The infant was conceived using a workstation that uses AI and robotics to automate the steps required for in vitro fertilization procedures.
You’ve probably seen a movie in which a character pulls up a hologram display that they can poke, prod, and manipulate as easily as you could mess with a real object sitting on a desk in front of you.
The idea is so ubiquitous in science fiction that it’s become nearly synonymous with the word “hologram.” In almost every news story written about hologram technology and how far it has come, at some point, a disclaimer has to be made explaining that ‘it’s not quite Tony Stark tech, but it’s still cool!’
Podcast host Mike Duncan on how studying real-world history helped him imagine what a ‘Martian Revolution’ could look like.
The biological research of UC Santa Cruz’s Needhi Bhalla to determine the molecular motions at the heart of heredity has yielded a new discovery: The proper transfer of genetic materials depends on two key proteins that choreograph the delicate dance between chromosomes when sexual-reproduction cells divide.
When cells split to create eggs and sperm, they must undergo a crucial process called “meiotic crossover recombination.” This mechanism ensures that genetic material is properly shuffled between chromosomes, preventing errors that could lead to disorders such as miscarriages, infertility, birth defects, and even cancer.
This process also results in the endearing transfer of traits that parents see in their children. And beyond contributing to parental pride, Bhalla says meiotic crossover recombination is fundamental for human evolution by promoting genetic diversity. That’s why the identification of two specific proteins that play central roles in controlling how and where these crossovers happen is so significant.
Ironmaking could be on the edge of a major upgrade. Scientists have developed a cleaner, electrochemical method to extract iron that could one day rival traditional blast furnaces in cost while slashing pollution.
By customizing iron oxide particles and optimizing electrical conditions, the team achieved efficient, low-temperature metal production—paving the way for greener steelmaking on an industrial scale.
Rethinking Ironmaking with Electrochemistry.
Enthusiasts have been pushing the limits of silicon for as long as microprocessors have existed. Early overclocking endeavors involved soldering and replacing crystal clock oscillators, but that practice quickly evolved into adjusting system bus speeds using motherboard DIP switches and jumpers.
Internal clock multipliers were eventually introduced, but it didn’t take long for those to be locked down, as unscrupulous sellers began removing official frequency ratings and rebranding chips with their own faster markings. System buses and dividers became the primary tuning tools for most users, while ultra-enthusiasts went further – physically altering electrical specifications through hard modding.
Eventually, unlocked multipliers made a comeback, ushering in an era defined by BIOS-level overclocking and increasingly sophisticated software tuning tools. Over the past decade, however, traditional overclocking has become more constrained. Improved factory binning, aggressive turbo boost algorithms, and thermal ceilings mean that modern CPUs often operate near their peak potential right out of the box.
When personal computers were first invented, only a small group of people who understood programming languages could use them. Today, anyone can look up the local weather, play their favorite song or even generate code with just a few keystrokes.
This shift has fundamentally changed how humans interact with technology, making powerful computational tools accessible to everyone. Now, advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are extending this ease of interaction to the world of robotics through a platform called Text2Robot.
Developed by engineers at Duke University, Text2Robot is a novel computational robot design framework that allows anyone to design and build a robot simply by typing a few words describing what it should look like and how it should function. Its novel abilities will be showcased at the upcoming IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2025) taking place May 19–23, in Atlanta, Georgia.
In what is considered the most complicated neuroscience experiment ever attempted, scientists from the Allen Institute and global collaborators have created the largest, most complex wiring diagram and functional map of the brain to date.
Are rogue machines lurking in the cosmos, quietly outlasting their creators? We explore the eerie possibility that ancient AI remnants, abandoned or self-replicating, could be hidden throughout the galaxy—watching, waiting, and perhaps even shaping the fate of civilizations.
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Credits:
The Fermi Paradox & Zombie AI: Are Rogue Machines Hiding in the Cosmos?
Episode 494; April 10, 2025
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur.
Editors: Briana Brownell & Donagh Broderick.
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images.
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator.
Phase Shift, “Forest Night“
Chris Zabriskie, “Unfoldment, Revealment”, “A New Day in a New Sector”, “Oxygen Garden“
Stellardrone, “Red Giant”, “Billions and Billions”
Useful quantum networks are hobbled by the problem of decoherence from environmental “noise.” But a new breakthrough could change that.