SARASOTA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 18, 2023--

A mysterious golden object has been found at the bottom of the ocean by scientists exploring the Pacific Ocean and it has left them baffled. The discovery was made on 30 August when a team of experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were taking a closer look at an underwater volcano 250 miles off the coast of Alaska. Experts, and members of the public viewing the live stream, caught a glimpse of the unusual gold orb two miles beneath the surface lodged into the side of the volcano and were left puzzled over what it could be. It was found thanks to the NOAA’s Seascape Alaska 5 expedition that is currently mapping the seafloor of the Gulf of Alaska. Those who made the discovery at the foot of the volcano also noted there was a mysterious hole in the side of the orb, with one researcher suggesting on the live stream that “Something tried to get in...or to get out”. Scientists bantered back and forth about what the egg-like object could be and ultimately decided to take a sample that could be analysed. The texture of the orb was not as they had expected and was more of a silky, delicate consistency. An arm from the robotic vehicle was used to suction the orb in order for scientists to determine its origins with laboratory testing. The NOAA Seascape Alaska 5 expedition is due to end in mid-September and aims to fill the gaps that experts have about the sea beds off the USA’s west coast. It began on 24 August in Kodiak, Alaska and will come to an end in Seward, Alaska on 16 September. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

AI-generated faces of white people now seem more real than actual ones, according to a new study which raises concerns that the technology may be used to fool people. More people thought AI-generated white faces were human than the faces of real people, while the same wasn’t true for the images of people of colour, according to research published recently in the journal Psychological Science. “If white AI faces are consistently perceived as more realistic, this technology could have serious implications for people of colour by ultimately reinforcing racial biases online,” study co-author Amy Dawel from the Australian National University, said. One of the reasons for this discrepancy, according to researchers, is that AI algorithms are being trained disproportionately on white faces. “This problem is already apparent in current AI technologies that are being used to create professional-looking headshots. When used for people of colour, the AI is altering their skin and eye colour to those of white people,” Dr Dawel explained. The study also found that the people who identified AI faces as real were most often confident that their judgements were correct, indicating people may not know they are tricked using such images. This kind of AI “hyper-realism” when misused may lead to people not realising they’re being fooled, scientists warn. While there are still physical differences between AI and human faces, researchers say people tend to misinterpret them. For instance, the study found that white AI faces tend to be more in proportion which people mistake as a sign of humanness. However, we can’t rely on these kinds of physical cues for long, researchers say. With AI technology advancing rapidly, they say the differences between AI and human faces could “disappear soon”. When that happens, scientists warn that it could have serious implications for the proliferation of misinformation and identity theft, urging for action to be taken seriously. “AI technology can’t become sectioned off so only tech companies know what’s going on behind the scenes. There needs to be greater transparency around AI so researchers and civil society can identify issues before they become a major problem,” Dr Dawel said. “Educating people about the perceived realism of AI faces could help make the public appropriately sceptical about the images they’re seeing online,” she added. Read More Trump’s Truth Social warns company may be forced to shut down amid huge losses Solar panel world record smashed with ‘miracle material’ AI among biggest threats to next UK election, cyber security agency warns Trump’s Truth Social warns company may be forced to shut down amid huge losses Solar panel world record smashed with ‘miracle material’ AI among biggest threats to next UK election, cyber security agency warns

Call of Duty is adding Nicki Minaj, Snoop Dogg, and 21 Savage as playable characters.

Scientists have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can classify four subtypes of Parkinson’s disease with up to 95% accuracy. Researchers from the Francis Crick Institute and the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology in London “trained” a computer program to recognise the subtypes of the condition using images of stem cells from patients. The team said their work, published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence, could pave the way for personalised medicine and targeted drug discovery. Sonia Gandhi, assistant research director and group leader of the Neurodegeneration Biology Laboratory at the Crick, said: “We understand many of the processes that are causing Parkinson’s in people’s brains. The hope is that one day this could lead to fundamental changes in how we deliver personalised medicine Sonia Gandhi, Francis Crick Institute “But, while they are alive, we have no way of knowing which mechanism is happening, and therefore can’t give precise treatments. “We don’t currently have treatments which make a huge difference in the progression of Parkinson’s disease. “Using a model of the patient’s own neurons, and combining this with large numbers of images, we generated an algorithm to classify certain subtypes – a powerful approach that could open the door to identifying disease subtypes in life. “Taking this one step further, our platform would allow us to first test drugs in stem cell models, and predict whether a patient’s brain cells would be likely to respond to a drug, before enrolling into clinical trials. “The hope is that one day this could lead to fundamental changes in how we deliver personalised medicine.” Parkinson’s is a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged over many years. Symptoms include involuntary shaking of particular parts of the body, slow movement, and stiff and inflexible muscles. But there is also a wide range of other physical and psychological symptoms such as depression and anxiety, problems sleeping, and memory problems. These vary from person to person due to differences in the underlying mechanisms causing the disease. The researchers said that until now, there was no way to accurately differentiate Parkinson’s subtypes. It means people are given nonspecific diagnoses and do not always have access to targeted treatments, support or care, the team added. For the study, the researchers generated stem cells, which have the ability to develop into specialised cell types in the body, from patients’ own cells. The team then used those cells to chemically create four different subtypes of Parkinson’s: two involving pathways leading to toxic build-up of a protein called alpha-synuclein and two involving pathways associated with dysfunctional mitochondria, the cell’s battery packs. Working with the British technology company Faculty AI, the team developed machine-learning algorithms which were able to accurately predict the Parkinson’s subtype when presented with images it had not seen before. James Evans, a PhD student at the Crick and UCL, and first co-author of the study, said: “Now that we use more advanced image techniques, we generate vast quantities of data, much of which is discarded when we manually select a few features of interest. “Using AI in this study enabled us to evaluate a larger number of cell features, and assess the importance of these features in discerning (the) disease subtype. “Using deep learning, we were able to extract much more information from our images than with conventional image analysis. “We now hope to expand this approach to understand how these cellular mechanisms contribute to other subtypes of Parkinson’s.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Oxford scientists find no evidence to suggest Facebook not good for wellbeing Many adults would struggle to understand video-sharing platforms’ rules – Ofcom Ozzy Osbourne PlayStation tweet which failed to reveal link to Sony banned

US grid operators are set to face their largest controlled experiment for dealing with big swings in renewable

Once upon a time, the PC was the thinking person’s video game platform. There, you’d

CHESAPEAKE, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 15, 2023--

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It's been a while (2017, precisely), since we've taken a deep look at a Biostar

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Tesla will offer a “beast mode version” for its much anticipated Cybertruck once it is rolled out by the end of this year, Elon Musk has said. In his latest interview with Joe Rogan on Tuesday, Mr Musk expressed hope that the “beast mode” version of the vehicle will be able to go from zero to 60 mph in under three seconds. The multibillionaire owner of X/Twitter had earlier said the Cybertruck will also get “performance” and “kicks ass” versions. However, Mr Musk did not elaborate on the other features that will be included in these versions of the electric vehicle (EV). He also reiterated that the Cybertruck, expected to launch in November, will have bulletproof steel panels and an option for people to purchase bulletproof glass. “You can make anything bulletproof if you want, but the glass has to be very thick to be bulletproof, so it can’t go up and down,” Mr Musk said. During the interview, Mr Rogan tried shooting an arrow at the vehicle’s stainless steel body. The projectile caused a small dent on the side of the Cybertruck model. Mr Musk said upcoming demonstrations will show the Cybertruck is bulletproof. The Tesla titan said one demonstration will have the vehicle being shot at with a Tommy gun, a 45mm shotgun and a 9mm gun. “Trucks are supposed to be tough, right?” he said. The bulletproof nature of the truck, dubbed “an armoured personal carrier from the future”, has been the subject of intense hype ever since it was unveiled. Mr Musk’s first demonstration of the toughness of the Cybertruck in 2019 had become a misfire as the window of the vehicle immediately smashed after he invited an audience member to throw a small metal ball at it. “Oh my f***ing god. Well, maybe that was a little too hard. It didn’t go through, so that’s a plus... room for improvement,” Mr Musk exclaimed, later adding on social media that prior testing before the event had compromised the window. “Sledgehammer impact on door cracked base of glass, which is why steel ball didn’t bounce off. Should have done steel ball on window, *then* sledgehammer the door,” the Tesla chief had said. Last month, Mr Musk dampened hopes that the Cybertruck will revive profits for the company in the near future. He announced in an earnings call that it will take at least 18 months for the truck to become profitable. “There will be enormous challenges in reaching volume production with Cybertruck and making the Cybertruck cash flow positive,” the Tesla titan told investors and analysts. “The blood, sweat, and tears that will be required to achieve that is just staggering,” he said. Read More Kamala Harris arrives in the UK ahead of AI safety summit X now valued at $19bn – less than half of what Elon Musk paid for it Elon Musk slammed by Israel for offering to send Starlink to Gaza Elon Musk says X posts with misinformation are ‘ineligible for revenue share’ Twitter adds video calling – and lets strangers ring you Elon Musk was ‘almost in tears’ on Tesla earnings call, analyst claims