Sci-Tech news

• New AI Robots Gain Visual Foresight To See Their Future

  05-12-2017 18:27 via technocracy.news
  AI will never be able to see into the future, but it can make statistical predictions based on what it knows and intends to do. Robot development will not stop because Technocrats are compelled to invent whether they have a good reason to do so or not. ⁃ TN EditorUC Berkeley researchers have developed a robotic learning technology that enables robots to imagine the future of their actions so they can figure out how to manipulate objects they have never encountered before. In the futur
  
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• Yellowstone National Park retrieved 280 hats from hydrothermal vents this summer

  14-09-2026 22:00 via popsci.com
  
  Yellowstone National Park attracts more than 4.5 million visitors from around the world every year. Many sightseers arrive well prepared to admire the hotsprings, geysers, scenic lookouts, and wildlife, but there is only so much anyone can do about life’s little unexpected accidents. Each season, Yellowstone’s gusty winds are responsible for blowing away hundreds of hats, maps, and even sunglasses from the heads and hands of onlookers. And every season, park workers scour the grounds
  
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• Backcountry’s fall hoodie sale has hundreds of sweatshirts and jackets at clearance prices

  14-09-2026 21:42 via popsci.com
  
  I stepped outside this morning into the Upstate New York air and it had a distinctly fall feel. Those warm summer mornings are over and hoodie weather is finally here. Right now, Backcountry has a massive hoodie sale happening right now with hundreds of hoodies and jackets up to 40 percent off. But, not all deals are created equal. I read the size run off all 110 product pages worth checking, and 79 hoodies still have four or more sizes in stock at the sale price. Every pick below names the colo
  
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• Arborists use supersonic air to save 300-year-old tree that survived American Revolution

  14-09-2026 20:58 via popsci.com
  
  A centuries’ old “witness tree” that survived not only the Revolutionary War but a direct hit from lightning is facing yet another existential threat. Ironically, the famous oak in Eutaw Springs, South Carolina, is struggling to survive due to the strategies conservationists first used when attempting to preserve it decades ago.The nearly 300-year-old tree was already nearing its semicentennial on September 8, 1781, when around 2,000 British and 2,500 American troops met at the
  
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• What makes ‘The Pitt’ so horrifyingly realistic? We asked the show’s makeup and prosthetic pros.

  14-09-2026 19:58 via popsci.com
  
  Just two seasons into its run, The Pitt has fast become one of the most celebrated television shows of the 21st century, combining the hour-to-hour intensity of 24, the procedural probity of ER, and an IV drip of Scrubs to take the edge off the constant chaos and carnage in the emergency department at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center.The series has won Emmys for Outstanding Drama, Lead Actor, and Supporting Actor and Actress, but The Pitt may be best known for its hyper-realistic portrayals
  
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• Physicist proves famous ‘Star Trek’ combat strategy works

  14-09-2026 17:43 via popsci.com
  
  The most impressive science fiction stories emphasize “science” over spectacle. The Star Trek franchise has featured plenty of examples since the original series premiered 60 years ago this month, but one of its most famous sci-fi moments may prove even more fascinating than fans realized. At Brazil’s Federal University of ABC, physicist Níckolas de Aguiar Alves determined that an early episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation demonstrates an aspect to the theory of rel
  
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• Katmai bear cubs tumble over waterfall

  14-09-2026 16:59 via popsci.com
  
  A brown bear cub learns a lot in its first year of life—how to fish, how to steer clear of trouble. Two curious cubs recently learned a valuable (and wet) lesson about the strength of currents.
  At Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve, home to Fat Bear Week, Bear #224 took her cubs on a journey near Brooks Falls. Early in summer, Brooks Falls is a hot spot for salmon munching by the park’s resident brown bears. By September, most bears move to the lower Brooks River to eat
  
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• What happens when driverless cars break the law? 

  14-09-2026 15:48 via popsci.com
  
  Driverless cars, once a distant techno-optimist’s dream, are making their way into more cities, racking up miles and attracting a loyal fan base. They’re also increasingly racking up tickets and driving in ways that would land a human driver in hot water. During July Fourth celebrations this year, several Waymo autonomous robotaxis operating near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge reportedly hit technical trouble that led to at least one vehicle driving over an exploding f
  
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• Rats make an ultrasonic sound when they eat chocolate

  14-09-2026 14:50 via popsci.com
  
  There’s nothing better than sinking your teeth into a sweet, creamy chocolate bar. Rats think so, too—and they may announce their chocolate-infused joy to the world at ultrasonic frequencies. Researchers have previously linked ultrasonic rat vocalizations with different emotional and motivational states in the animals, such as in reaction to rewarding stimuli. For example, the rodents vocalize in this way when eating something sweet. Now, a team of researchers in Japan have
  
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• Dario Amodei: “For Too Long The Industry Lied” About AI Risks

  14-09-2026 03:49 via technocracy.news
  
  The fear model of “we’re all going to die” is worn out, especially if the plea is “only government can save us.” We’ve suffered through global warming, climate change, COVID pandemic and other things lined up like dominoes. This smacks of calls for global government.⁃ Patrick Wood, Editor.“I won’t lie to you – there are real dangers,” said Anthropic CEO and cofounder Dario Amodei about the development of artificial intelligence. &
  
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• 90-Million-Year-Old Fossil Reveals a Small Dinosaur Living Along Japan’s Coast

  14-09-2026 00:54 via scitechdaily.com
  A small iguanodontian fossil from Japan adds evidence that Late Cretaceous coastal ecosystems supported dinosaurs of widely different body sizes. Iguanodontians were widespread plant-eating dinosaurs that lived from the Late Jurassic through the Late Cretaceous. Their movement between Asia, North America, and Europe helped shape their diversification across Laurasia, making fossils from Japan especially useful [...]
  
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• Thawing Permafrost Is Releasing Carbon, but Something Unexpected Happens

  14-09-2026 00:19 via scitechdaily.com
  Much of the ancient carbon released from thawing Arctic permafrost appears to end up trapped in seabed sediments rather than quickly returning to the atmosphere. The Arctic’s frozen ground holds an enormous reservoir of organic carbon. As permafrost thaws and coastlines erode, some of that carbon is carried into the ocean, where microorganisms can break [...]
  
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• Scientists Resurrect 160-Million-Year-Old Molecules With Surprising Power Against Superbugs

  13-09-2026 23:44 via scitechdaily.com
  Ancient mammalian antimicrobial peptides revealed stronger bacteria-killing activity in some cases, offering clues for designing future treatments against resistant infections. Some proteins that vanished millions of years ago may still have something to teach scientists about fighting modern infections. University of Oregon biologists have reconstructed antimicrobial molecules dating back as far as 160 million years, [...]
  
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• The best refurbished gadgets to buy (and where to find them)

  13-09-2026 19:01 via popsci.com
  
  Whenever the time comes around to upgrade your phone, tablet, or laptop, you don’t necessarily have to go for the latest (and most expensive) model. You can take the refurbished route instead.Refurbished tech sits somewhere between brand new and used, although the exact definition depends on where you’re buying from. Typically, these devices will have been returned after a certain period of use, though the length of that period and the extent of the use can vary from gadget to gadget
  
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• Stardust Buried in Antarctic Ice Exposes an 80,000-Year-Old Cosmic Mystery

  13-09-2026 18:18 via scitechdaily.com
  Antarctic ice preserves traces of iron-60 from ancient stellar explosions, helping scientists track the Solar System’s movement through interstellar clouds and changing cosmic environments. When you think of outer space, you’re likely picturing stars, planets, and moons. But much of space is filled with clouds of gas, plasma, and stardust—known as interstellar clouds. In the [...]
  
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• What Anthropic’s C.E.O. Argued in His Call for Slower A.I. Development

  13-09-2026 17:58 via nytimes.com
  Dario Amodei’s 3,800-word letter laid out a three-step plan to rein in artificial intelligence.
  
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• What Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei Argued in His Call for AI Slowdown

  13-09-2026 17:58 via nytimes.com
  Dario Amodei’s 3,800-word letter laid out a three-step plan to rein in artificial intelligence.
  
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• Scientists Turn Common Plastic Waste Into Fuel Using Heated Salts

  13-09-2026 17:43 via scitechdaily.com
  Common plastic waste could become fuel using heated salts instead of extreme temperatures. Plastic bags, cutting boards, and many other everyday products are made from a plastic that is notoriously difficult to reuse once it becomes waste. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have now found a way to break down this plastic and turn [...]
  
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• A 400-Degree Mystery Is Hiding Deep Inside Mars

  13-09-2026 17:08 via scitechdaily.com
  Scientists have found a vast hidden heat imbalance inside Mars, with the southern interior hundreds of degrees hotter than the north and possibly partially molten. Scientists have discovered a major temperature imbalance deep inside Mars, with the planet’s southern interior appearing dramatically hotter than the north. Gravity measurements suggest that the interior beneath Mars’s southern [...]
  
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• 500 snails mailed to Tahiti to reclaim their natural habitat

  13-09-2026 16:25 via popsci.com
  
  Staff at St. Louis Zoo in St. Louis, Missouri recently opened up a very special delivery in the mail: an overnight shipment of 500 adult Partula snails. Their journey began at the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak, Michigan, and it’s not quite over yet. The small invertebrates’ final destination is Tahiti, where they will be released into the wild as part of an international effort to reestablish wild populations of Partula snails. “The snails are sent ‘priority overnigh
  
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• Why do dogs’ legs shake during pets? It’s not because they like it.

  13-09-2026 14:03 via popsci.com
  
  Imagine this: You’re at the doctor’s office, and instead of one quick tap with the reflex hammer—the kind that makes your leg kick out without you meaning to—they just…keep going. Tap, tap, tap, right on that same spot below your knee, for a solid two minutes straight. It wouldn’t hurt you. But after a while, you’d probably start feeling pretty strongly about wanting it to stop—and if they didn’t, you might start wanting to kick someone on p
  
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• Major Trial Tests a New Way To Decide Who Really Needs Statins

  13-09-2026 14:01 via scitechdaily.com
  A heart scan led to far fewer statin recommendations and much higher medication adherence, but a major trial could not prove the strategy was as protective as traditional risk scoring. Who should start taking a statin before a heart attack or stroke ever happens? Doctors typically estimate that risk using factors such as cholesterol, blood [...]
  
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• Common Osteoporosis Drugs Linked to Lower Alzheimer’s Risk in 120,000-Person Study

  13-09-2026 13:26 via scitechdaily.com
  Widely used osteoporosis drugs were associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in a study of more than 120,000 older adults. A medication already prescribed to protect aging bones may have an unexpected second benefit. In a large study of older adults with osteoporosis or fragility fractures, people who took nitrogen-containing [...]
  
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• Scientists Used Cancer Therapy To Reset Rheumatoid Arthritis

  13-09-2026 12:51 via scitechdaily.com
  After years of failed treatments, a single infusion of genetically reprogrammed immune cells sent severe rheumatoid arthritis into lasting, medication-free remission in several patients. Rheumatoid arthritis begins when the immune system turns against the tissue lining the joints. The resulting inflammation causes pain, stiffness, and swelling and can gradually erode cartilage and bone. Available medications [...]
  
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• A Century-Old Physics Effect Just Got a New Dimension

  13-09-2026 00:32 via scitechdaily.com
  Physicists have uncovered an in-plane Hall response that overturns a century-old assumption about how this famous electrical effect works. The discovery could eventually make multidirectional magnetic sensing possible with one tiny device. Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have identified an unexpected form of the Hall effect that challenges a long-standing assumption about how electronic materials [...]
  
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• One Asteroid Strike May Have Reshaped an Entire Martian Moon

  12-09-2026 23:57 via scitechdaily.com
  One asteroid impact may have carved Deimos, buried its surface in debris, and reshaped the entire Martian moon. An international team led by the University of Bern has found evidence that a single asteroid collision may have dramatically reshaped Deimos, the smaller of Mars’ two moons, and produced its unusually smooth, dusty surface. The researchers [...]
  
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• Scientists Detect a Mysterious Signal That Could Be Dark Matter

  12-09-2026 23:22 via scitechdaily.com
  A mysterious signal deep underground may offer LUX-ZEPLIN its most intriguing clue to dark matter yet. For nearly a century, scientists have been trying to identify dark matter, the mysterious material believed to account for about 85% of all matter in the universe. Despite its enormous influence on galaxies and cosmic structure, dark matter has [...]
  
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• 3 myths about the weather

  12-09-2026 21:04 via popsci.com
  
  Everyone complains about the weather, the old line goes, but nobody ever does anything about it. But it’s not exactly true, is it? People have always done something about the weather—mostly by trying to predict it, then arranging our lives around the forecast.It makes sense, then, that we’ve picked up a few ideas about outside conditions that don’t quite hold up. From cold weather making you sick to red skies in the morning, here are some common beliefs about the weather
  
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• A Hidden Form of Heart Failure Is Leaving Millions Breathless

  12-09-2026 19:07 via scitechdaily.com
  For millions of Americans, walking to the mailbox can feel like running out of air. Yet doctors still struggle to identify the form of heart failure responsible before it causes lasting damage. About 3 million people in the United States live with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or HFpEF. Unlike better-known forms of heart [...]
  
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• Children of Centenarians Have a 42% Lower Risk of Death, Study Finds

  12-09-2026 18:32 via scitechdaily.com
  Living to 100 may benefit more than one generation. Children of centenarians tend to live longer while delaying major threats to heart health. A study published in JAMA Network Open found that adults with at least one parent who lived to 100 had substantially lower risks of death, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension than people whose [...]
  
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