Neural Networks Need a Cookbook. Here Are the Ingredients
When we design a skyscraper we expect it will perform to specification: that the tower will support so much weight and be able to withstand an earthquake of a certain strength. But with one of the most important technologies of the modern world, we’re effectively building blind. We play with different designs, tinker with different…
This Robot Debates and Cracks Jokes, but It's Still a Toaster
The Monolithic black rectangle on stage with luminous, bouncing blue dots at eye level was not Project Debater, IBM’s argumentative artificial intelligence. It was just something for an audience to look at while a voice—is it redundant to call an AI’s synthesized voice “disembodied”?—projected over the sound system of the Yerba Buena Center for the…
How to Watch Friday’s Super-Long Lunar Eclipse
Click:Hair loss solution Click:R&M Vape On Friday, Earth will engulf the moon in its shadow and create the longest total lunar eclipse in this century: a full 103 minutes. The next one that comes close won’t happen until 2029. And this eclipse’s running time won’t be matched until 2123. In a nice little cosmic reminder…
How Hurricane Michael Got Super Big, Super Fast
Michael introduced itself to North America with 155-mile-per-hour gusts of wind and a barometric pressure of 919 millibars, the third-strongest hurricane to ever make continental US landfall. It was a monster, and it stayed a monster as it rolled through Georgia and then on toward the Carolinas. And monsters are made, not born. “The most…
How to Figure Out a Drone's Angular Field of View
You know what happens when I get a new toy? Physics happens. I can't stop myself, it's just the way I am. In this case, the toy is a DJI Spark drone (it was a birthday present). I've always wanted a drone that could do some cool stuff. The one I had before was basically…
The Government's Role in the Rise of Lab-Grown Meat
Last month, the US Department of Agriculture and FDA convened to debate meat: what it is and isn't, and if plant-based or lab-grown products like those made by Impossible Burger and Memphis Meats should be called meat. Lab-grown meat is still months from market, but vegetarian meats already have the poultry and cattle industries in…
The Creepy-Cute Robot that Picks Peppers With its Face
Rejoice! The machines won’t be taking over the world anytime soon, because doing the most basic of tasks still confounds them. I mean, have you thought lately about how hard it is to pick a ripe bell pepper? Fine, me neither. But researchers in Israel and Europe certainly have. They're developing a robot called Sweeper…
These Wind Patterns Explain Why California's Wildfires Are So Bad
In California three major fires—the Camp Fire in the north and Hill Fire and Woolsey Fire in the south—have raged on a scale the state has never seen before. The Camp Fire in particular was the most destructive and deadly wildfire in California history by far: It has virtually obliterated the 27,000-person town of Paradise,…
Big Data and the End of Painful, Invasive Medical Procedures
You heard it here first, folks; Stephen Quake is coming for the colonoscopy. The scientist has made a career of replacing invasive, painful, and dangerous procedures with simple, cheap tests that can be performed almost anywhere. Just this year, a blood panel he developed to detect genetic birth defects has been taken by more than…
Watch Boston Dynamics' Humanoid Robot Do Parkour
Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot can do a lot of things I can’t, including backflips and running through snow without falling on its face. Now add parkour to that list of feats. Yes, that parkour. In a new video, you can see Atlas bounding up a multi-layered platform, shifting its weight from its right foot…