Earth might have a dizzying array of life forms, but our biology ultimately remains a solitary data point – we simply don’t have a reference for life based on DNA different from our own. Now, scientists have taken matters into their hands to push the boundaries on what life could be like.   Research funded

A group of computer scientists once backed by Elon Musk has caused some alarm by developing an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) they say is too dangerous to release to the public.   OpenAI, a research non-profit based in San Francisco, says its “chameleon-like” language prediction system, called GPT–2, will only ever see a limited release

At first glance, the two rows of portraits at the top of this article just look like a bunch of average-looking people. The catch is, none of them exist. All of these faces are fakes, put together by artificial intelligence.   To be more precise, these faces are created by a generative adversarial network (GAN)

China’s Academy of Space Technology is working on an orbital power plant that would capture solar energy in space and beam it back to Earth.  The plant would be able to harness solar power even when it’s cloudy back on Earth, since its photovoltaic array would be floating high above any terrestrial weather.   With plans

Sleep is pretty great. In humans, evidence suggests it has a whole range of benefits, including this one: it keeps the brain healthy by letting neurons prune unnecessary synaptic connections we make during the day.   This process, called synaptic homeostasis, prevents the brain from being overrun by useless memories. It’s possible that it helps to

In a sensational test of technological independence, Russia is making plans to cut off its internet from the rest of the world, with a giant ‘unplugging’ experiment that will affect over 100 million Russian internet users.   The action – which the nation has boasted of doing for years – would be a temporary test,

Alarming video captured by a Twitter user in Philadelphia highlights a rare but little-known danger of electroshock Taser-style weapons. In the footage, posted on Saturday, a man is seen struggling with security guards on the street, before being fired upon with a Taser-style device. Almost instantly, the man is alight, screaming in agony as his

3D printers work by laboriously printing objects layer by layer. For larger objects, that process can take hours or even days. But now scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have found a shortcut: a printer that can fabricate objects in one shot using light – and which could, potentially, revolutionize rapid manufacturing technology.  

Artificial intelligence can play chess, drive a car and diagnose medical issues. Examples include Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo, Tesla’s self-driving vehicles, and IBM’s Watson. This type of artificial intelligence is referred to as Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) – non-human systems that can perform a specific task. We encounter this type on a daily basis, and its

In the first experiment of its kind, scientists have been able to translate brain signals directly into intelligible speech. It may sound like wild science fiction at first, but this feat could actually help some people with speech issues.   And yes, we could also get some futuristic computer interfaces out of this. Key to

Apple disabled its Group FaceTime feature in iPhones after multiple reports that users could initiate a FaceTime call and begin listening in on a recipient’s audio without them picking up the call or knowing they were being monitored.   The bug occurred after a user initiated a FaceTime video call with another iPhone or device

We can probably all agree that charging cables are just the worst, and that we’d love to have fewer of them in our lives. Now, a new invention might give us just that: engineers have developed a flexible device that harvests energy from Wi-Fi signals.   And not just harvest. It can then convert it

He Jiankui, the Chinese researcher who drew wide criticism when it emerged that he gene-edited several human babies, told an influential adviser about the work many months before it became public.   Though Nobel Prize winner and University of Massachusetts professor Craig Mello admonished He that the work was unethical, according to emails obtained by

Arthur Ashkin, the world’s oldest Nobel Prize winner, favours comfort over style. When I met him in his New Jersey home, he was sporting a fleece-lined zip-up, corduroy pants, and fuzz-lined Crocs.   The outfit makes sense for someone who spends a lot of time tinkering with new inventions in the basement. Ashkin, who’s 96

The notion that fake news exists in its own universe turns out to be doubly true: One universe is the realm outside truth. The other is its own seedy pocket of social media. In a new study published Thursday in the journal Science, political scientists surveyed the inhabitants of this Internet pocket around the time

The fact we’re living in a world where surveillance is becoming more common is unlikely to be a surprise to you. But even when you’re out of sight, you might not be safely hidden: researchers have developed a computer program that lets cameras see around corners.   The technique is called computational periscopy, and it

New technology being developed by the MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory uses laser light to excite moisture in the air surrounding a target’s ear, causing it to quietly whisper a personal message from several metres away.   “Our system can be used from some distance away to beam information directly to someone’s ear,” says MIT team leader

For the first time, scientists have successfully demonstrated a ‘gene drive’ in mammals, using genome editing techniques to affect the way genetic traits are inherited in a population of mice.   Gene drives have been developed before in previous animal experiments, but so far their use has only been demonstrated on insects. By showing the

We’ve all thought about it. Maybe it’s time to flick Facebook. Terminate Twitter. Silence social for good, and just be a person again. Sadly, if this dream of going off the grid is about reclaiming your lost privacy, that might not actually be possible, according to new research.   A new study by researchers at

Technology companies have been pummelled by revelations about how poorly they protect their customers’ personal information, including an in-depth New York Times report detailing the ability of smartphone apps to track users’ locations.   Some companies, most notably Apple, have begun promoting the fact that they sell products and services that safeguard consumer privacy. Smartphone

Looks like it’s time to change your passwords, again: security experts have flagged up a monster data breach made up of some 773 million email addresses and 21 million passwords.   They’re calling it Collection #1, and more collections are reportedly on the way. First made public by security consultant Troy Hunt, the data dump

Not everything is knowable. In a world where it seems like artificial intelligence and machine learning can figure out just about anything, that might seem like heresy – but it’s true.   At least, that’s the case according to a new international study by a team of mathematicians and AI researchers, who discovered that despite

Deeps in mines, at the bottom of lakes, and even in your own gut, bacteria are hard at work producing electricity in order to survive in environments low in oxygen. These potent little power producers have been used in speculative experiments and one day may power everything from batteries to “biohomes“.   There are many

Worms may not have spines, but they’re doing some back-breaking sewer work in more than 4,000 toilets across India. Since 2015, a creative new type of toilet called the Tiger Toilet has been popping up outside homes and schools around the country.   From the outside, this toilet looks like any other pit latrine. But

Science fiction introduces us to elaborate, futuristic worlds that often sound like nothing more than a dream. But humanity has made incredible technological advancements over the past 100 years, and many of the ideas predicted in science fiction have now become reality.   Some predictions, like self-driving cars, are still in the early stages, but

An apparent hit-and-run in Las Vegas caught on video seems to show what could be a first-of-its-kind traffic fatality: an autonomous robot struck and allegedly ‘killed’ by a self-driving Tesla.   As brutal as it sounds, it’s also suspected to be part of an elaborate PR stunt set up to promote the now-‘deceased’ robot in

For many years, quantum computers have only been within the confines of the research lab. On Tuesday, though, IBM unveiled the IBM Q System One, billed as the first-ever quantum computer designed for businesses to put to their own use – though the company is clear that this is only the first step towards a

Forget the trial and error – mathematics has proved where the best spot to place your router is. Physicist Jason Cole has figured out a formula that can work out the best place to position your wireless router, and it ultimately depends on your house’s floor plan.   Cole started investigating the science behind router placement

Think your New Year’s resolution to hit the gym is daunting? Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates wants to change an entire nation’s energy policy in 2019. Last week, the billionaire philanthropist released a letter detailing what he learned in 2018 and what he hopes to accomplish in 2019. One of his goals for the next year

A Chinese navy warship armed with what looks like a mounted electromagnetic railgun has apparently set sail, possibly for testing in the open ocean. The Type 072II Yuting-class tank landing ship Haiyangshan and its weapon were spotted along the Yangtze River at the Wuchang Shipyard in Wuhan earlier this year.   The latest photos of

Neuroscientists have successfully hooked up a three-way brain connection to allow three people share their thoughts – and in this case, play a Tetris-style game. The team thinks this wild experiment could be scaled up to connect whole networks of people, and yes, it’s as weird as it sounds.   It works through a combination

Researchers in 2018 achieved a new kind of chimeric first, producing sheep-human hybrid embryos that could one day represent the future of organ donation – by using body parts grown inside unnatural, engineered animals.   With that end goal in mind, scientists created the first interspecies sheep-human chimera in February, introducing human stem cells into

Data breaches, widespread malware attacks and microtargeted personalized advertising were lowlights of digital life in 2018. As technologies change, so does the advice security experts give for how to best stay safe. As 2019 begins, I’ve pulled together a short list of suggestions for keeping your digital life secure and free of manipulative disinformation.  

Mining corporation Rio Tinto says that an autonomous rail system called AutoHaul that it’s been developing in the remote Pilbara region of Australia for several years is now entirely operational — an accomplishment the company says makes the system the “world’s largest robot.”   “It’s been a challenging journey to automate a rail network of this size and scale

A Danish startup called Organic Basics claims its underwear will remain fresh through weeks of wear, eliminating the need for frequent washing. And this could be a boon for the environment – if it’s actually true.   When your sweat meets your clothing, it creates an ideal environment for bacteria. It’s this bacteria that actually

Electric car maker Tesla will expand its network of Superchargers to provide service for all of Europe by the end of 2019, CEO Elon Musk tweeted Wednesday. If the plans come to fruition, the vast expansion will represent not just a coup for Tesla but also for the growing global infrastructure that supports practical transportation

Facebook is getting into the crypto business. That’s according to new reporting by Bloomberg. Sources familiar with the project told the business magazine that the social media giant is working to develop a money transfer system for its WhatsApp chat app that uses a stablecoin – a form of blockchain-based cryptocurrency that is pegged to

Get water in your lungs, and you’re in for a very bad time. But when water enters a new type of “lung” created by researchers at Stanford University, the result is hydrogen fuel – a clean source of energy that could one day power everything from our cars to our smartphones.   Though this isn’t

Your home is likely a hotbed of toxins, with everything from formaldehyde to chloroform finding its way into the air you breathe daily. It’s common knowledge that houseplants can remove some of those toxins from the air, but not in dramatic amounts. Experts estimate you’d likely need two large houseplants per every 100 square feet

Quantum internet promises ultra-secure, next-generation communications, but is it actually feasible on a global scale? Absolutely, according to a new experiment carried out between satellites in orbit and a station on the ground.   The team of scientists was able to exchange several carefully managed photons in pulses of infrared light, carried between Russian GLONASS

It’s not been a great year for Facebook, with security breaches and privacy scandals aplenty, but it turns out many of us still put a high price on the cost of quitting the social network – a price of around $1,000 in fact.   In a study in which over a thousand participants were asked

A new nanotech breakthrough comes courtesy of a material you’d likely find in any nursery. A team from MIT has figured out a way to quickly and inexpensively shrink objects to the nanoscale. It calls the process implosion fabrication, and it all starts with polyacrylate — the super-absorbent polymer typically found in baby diapers.   Size

A 13-year-old scientist from California has won US$25,000 for inventing a solar-panel system that can determine where the Sun is at any given time. Georgia Hutchinson, from Woodside, California, took the top prize at the Broadcom Masters nationwide STEM competition for middle-school students.   She placed first in a pool of 30 finalists, who received

Acoustic levitation – using the pressure generated by sound waves to levitate a single tiny particle – has been around a long time. Manipulating the particle and moving it through space is only a relatively recent development.   But now a pair of researchers from Spain and the UK have achieved a huge breakthrough: an

A delivery robot burst into flames at the University of California, Berkeley, and students were said to be so devastated, they held a candlelit vigil to mark its demise. The incident took place on Friday, when a Kiwi delivery robot caught fire after its battery malfunctioned, the company said in a Medium blog on Sunday.

Anybody can win the presidency of the United States. But you really know you’ve broken through when you make it onto the list of the worst passwords people use on the internet.   So Donald Trump can feel justifiably smug that ‘donald’ just made its official debut on a list of the 100 most commonly

An initiative called Breakthrough Starshot wants to explore another star system using ultra-powerful laser beams and wafer-thin spaceships. It’s a goal that sounds so fantastic, you’d be forgiven for dismissing it as science fiction. But it’s no joke, and the project’s chief engineer says millions of dollars’ worth of work is moving along without any

When your computer stores data, it has to pause while the information moves from one piece of hardware to another. But that may soon stop being the case, as scientists from MIT and the Singapore University of Technology and Design uncovered a new manufacturing trick that should let them build computers that don’t have those