Science X Newsletter Tue, Dec 19

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for December 19, 2023:

Technology news

	Testing the biological reasoning capabilities of large language models Large language models (LLMs) are advanced deep learning algorithms that can process written or spoken prompts and generate texts in response to these prompts. These models have recently become increasingly popular and are now helping many users to create summaries of long documents, gain inspiration for brand names, find quick answers to simple queries, and generate various other types of texts.
	GPT-4 driven robot takes selfies, 'eats' popcorn A team of researchers at the University of Tokyo has built a bridge between large language models and robots that promises more humanlike gestures while dispensing with traditional hardware-dependent controls.
	Improving a robot's self-awareness by giving it proprioception A pair of roboticists at the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI), Technical University of Munich, in Germany, has found that it is possible to give robots some degree of proprioception using machine-learning techniques. In their study reported in the journal Science Robotics, Fernando Díaz Ledezma and Sami Haddadin developed a new machine-learning approach to allow a robot to learn the specifics of its body.
	Researchers develop selective transfer printing technology for microLEDs A research team KAIST from led by Professor Keon Jae Lee has demonstrated the transfer printing of a large number of micro-sized inorganic semiconductor chips via the selective modulation of micro-vacuum force. The research, titled "Universal selective transfer printing via micro-vacuum force," is published in the journal Nature Communications.
	Google to pay $700 mn to US consumers, states in antitrust settlement Google parent Alphabet has agreed to pay $700 million as part of an antitrust settlement made public on Monday, with the funds going to US customers of its Android app store and state governments.
	Nuclear power stations could be decommissioned with the help of autonomous robots Nuclear power stations could be decommissioned in the future with the help of teams of autonomous robots known as the SMuRFs, scientists have suggested.
	Apple plans rescue for $17 billion watch business in face of ban Apple Inc., just days away from a U.S. ban of its smartwatches, is plotting a rescue mission for the $17 billion business that includes software fixes and other potential workarounds.
	A blueprint for equitable, ethical AI research Artificial intelligence (AI) has huge potential to advance the field of health and medicine, but the nation must be prepared to responsibly harness the power of AI and maximize its benefits, according to an editorial by Victor J. Dzau and colleagues.
	Australia's freight used to go by train, not truck. Here's how it can bring back rail, and cut emissions Until the 1960s, railways dominated freight across every distance bar the shortest. Much freight went by sea, and some by truck.
	An AI-driven influence operation is spreading pro-China propaganda across YouTube, investigation finds A recent investigation from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has revealed an extensive network of YouTube channels promoting pro-Chinese and anti-US public opinion in the English-speaking world.
	OpenAI releases guidelines to gauge 'catastrophic risks' of AI ChatGPT-maker OpenAI published Monday its newest guidelines for gauging "catastrophic risks" from artificial intelligence in models currently being developed.
	Meta charging European users to remove ads is a privacy red herring This November, Meta rolled out a new subscription model for Facebook and Instagram users in the European Union, where they could pay a fee in exchange for an ad-free browsing experience on Facebook and Instagram. Referred to by critics as a "Pay or Okay" model, and charging 9.99 to 12.99 euros monthly, the option is already an object of controversy.
	New supercomputer mimicking the human brain could help unlock secrets of the mind and advance AI A supercomputer scheduled to go online in April 2024 will rival the estimated rate of operations in the human brain, according to researchers in Australia. The machine, called DeepSouth, is capable of performing 228 trillion operations per second.
	How AI can help journalists find diverse and original sources What would news stories be without proper sources? To tell a compelling story, reporters need to find newsworthy narratives and trustworthy information. Such information typically comes from a wide pool of publications, official records and experts, all with their own biases, expertise, opinions and backgrounds. The pool of interview candidates is plentiful yet overwhelming to navigate.
	Algorithm takes on photographic motion blur One of the many problems faced by a wide range of photographers in wildlife, sports, celebrity and theatrical photography, and even industrial testing and medical photography is the issue of motion blur. This occurs when the subject is moving and the camera's shutter speed is too slow to "freeze" the action. There are approaches that anyone processing photographs can take to reduce the distortion known as motion blur and there is some software that can reduce the effect considerably. However, there is always room for improvement.
	Decarbonizing UK industries could add less than 1% to prices, according to study Decarbonizing U.K. industrial processes to reach Net Zero goals could be achieved with price increases of just 0.8%, academics from the University of Bath's Institute for Sustainability have found.
	Study explores how people perceive and declare their authorship of artificially generated texts Large language models (LLMs) radically speed up text production in a variety of use cases. When they are fed with samples of our individual writing style, they are even able to produce texts that sound as though we ourselves wrote them. In other words, they act as AI ghostwriters creating texts on our behalf.
	Q&A: Alexa, am I happy? How AI emotion recognition falls short Is the fear of public speaking the same as being chased by a bear? Does raising an eyebrow convey amusement or confusion? In 1995, Rosalind Picard, a scientist and inventor, introduced the idea of computers developing the ability to recognize emotions in her book, "Affective Computing."
	Video: A picking robot for the greenhouse Working in a greenhouse is both strenuous and time-consuming. The picking robot from ETH spin-off Floating Robotics takes on particularly repetitive tasks, thereby alleviating the strain on human pickers. It is currently undergoing testing at Beerstecher AG in Hinwil.
	New, super-smart hardware could provide drastic cuts in power consumption Greener data processing requires systems that work smarter, faster, and are more energy efficient. Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have developed a tiny piece of super-smart hardware that enables all of the above.
	A proton exchange membrane fuel cell inspired by the structure of a lung In a valuable contribution to ongoing research projects on development of innovative bipolar plate designs for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, scientists from the University of Seville and the Paul Scherrer Institute have published two papers, one in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energies, and one in Electrochimica Acta.
	New process enhances sustainability of pig iron production Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the SMS group have developed a new process to reduce CO2 emission of worldwide steel production by several hundred million tons per year. It is based on modernizing blast furnace technology with moderate investments and has already been demonstrated successfully in a pilot plant. The researchers report their results in Energy Advances.
	Tesla's recall of 2 million vehicles to fix its Autopilot system uses technology that may not work Tesla's recall of more than 2 million of its electric vehicles—an effort to have drivers who use its Autopilot system pay closer attention to the road—relies on technology that research shows may not work as intended.
	Organic solar module sets world record with 14.46% efficiency Solar energy is one of the great hopes when it comes to the energy transition. Research in this future-oriented field is accordingly extensive. One of the biggest challenges is finding the perfect material. In terms of efficiency, silicon is currently hard to beat. However, it has serious disadvantages: it is too rigid and heavy and difficult to recycle.
	Study uses new tech to observe how big events can disrupt public transit over an entire city New technology has allowed scientists to see how a major sporting event can disrupt public transportation in an entire city for hours before and after the event.
	Chairman of Taiwan chip giant TSMC to retire next year The chairman of Taiwan's semiconductor giant TSMC, Mark Liu, will retire from the company next year, the firm announced Tuesday.
	A free, easy-to-use platform for understanding and managing electric grids The Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and its partners at Hitachi America Energy Solutions Laboratory have released a new open-source software platform for simulating how all the parts of an electric grid work together, along with a graphic interface that makes it much easier for users to understand and apply the results.
	Spain takes 10% of Telefonica following Saudi stake Spain said Tuesday it will acquire 10 percent of local telecoms giant Telefonica, just months after Saudi Telecom took a significant stake in the operator.

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