Author: The Conversation

For the past few weeks, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) after the first crewed voyage of Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft hit a snag. Concerns raised by Boeing and NASA over thruster problems and several helium leaks (helium is used in Starliner’s engine system) have prevented the craft from making the return journey as scheduled. NASA has now said the astronauts may have to stay put until the next scheduled crew switchover in August – potentially on another ship. Boeing and NASA are trying to put a positive spin on the…

Helicopters draw a lot of attention with their almost magical ability to hover, fly in any direction and operate without runways. They also help save many lives, often dramatically, with their extensive use in all-weather military missions, ambulance duties and search-and-rescue roles. When things go wrong, dramatic images and news stories about helicopter accidents grab the public’s attention. This is especially true when high-profile celebrities or government officials are involved. However, modern rotorcraft are safe. Each year, the U.S. commercial helicopter industry flies about 3 million flight hours. There were 0.77 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours on average from 2018 to 2022. In comparison, general…

The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has had such a profound effect on big tech companies that their energy consumption, and with it their carbon emissions, have surged. The spectacular success of large language models such as ChatGPT has helped fuel this growth in energy demand. At 2.9 watt-hours per ChatGPT request, AI queries require about 10 times the electricity of traditional Google queries, according to the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit research firm. Emerging AI capabilities such as audio and video generation are likely to add to this energy demand. The energy needs of AI are shifting the calculus of…

Of the more than 74,000 known meteorites – rocks that fall to Earth from asteroids or planets colliding together – only 385 or so stones came from the planet Mars. It’s not that hard for scientists to work out that these meteorites come from Mars. Various landers and rovers have been exploring Mars’ surface for decades. Some of the early missions – the Viking landers – had the equipment to measure the composition of the planet’s atmosphere. Scientists have shown that you can see this unique Martian atmospheric composition reflected in some of these meteorites. Mars also has unique oxygen. Everything on Earth, including humans…

Last week, two big names in the artificial intelligence (AI) and wellness industries announced a collaboration to develop a “customised, hyper-personalised AI health coach that will be available as a mobile app” to “reverse the trend lines on chronic diseases”. Sam Altman (head of OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT) and Arianna Huffington (a former media executive who runs a high-tech wellness company called Thrive Global) announced their new company, Thrive AI Health, in a Time magazine advertorial. Health is an appealing direction for an AI industry that has promised to transform civilisation, but whose huge growth of the past couple of years is beginning to…

Neutron stars are some of the most extreme objects in the universe. Formed from the collapsed cores of supergiant stars, they weigh more than our Sun and yet are compressed into a sphere the size of a city. The dense cores of these exotic stars contain matter squashed into unique states that we can’t possibly replicate and study on Earth. That’s why NASA is on a mission to study neutron stars and learn about the physics that governs the matter inside them. My colleagues and I have been helping them out. We used radio signals from a fast-spinning neutron star…

In late April, farmers in Saskatchewan stumbled upon spacecraft fragments while preparing their fields for seeding. It sounds like the beginning of a science fiction movie, but this really happened, sending a powerful warning: it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt or killed by falling space junk. The Axiom Space private astronaut mission (Ax-3) concluded safely on Feb. 9 when its SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule splashed down off the coast of Florida. Several weeks later, the Crew Dragon’s cargo trunk re-entered the atmosphere over Canada after being abandoned in orbit prior to the capsule’s return. Several incidents The…

These days, banking apps have become integral to financial transactions. As a result banks are finding that ensuring the security of their apps is more critical than ever. Cybercriminals have evolved and so financial providers like banks need to evolve their tools as well. That said, as large corporates, banks have access to substantial resources and are uniquely positioned to invest in advanced technologies and implement robust cybersecurity strategies. But sometimes the bank’s protective measures against cybercrime aren’t enough. It can often be the responsibility of customers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and micro businesses (those with ten workers or fewer) that…

When fiction’s most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, needed to solve a crime, he turned to his sharp observational skills and deep understanding of human nature. He used this combination more than once when facing off against his arch-nemesis, Dr James Moriarty, a villain adept at exploiting human weaknesses for his gain. This classic battle mirrors today’s ongoing fight against cybercrime. Like Moriarty, cybercriminals use cunning strategies to exploit their victims’ psychological vulnerabilities. They send deceptive emails or messages that appear to be from trusted sources such as banks, employers, or friends. These messages often contain urgent requests or alarming information to…

Over the past decade, virtual assistants powered by artificial intelligence, like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, have become integral to technologies such as smartphones and social media. More recently, a new type of human-like chatbots are on the rise: AI romantic companions. Chatbots are AI-powered programs that engage with humans through text, voice and images. Currently, over 100 AI-powered applications — such as myanima.ai, Eva AI, Nomi.AI and Replika — offer romantic and sexual companions with extensive personalization options, including physical and personality features. Exhibiting remarkable realism, adaptability and interactive fluidity, these AI chatbots can progressively evolve through conversation, fine-tuning their responses to match users’ interests, needs and…