In May, OpenAI released research revealing operations linked to Russia, China, Iran, and Israel had been using its tools to create and spread disinformation.
Source: Political deepfakes are the most popular way to misuse AI | Ars Technica
Tag Archives: interesting research
How DARPA Trucked Its Massive Radio Frequency Testbed Across The United States
Colosseum may look like a data center, but in reality, it’s a massive radio-frequency emulation testbed that DARPA built for its Spectrum Collaboration Challenge (SC2). SC2 has been a three-year competition to demonstrate the validity of using artificial intelligences to work together in order to use wireless spectrum more efficiently than operating on pre-allocated bands would be.
Scientists invented air conditioners for the climate change age
Their invention looks a lot like a solar panel. A flat metal panel is covered in a sheet of the material—a high-tech film—the trio invented. The material reflects the light and heat of the sun so effectively that the temperature beneath the film can drop 5 to 10-degrees Celsius (9 to 18-degrees Fahrenheit) lower than the air around it. A system of pipes behind the metal panel are exposed to that colder temperature, cooling the fluid inside before it’s sent out to current-day refrigeration systems.
Source: Scientists invented air conditioners for the climate change age — Quartz
First ever plane with no moving parts takes flight
In the prototype plane, wires at the leading edge of the wing have 600 watts of electrical power pumped through them at 40,000 volts. This is enough to induce “electron cascades”, ultimately charging air molecules near the wire. Those charged molecules then flow along the electrical field towards a second wire at the back of the wing, bumping into neutral air molecules on the way, and imparting energy to them. Those neutral air molecules then stream out of the back of the plane, providing thrust.
Source: First ever plane with no moving parts takes flight | Science | The Guardian
New material could up efficiency of concentrated solar power
Above a certain temperature, it becomes possible to replace the steam with supercritical carbon dioxide. This works more efficiently, potentially providing a boost of more than 20 percent, but it requires temperatures in excess of 1,000K. That makes things a bit more challenging, given that many metals will melt at such temperatures; others will react with carbon dioxide under these conditions. Finding a material that could work involves balancing a lot of factors, including heat and chemical resistance, ea
Source: New material could up efficiency of concentrated solar power | Ars Technica
Watch This Net Capture Orbital Space Debris for the First Time in History
The RemoveDEBRIS satellite consists of a large, 220-pound main satellite that carries two smaller cubesats and a net. The mission involves deploying these cubesats as artificial space junk and them capturing them to demonstrate the effectiveness debris removal technology. The first cubesat was successfully captured on Sunday evening with a net after six years of testing the technology on Earth.
Source: Watch This Net Capture Orbital Space Debris for the First Time in History – Motherboard
Going up! Japan to test mini ‘space elevator’
The test involves a miniature elevator stand-in—a box just six centimetres (2.4 inches) long, three centimetres wide, and three centimetres high.
If all goes well, it will provide proof of concept by moving along a 10-metre cable suspended in space between two mini satellites that will keep it taut.
This Man Is Building an Armada of Saildrones to Conquer the Ocean
This plan rests on Richard Jenkins, an engineer, sailor, and adventurer who invented the saildrone more or less by accident. Jenkins doesn’t act like one of Silicon Valley’s world-conquering capitalist nerds. For starters, he tends to skip the usual platitudes about disruption to focus on sailing, beer, and sailing with beer. “What’s the definition of a sailor?” he asks while launching one of the drones off the Alameda dock. “A primitive organism for turning beer into urine.”
Source: This Man Is Building an Armada of Saildrones to Conquer the Ocean – Bloomberg
Guatemala’s Maya Society Featured Huge ‘Megalopolis,’ LiDAR Data Show
In what’s being hailed as a “major breakthrough” in Maya archaeology, researchers have identified the ruins of more than 60,000 houses, palaces, elevated highways, and other human-made features that have been hidden for centuries under the jungles of northern Guatemala.
Source: Guatemala’s Maya Society Featured Huge ‘Megalopolis,’ LiDAR Data Show
Future of carbon fibre is here
The technology, developed by Carbon Nexus PhD student Maxime Maghe and Carbon Nexus General Manager Steve Atkiss, has the potential to reduce the energy used in carbon fibre production by 75 per cent and reduces the production process time from around 80 minutes to under 15 minutes.
In addition, the specialised carbon fibre production machinery required is expected to cost around 50 per cent less than current equipment.