Lifeboat Foundation

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is underway — and it’s going to change everything. 🤖.

The chemicals, known as PFAS, have been associated with cancer, liver damage, and developmental issues.

Apple has reportedly paid $200 million to acquire Seattle-based artificial intelligence company Xnor.ai, which specialises in edge-based AI.

The purchase is one of many for Apple, which has become adept at vacuuming up tech startups, but it also gives us a glimpse into the company’s thinking when it comes to future devices.

Xnor.ai’s work on hyper-efficient, low-power AI that doesn’t require powerful processing or a connection to the cloud (processing locally on-device instead), neatly slots into a few areas Apple is currently working on.

A drone has become a welcomed addition to cinematography in recent years. With brand new ways to see the world, they provide us with new viewpoints deemed impossible only a few years ago. We can already see their impact when used in documentaries and recreational films: most new movies rely on the standard drone overhead shot used for establishing the scene and aesthetic.

Here are some of the coolest drone shots that have been posted online. Some of these explore views that have never been captured on film before, making for some amazing ways to see the world.

These two got close and personal to some pretty wild beasts in California. The girls were part of a documentary that explored the relationship between sharks and humans when they traveled on a paddleboard to see them.

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(TMU) — Bees are major fans of hemp and a recent study has found that the taller the hemp plants are the larger the number of bees that will flock to it.

Anyone with a modicum of skill can create deepfake videos using artificial intelligence, but experts suggest that AI may also be the solution that allows rapid and accurate identification and detection.

By now, most of us have shared a few chuckles over AI-generated deepfake videos, like those in which the face of comedian and impressionist Bill Hader gradually takes on the likenesses of Tom Cruise, Seth Rogen, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as he imitates the celebrities. We’ve seen actor Ryan Reynolds’ mug superimposed over Gene Wilder’s in the 1971 classic film “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” We’ve even marveled over businessman Elon Musk being turned into a baby.

Continue reading “Deepfake video: It takes AI to beat AI” »

Styrofoam or copper—both materials have very different properties with regard to their ability to conduct heat. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Mainz and the University of Bayreuth have now jointly developed and characterized a novel, extremely thin and transparent material that has different thermal conduction properties depending on the direction. While it can conduct heat extremely well in one direction, it shows good thermal insulation in the other direction.

Thermal insulation and thermal conduction play a crucial role in our everyday lives—from computer processors, where it is important to dissipate heat as quickly as possible, to houses, where good insulation is essential for energy costs. Often extremely light, porous materials such as polystyrene are used for insulation, while heavy materials such as metals are used for heat dissipation. A newly developed material, which scientists at the MPI-P have jointly developed and characterized with the University of Bayreuth, can now combine both properties.

The material consists of alternating layers of wafer-thin glass plates between which individual polymer chains are inserted. “In principle, our material produced in this way corresponds to the principle of double glazing,” says Markus Retsch, Professor at the University of Bayreuth. “It only shows the difference that we not only have two layers, but hundreds.”

The weapon sounds like a ghostly radio.