Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Artificial Intelligence
Why a data scientist warns against always trusting AI’s scientific discoveries
Artificial intelligence that helps make scientific discoveries needs to get better at admitting its uncertainty, Genevera Allen says.
- Chemistry
Why some Georgia O’Keeffe paintings have ‘art acne’
Tiny protrusions are from chemical reactions in the paint, say scientists who developed an imaging method that could help curators track the knobs.
- Materials Science
A new insulation material is practically weightless yet still durable
Extreme heat and temperature swings are no match for this lightweight insulator.
- Tech
A new 2-D material uses light to quickly and safely purify water
A newly designed material uses only light to speedily remove 99.9999 percent of microbes from water.
- Tech
Robots are becoming classroom tutors. But will they make the grade?
Educational robots show promise for helping kids in the classroom or at home, but researchers are still figuring out how these bots should behave.
- Artificial Intelligence
Readers marvel at AI, space missions and wombat poop
Readers had comments and questions about defining artificial intelligence, the New Horizons space mission and more.
- Health & Medicine
Pills equipped with tiny needles can inject a body from the inside
High-tech pills equipped with medicinal needles could administer painless shots inside the body.
- Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is learning not to be so literal
Artificial intelligence is learning how to take things not so literally.
- Humans
Here’s what makes satire so funny, according to science
Analysis of headlines from the satirical newspaper The Onion could help you — or a computer — write humorous news headlines.
- Physics
Lasers could send messages right to a listener’s ear
Communication in noisy environments or dangerous situations could one day rely on lasers.
- Artificial Intelligence
A new AI training program helps robots own their ignorance
AI systems struggle to know what they don’t know. Now scientists have created a way to help autonomous machines recognize their blind spots.
- Artificial Intelligence
This robot learned not to mess with other people’s stuff
Ownership-respecting robots could soon understand the difference between chucking a Styrofoam cup and someone’s favorite mug.
