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Smartphone flaw allows hackers and governments to map your home

A newly identified smartphone vulnerability can reveal the floor plans of where you are and what you are doing - and it is possible that companies or intelligence agencies are already making use of it




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Can AI make crime scene investigations less biased?

AI tools could help eliminate human bias in forensic investigations, say UCL scientists, who are using eye-tracking technology to study decision-making in skeletal analysis and crime scene examinations




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DNA computer can play chess and solve sudoku puzzles

Computers made from DNA have previously only been able to store information or perform computations on it – now a new device can do both




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A simple driving trick could make a big dent in cars' carbon emissions

An AI-powered model found that approaching intersections more slowly could lower yearly US carbon emissions by up to around 123 million tonnes




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What can governments do about online disinformation from abroad?

A cyberterrorism charge in Pakistan connected to riots in the UK illustrates how authorities are reaching across borders to tackle disinformation, but bringing overseas suspects to justice won't always be possible




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Generative AI creates playable version of Doom game with no code

A neural network can recreate the classic computer game Doom despite using none of its code or graphics, hinting that generative AI could be used to create games from scratch in future




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How to avoid being fooled by AI-generated misinformation

Advances in generative AI mean fake images, videos, audio and bots are now everywhere. But studies have revealed the best ways to tell if something is real




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Google breakthrough paves way for large-scale quantum computers

Google has built a quantum computer that makes fewer errors as it is scaled up, and this may pave the way for machines that could solve useful real-world problems for the first time




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Nexus review: Yuval Noah Harari is out of his depth in his new book

The author of Sapiens has turned his attention to the information networks that shape our societies, but when you stop and think about what he's saying, it's obvious




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Smart speakers at crime scenes could provide valuable clues to police

Information on faces recognised, voice commands and internet searches can be extracted from an Amazon Echo smart assistant without help from the user or manufacturer




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I took control of NASA's Valkyrie robot and it blew my mind

Are humanoid robots the future of space exploration? New Scientist reporter James Woodford took NASA's Valkyrie for a spin to find out




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Meet Valkyrie, NASA’s humanoid robot paving way to the moon and Mars

NASA’s Valkyrie is undergoing tests to understand what it would take to get a humanoid robot onto offshore facilities or into space. New Scientist's James Woodford took the controls to see what it is capable of




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A riveting exploration of how AI models like ChatGPT changed the world

Supremacy, a new book from tech journalist Parmy Olson, takes us inside the rise of machine learning and AI, and examines the people behind it




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Electric vehicles race combustion cars in 'battle of technologies'

‘Battle of Technologies’ sees electric vehicles and combustion cars compete at the highest level. Who will win?




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How Star Trek-style replicators could lead to a food revolution

Our Future Chronicles column explores an imagined history of inventions and developments yet to come. This time, Rowan Hooper takes us to the early 2030s, when a technological step change enabled us to produce all the food we needed without the use of animals




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Quantum computers teleport and store energy harvested from empty space

A quantum computing protocol makes it possible to extract energy from seemingly empty space, teleport it to a new location, then store it for later use




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Terminator is back, in a striking but flawed anime version

We're trying to avert Judgment Day yet again – this time in an anime series for Netflix. But striking visuals can't make up for shortcomings in narrative and character development




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Smart TVs take snapshots of what you watch multiple times per second

Smart TVs from Samsung and LG monitor what you are watching even when you are using the screens to display a feed from a connected laptop or video game console




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AI tweaks to photos and videos can alter our memories

It has become trivially easy to use artificial intelligence to edit images or generate video to remove unwanted objects or beautify scenes, but doing so leads to people misremembering what they have seen




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What voice assistants like Alexa know about you – and how they use it

Voice assistants can build profiles of their users’ habits and preferences, but the consistency and accuracy of these profiles vary




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Drone versus drone combat is bringing a new kind of warfare to Ukraine

Machines are fighting machines on the Ukrainian battlefield, as a technological arms race has given birth to a new way to wage war




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Which AI chatbot is best at avoiding disinformation?

AI chatbots from Google and Microsoft sometimes parrot disinformation when answering questions about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – but their performance depends on language and changes over time




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Hackers can turn your smartphone into an eavesdropping device

Motion sensors in smartphones can be turned into makeshift microphones to eavesdrop on conversations, outsmarting security features designed to stop such attacks




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Nobel prize for physics goes to pair who invented key AI techniques

The 2024 Nobel prize in physics has gone to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for discoveries that enabled machine learning and are key to the development of artificial intelligence models like ChatGPT




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AIs can work together in much larger groups than humans ever could

It is thought that humans can only maintain relationships with around 150 people, a figure known as Dunbar's number, but it seems that AI models can outstrip this and reach consensus in far bigger groups




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Fast forward to the fluffy revolution, when robot pets win our hearts

Our Future Chronicles column explores an imagined history of inventions and developments yet to come. We visit 2032 and meet artificial animals that love their owners, without the carbon footprint of biological pets. Rowan Hooper explains how it happened




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How 'quantum software developer' became a job that actually exists

While quantum computers are still in their infancy, more and more people are training to become quantum software developers




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Writing backwards can trick an AI into providing a bomb recipe

AI models have safeguards in place to prevent them creating dangerous or illegal output, but a range of jailbreaks have been found to evade them. Now researchers show that writing backwards can trick AI models into revealing bomb-making instructions.




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I've been boosting my ego with a sycophant AI and it can't be healthy

Google’s NotebookLM tool is billed as an AI-powered research assistant and can even turn your text history into a jovial fake podcast. But it could also tempt you into narcissism and nostalgia, says Jacob Aron




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Meta AI tackles maths problems that stumped humans for over a century

A type of mathematical problem that was previously impossible to solve can now be successfully analysed with artificial intelligence




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Musical AI harmonises with your voice in a transcendent new exhibition

What happens if AI is trained to write choral music by feeding it a specially created vocal dataset? Moving new exhibition The Call tackles some thorny questions about AI and creativity – and stirs the soul with music




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Battery-like device made from water and clay could be used on Mars

A new supercapacitor design that uses only water, clay and graphene could source material on Mars and be more sustainable and accessible than traditional batteries




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AI helps driverless cars predict how unseen pedestrians may move

A specialised algorithm could help autonomous vehicles track hidden objects, such as a pedestrian, a bicycle or another vehicle concealed behind a parked car




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Simple fix could make US census more accurate but just as private

The US Census Bureau processes data before publishing it in order to keep personal information private – but a new approach could maintain the same privacy while improving accuracy




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Mountaineering astronauts and bad spelling? It's advertising's future

Feedback digs into a baffling ad for a mobile game and identifies a new and devilish way to advertise a product online: make it as confusing as possible to encourage people to click (it worked on Feedback)




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Spies can eavesdrop on phone calls by sensing vibrations with radar

An off-the-shelf millimetre wave sensor can pick out the tiny vibrations made by a smartphone's speaker, enabling an AI model to transcribe the conversation, even at a distance in a noisy room




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AI helps robot dogs navigate the real world

Four-legged robot dogs learned to perform new tricks by practising in a virtual platform that mimics real-world obstacles – a possible shortcut for training robots faster and more accurately




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The sci-fi films and TV that explore AI in eerily prescient ways

Hollywood has been imagining the impact AI might have on our lives for decades, but how accurate are these portrayals?




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The real reason VAR infuriates football fans and how to fix it

The controversies surrounding football’s video assistant referee (VAR) system highlight our troubled relationship with uncertainty – and point to potential solutions




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Audio AIs are trained on data full of bias and offensive language

Seven major datasets used to train audio-generating AI models are three times more likely to use the words "man" or "men" than "woman" or "women", raising fears of bias




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Google Street View helps map how 600,000 trees grow down to the limb

AI and Google Street View have created 'digital twins' of living trees in North American cities – part of a huge simulation that could help make urban tree planting and trimming decisions




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Commissions driving unit sales

We seem to be in the final stage of the apartment bubble, with developers offering huge inventives to Chinese agents.




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Vulture Festival to Feature Cristin Milioti and a Brief Escape From This

Treat yourself to a Becky Lynch book signing, games with the Dropout stars, Kevin Smith’s Dogma, and so much more!





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Warn Your Children: Deadpool & Wolverine Is Now on Disney+

Just in time to watch with the whole family over Thanksgiving.





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We Have Urgent Questions About the Unholy Provenance of Netflix’s Hot Frosty

Who built this ripped, anatomically graphic snowman? Is there a world of snowmen offscreen waiting to be turned into sex objects for widows?




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Amazon Prime Video Lets Freevee Go

Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to watch Jury Duty for freevee.




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The Real Housewives of New York City Recap: Pregnant Pauses

Can we trust whatever is going on with Becky Minkoff?




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Ronnie O'Sullivan leads stellar line-up for new snooker events in major shake-up



Ronnie O'Sullivan has agreed to compete in new snooker events.