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Venezuela, China, Biden and extraterrestrials: the disinformation of AI

A blond television presenter seemingly working for a channel called the "House of News" looks into the camera and asks in English: "How true is it that Venezuela is such a poor country?"

Other

Gods in the machine? The rise of artificial intelligence may result in new religions

We are about to witness the birth of a new kind of religion. In the next few years, or perhaps even months, we will see the emergence of sects devoted to the worship of artificial intelligence (AI).

Engineering

Spy balloons: Modern technology has given these old-fashioned eyes in the sky a new lease of life

The US military has now shot down four high-altitude objects that had entered American and Canadian airspace, raising questions about their purpose and origin.

Engineering

China's spy balloon: Inflatable eyes in the sky have been used in war for centuries

One of the more surreal sights of the recent Afghan war was tethered balloons (also known as "aerostats") looming over the bases of international forces. These "persistent threat detection systems" carried a suite of 360-degree ...

Robotics

San Francisco will allow police to deploy robots that kill

Supervisors in San Francisco voted Tuesday to give city police the ability to use potentially lethal, remote-controlled robots in emergency situations—following an emotionally charged debate that reflected divisions on ...

Engineering

Are we there yet? Time slows down on crowded train

Testing time perception in an unusually lifelike setting—a virtual reality ride on a New York City subway train—an interdisciplinary Cornell research team found that crowding makes time seem to pass more slowly.

Other

Bill Gates: Technological innovation would help solve hunger

Bill Gates says the global hunger crisis is so immense that food aid cannot fully address the problem. What's also needed, Gates argues, are the kinds of innovations in farming technology that he has long funded to try to ...

Other

How brain-monitoring tech advances could change the law

A world-first report from Dr. Allan McCay scrutinizes advances in neurotechnology and what it might mean for the law and the legal profession. The paper calls for urgent consideration of how the new technology is to be regulated.

Other

'True balance': Japan's quiet telework revolution

Posted far from home for his job at Japanese conglomerate Hitachi, father of two Tsutomu Kojima was "really lonely" until he began working remotely during the pandemic for the first time.

Robotics

Human-like robots may be perceived as having mental states

When robots appear to engage with people and display human-like emotions, people may perceive them as capable of "thinking," or acting on their own beliefs and desires rather than their programs, according to research published ...

Other

Teaching algorithms about skin tones

When Ellis Monk's wife became pregnant in 2019, the couple became curious about what skin tone their child might have. The subject was of more than passing interest to the sociology professor, some of whose work involves ...