Menu

Blog

Page 8157

Dec 16, 2018

China has never had a real chip industry. Making AI chips could change that

Posted by in categories: information science, robotics/AI

This is happening in the city of Tianjin, about an hour’s drive south of Beijing, within a gleaming office building that belongs to iFlytek, one of China’s rapidly rising artificial-intelligence companies. Beyond guarded gates, inside a glitzy showroom, the US president is on a large TV screen heaping praise on the Chinese company. It’s Trump’s voice and face, but the recording is, of course, fake—a cheeky demonstration of the cutting-edge AI technology iFlytek is developing.

Jiang Tao chuckles and leads the way to some other examples of iFlytek’s technology. Throughout the tour, Tao, one of the company’s cofounders, uses another remarkable innovation: a hand-held device that converts his words from Mandarin into English almost instantly. At one point he speaks into the machine, and then grins as it translates: “I find that my device solves the communication problem.”

IFlytek’s translator shows off AI capabilities that rival those found anywhere in the world. But it also highlights a big hole in China’s plan, unveiled in 2017, to be the world leader in AI by 2030. The algorithms inside were developed by iFlytek, but the hardware—the microchips that bring those algorithms to life—was designed and made elsewhere. While China manufactures most of the world’s electronic gadgets, it has failed, time and again, to master the production of these tiny, impossibly intricate silicon structures. Its dependence on foreign integrated circuits could potentially cripple its AI ambitions.

Continue reading “China has never had a real chip industry. Making AI chips could change that” »

Dec 16, 2018

This weekend, watch the skies for a passing comet

Posted by in category: space

Comet 46P/Wirtanen will make its closest flyby on Sunday, Dec. 16, passing 7.1 million miles from Earth. It may even be bright enough to see without a telescope. Photo galleries & how to observe: https://go.nasa.gov/2EAoGvM

Read more

Dec 16, 2018

Amazing human powered bike travels 88MPH

Posted by in categories: energy, transportation

Amazing bicycle reaches speeds above 85MPH using only human power.

Read more

Dec 16, 2018

Bitcoin Miners Dying, Another Sign Of The Crypto-Currency Crash

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, finance

It is an eye opening video. In the financial climate we are now I am not shocked that these Miners are losing based on costs.


I wrote an article on the Wave Chronicle regarding the Crypto-Currency Crash and some of the changes that could be made to make this particular market effective for those who actually want to use Crypto-Currency as a vehicle for purchasing.

Continue reading “Bitcoin Miners Dying, Another Sign Of The Crypto-Currency Crash” »

Dec 16, 2018

DARPA head on AI dangers: ‘It’s not one of those things that keeps me up at night’

Posted by in categories: military, robotics/AI

“At least in the Defense Department today, we don’t see machines doing anything by themselves,” he said, noting that agency researchers are intensely focused on building “human-machine” partnerships. “I think we’re a long way off from a generalized AI, even in the third wave in what we’re pursuing.”


Artificial intelligence does not yet pose a serious threat to humans, according to the head of the Defense Advanced Research Agency. Though the military is rushing to improve its AI capabilities, DARPA Director Dr. Steven H. Walker said AI remains “a very fragile capability.”

Read more

Dec 15, 2018

Scientists crack the CRISPR code for precise human genome editing

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute have discovered a set of simple rules that determine the precision of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in human cells. These rules, published in Molecular Cell, could help to improve the efficiency and safety of genome editing in both the lab and the clinic.

Despite the wide use of the CRISPR system, rational application of the technology has been hindered by the assumption that the outcome of genome editing is unpredictable, resulting in random deletions or insertions of DNA regions at the target site.

Before CRISPR can be safely applied in the clinic, scientists need to make sure that they can reliably predict precisely how DNA will be modified.

Continue reading “Scientists crack the CRISPR code for precise human genome editing” »

Dec 15, 2018

MIT Figured out a Way to Shrink Objects to Nanoscale

Posted by in category: nanotechnology

It shrinks objects to a thousandth of their original size.

Read more

Dec 15, 2018

Asteroid Bennu Had Water! NASA Probe Makes Tantalizing Find

Posted by in category: space

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe, which just arrived at the asteroid Bennu last week, has already found lots of hydrated minerals on the space rock, mission team members announced today (Dec. 10).

Read more

Dec 15, 2018

Scientists are developing a breakthrough test that uses gold to detect all types of cancer in 10 minutes

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, innovation

  • Scientists at the University of Brisbane may have found a simple way of detecting the early stages of cancer.
  • The method is inexpensive, takes 10 minutes, and can work for all types of cancer.
  • The test uses gold particles to detect cancerous DNA.

According to Nature, researchers at the University of Brisbane may have developed a simple test that’s able to detect the early stages of cancer.

Not only that but the method is inexpensive, takes a mere 10 minutes, and works for all types of cancer — and the central component used for identifying cancer cells is gold particles.

Read more

Dec 15, 2018

If energy can’t be created, where did it come from in the first place?

Posted by in categories: cosmology, education, quantum physics

We’re taught at school that energy can’t be created, merely converted from one form to another. But at the birth of the Universe – that is, everything – the energy needed for the Big Bang must have come from somewhere. Many cosmologists think its origin lies in so-called quantum uncertainty, which is known to allow energy to emerge literally from nowhere. What isn’t clear, however, is why this cosmic energy persisted long enough to drive the Big Bang.

Read more