four consequences of prolonged video chats that…

Artemis: How ever-changing U.S. space policy may push back the next moon landing

Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan blasted off from the Taurus-Littrow valley on the moon in their lunar module Challenger on December 14 1972. Five days later, they splashed down safely in the Pacific, closing the Apollo 17 mission and becoming the last humans to visit the lunar surface or venture anywhere beyond low-Earth orbit. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-artemis-ever-changing-space-policy-moon.html…