Author: The Conversation

The rapid technological advancements of our world have been enabled by our capacity to design and fabricate ever-smaller electronic chips. These underpin computers, mobile phones and every smart device deployed to date. One of the many challenges is that electronic components generate increasingly more heat as they are miniaturised. A significant issue lies in making the wires which connect the transistors on the chip thinner while ensuring that the minimum amount of heat is released. These interconnects are typically made from copper, and as we start to scale them down to nano-scale thicknesses, their electrical resistance increases rapidly because the…

Boxing, the “sweet science”, is a theatre of skill, power and drama that has captivated audiences for centuries. Yet, behind the allure of championship nights and historic rivalries lies a persistent shadow – controversial decisions that spark cries of “robbery”. Boxing has had its fair share of controversial decisions which continue to spark debate among fans and experts alike. While technology in sports like football and cricket has supplemented objective rules, boxing’s reliance on subjective judgement leaves it uniquely vulnerable to bias and error. Isn’t it time the sport caught up? The answer may lie in artificial intelligence (AI). Imagine a world where contentious…

Severance, which imagines a world where a person’s work and personal lives are surgically separated, has returned to Apple TV+ for a second season. While the concept of this gripping piece of science fiction is far-fetched, it touches on some interesting neuroscience. Can a person’s mind really be surgically split in two? Remarkably, “split-brain” patients have existed since the 1940s. To control epilepsy symptoms, these patients underwent a surgery to separate the left and right hemispheres. Similar surgeries still happen today. Later research on this type of surgery showed that the separated hemispheres of split-brain patients could process information independently. This raises the…

When some of the biggest stars reach the end of their lives, they explode in spectacular supernovas and leave behind incredibly dense cores called neutron stars. Some of these remnants emit powerful radio beams from their magnetic poles. As the star spins, these beams sweep past Earth and produce periodic pulses of radio waves, much like a cosmic lighthouse. This behaviour has earned them the name “pulsars”. Pulsars typically spin incredibly fast, often completing a full rotation in just seconds – or even less. Over the last three years, some mysterious objects have emerged that emit periodic radio pulses at…

Mark Zuckerberg’s recent decision to remove fact-checkers from Meta’s platforms – including Facebook, Instagram and Threads – has sparked heated debate. Critics argue it may undermine efforts to combat misinformation and maintain credibility on social media platforms. Yet, while much attention is directed at this move, a far more profound challenge looms. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) that processes and generates human-like language, as well as technology that aims to read the human brain, has the potential to reshape not only online discourse but also our fundamental understanding of truth and communication. Fact-checkers have long played an important role in curbing misinformation on various…

Just past 2 a.m. Eastern time on Jan. 16, 2025, a new rocket blasted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. By reaching orbit, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket launch has marked a milestone for a commercial space company that has big ambitions. As a space policy expert, I see New Glenn’s success as a big leap forward for Blue Origin and a good sign for an expanding, ambitious commercial space industry. https://youtu.be/JPqqKpWNTIk Blue Origin’s New Glenn lifted off for its first flight on Jan. 16. Step by step Although SpaceX may be the most well-known commercial space company, Blue Origin is older by…

Over the past two years, generative artificial intelligence (AI) has captivated public attention. This year signals the beginning of a new phase: the rise of AI agents. AI agents are autonomous systems that can make decisions and take actions on our behalf without direct human input. The vision is that these agents will redefine work and daily life by handling complex tasks for us. They could negotiate contracts, manage our finances, or book our travel. Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff has said he aims to deploy a billion AI agents within a year. Meanwhile Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg predicts AI agents will soon outnumber…

In 1981, American physicist and Nobel Laureate, Richard Feynman, gave a lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) near Boston, in which he outlined a revolutionary idea. Feynman suggested that the strange physics of quantum mechanics could be used to perform calculations. The field of quantum computing was born. In the 40-plus years since, it has become an intensive area of research in computer science. Despite years of frantic development, physicists have not yet built practical quantum computers that are well suited for everyday use and normal conditions (for example, many quantum computers operate at very low temperatures). Questions and uncertainties still remain about…

The progress of artificial intelligence (AI) has been relentless. With OpenAI’s latest model, o3, recently breaking records yet again, it raises urgent questions about safety, as well as the future of humanity. One place we can turn for help is to great thinkers from the past. They explored beyond the obvious in their worlds and often looked into the future, foreseeing a time when machines would have AI-like capabilities. The English 19th-century mathematician and writer Ada Lovelace is sometimes recognised as the first computer programmer for her work with the polymath Charles Babbage on his “analytical engine”. This was a general-purpose mechanical…

Last week the billionaire and owner of X, Elon Musk, claimed the pool of human-generated data that’s used to train artificial intelligence (AI) models such as ChatGPT has run out. Musk didn’t cite evidence to support this. But other leading tech industry figures have made similar claims in recent months. And earlier research indicated human-generated data would run out within two to eight years. This is largely because humans can’t create new data such as text, video and images fast enough to keep up with the speedy and enormous demands of AI models. When genuine data does run out, it will present a major problem for…