An anonymous reader quotes a report from IEEE Spectrum: Underwater quantum links are possible across 30 meters (100 feet) of turbulent water, scientists have shown. Such findings could help to one day secure quantum communications for submarines. […] In the new study, researchers experimented with quantum communications in a “flume tank,” a water tank in which scientists can generate waves to…
Tag: preprint
Programmer’s Real-Time Deepfake Lets Him Impersonate Elon Musk on Zoom
Motherboard reports on a new open source program “that superimposes someone else’s face onto yours in real-time, during video meetings.”
Programmer Ali Aliev used the open-source code from the “First Order Motion Model for Image Animation,” published on the arxiv preprint server earlier this year [and developed by researchers at the University of Trento in Italy as well as Snap]… With other…
AI Researchers Propose ‘Bias Bounties’ To Put Ethics Principles Into Practice
Researchers from Google Brain, Intel, OpenAI, and top research labs in the U.S. and Europe joined forces this week to release what the group calls a toolbox for turning AI ethics principles into practice. From a report: The kit for organizations creating AI models includes the idea of paying developers for finding bias in AI, akin to the bug bounties offered…
MIT’s AI Suggests That Social Distancing Works
In a preprint academic paper published in early April, MIT researchers describe a model that quantifies the impact of quarantine measures on the spread of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. From a report: Unlike most of the models that have so far been proposed, this one doesn’t rely on data from studies about previous outbreaks, like SARS or MERS. Instead, it taps…
Coronavirus Tests Science’s Need for Speed Limits
Preprint servers and peer-reviewed journals are seeing surging audiences, with many new readers not well versed in the limitations of the latest research findings. From a report: Early on Feb. 1, John Inglis picked up his phone and checked Twitter, as he does most mornings. He was shocked at what fresh hell awaited. Since 2013, Dr. Inglis, executive director of Cold…
Artificial Intelligence Is Evolving All By Itself
sciencehabit shares a report from Science Magazine: Artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving — literally. Researchers have created software that borrows concepts from Darwinian evolution, including “survival of the fittest,” to build AI programs that improve generation after generation without human input. The program replicated decades of AI research in a matter of days, and its designers think that one day, it…
Have the first proteins been found in meteorites?
Researchers say they’ve discovered the first complete proteins inside 2 meteorites. It’s tantalizing, since proteins play a key role in the cells of living creatures. But will the results hold up to scrutiny? Source: https://earthsky.org/space/proteins-amino-acids-meteorites-acfer-086-and-allende-origin-of-life…
Molecular oxygen detected in the nearest quasar
Observations using the IRAM 30 meter telescope and the NOEMA Interferometer have unveiled the presence of molecular oxygen in Markarian 231—the nearest known quasar. The finding, detailed in a paper published on the arXiv preprint server, could be crucial for better understanding the properties of molecular gas in this object. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-02-molecular-oxygen-nearest-quasar.html…
Scientists Discover Virus With No Recognizable Genes
sciencehabit shares a report from Science Magazine: Viruses are some of the most mysterious organisms on Earth. They’re among the world’s tiniest lifeforms, and because none can survive and reproduce without a host, some scientists have questioned whether they should even be considered living things. Now, scientists have discovered one that has no recognizable genes, making it among the strangest of…
Shoddy Coronavirus Studies Are Going Viral And Stoking Panic
Scientists are rapidly posting findings about the new coronavirus outbreak online, accelerating the speed of scientific discoveries — and of misinformation. From a report: Last Friday morning, after a week in which the coronavirus outbreak had been declared a global public health emergency, a group of scientists from India posted a paper online. A handful of genetic sequences in the new…