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Category: innovation

A look back at recent AI trends — and what 2022 might hold

2021 was an eventful year for AI. With the advent of new techniques, robust systems that can understand the relationships not only between words but words and photos, videos, and audio became possible. At the same time, policymakers — growing increasingly wary of AI’s potential harm — proposed rules aimed at mitigating the worst of AI’s effects, including discrimination.

Meanwhile, AI research labs — while signaling their adherence to “responsible AI” — rushed to commercialize their work, either under pressure from corporate parents or investors. But in a bright spot, organizations ranging from the U.S. National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) to the United Nations released guidelines laying the groundwork for more explainable AI, emphasizing the need to move away from “black-box” systems in favor of those whose reasoning is transparent.

As for what 2022 might hold, the renewed focus on data engineering — designing the datasets used to train, test, and benchmark AI systems — that emerged in 2021 seems poised to remain strong. Innovations in AI accelerator hardware are another shoo-in for the year to come, as is a climb in the uptake of AI in the enterprise.

China lays out path to become robotics powerhouse by 2025

Beijing sets sights on 20%-plus annual growth and world-class innovation.

BEIJING — China will work to become a leading global player in robotics by 2025 under a five-year plan announced Tuesday as it ramps up efforts to build a high-tech manufacturing sector resilient to American sanctions.

Big Boost To China’s Hypersonic Technology; Engineers ‘Crack Codes’ Of A Highly Innovative, ‘Miracle’ Engine?

Chinese scientists are celebrating the success of a new hypersonic engine, according to reports. The past few months have been important for China in terms of the success of its hypersonic technologies.

Not only did the country get a new wind tunnel ready for tests of hypersonic weapons but it is also developing a hypersonic passenger plane. The fact that the country is in possession of a nuclear-capable hypersonic weapon system that is orbital in nature was also revealed less than a month ago.

Now, the successful testing of this engine will pave way for more advanced developments in components used for hypersonic flight, SCMP reported.

Why Are Humans the Only Animals That Cry When They’re Sad?

The propensity to cry emotional tears is uniquely human. Of all the claims to human exceptionality—consciousness, intelligence, innovation—it is the liquid that falls from our eyes when we are sad, happy, jealous, angry, and grateful, more than anything else, that we can call ours, and ours alone.

And yet the act of emotional crying is poorly understood. There is remarkably little consensus about the purpose of crying, its underlying physiology, and its impact on our moods. “What intrigued me about crying is how few people in the world have been studying it,” said Lauren Bylsma, an assistant professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. “You would think with such a ubiquitous and important behavior, there would be more known about it.”

Tokamak Energy Has Just Made a Breakthrough in Nuclear Fusion

Magnets could be the ‘secret sauce’ required for viable nuclear fusion.

Tokamak Energy, a company working on nuclear fusion technology, has recently announced a major breakthrough in its research and development. Testing of its cryogenic power electronic technology for its superconducting magnet’s high-efficiency operation was, by all accounts, a big success.

The company’s bid to provide the world with near-limitless energy uses a combination of spherical tokamaks and high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets. According to reports, tests of the new power electronics showed twice the efficiency of previous systems.

“We have now invented a new type of cryogenic power supply, based on the latest power electronics devices, that is highly efficient at low temperatures. This means we have the potential to reduce cryogenic capital and running costs for HTS magnets, by 50%, or more. This novel approach will provide significant cost savings, contributing to the achievement of commercial fusion energy,” said Tokamak Energy CEO Chris Kelsall.

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A Bill Gates-Backed ‘Breakthrough’ Initiative Raised $65 Million for Reusable Rockets

Bill Gates’ multibillion-dollar clean-tech initiative Breakthrough Energy Ventures has completed a $65 million funding round for the reusable rocket developer called Stoke Space, according to a Wednesday press release.

So don’t look away, because you might miss the makings of humanity’s future.

Researchers discovered space-time warping bubble for the first time

A team from the Limitless Space Institute (LSI), funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and led by Dr. Harold “Sonny” White, a former NASA specialist, pioneer in warp drive or warp drive, has reported that he has discovered a veritable warp bubble in the real world. The event marks a breakthrough for scientists trying to develop a spacecraft capable of going faster than light.