News

New study tracks the evolution of stone tools

For at least 2.6 million years, humans and our ancestors have been making stone tools by chipping off flakes of material to produce sharp edges. We think of stone tools as very rudimentary technology, but producing a usable tool without wasting a lot of stone takes skill and knowledge. That’s why archaeologists tend to use the complexity of stone tools as a way to measure the cognitive skills of early humans and the complexity of their cultures and social interactions.

Is Google Going Underground with Hypersonic Tech?

Google is carrying out research on hypersonics, probably for new technologies to slash the cost of geothermal energy and tunneling. It could also be acquiring a Washington-based startup called HyperSciences that has already built prototype devices.

Technique to see objects hidden around corners

A driverless car is making its way through a winding neighborhood street, about to make a sharp turn onto a road where a child’s ball has just rolled. Although no person in the car can see that ball, the car stops to avoid it. This is because the car is outfitted with extremely sensitive laser technology that reflects off nearby objects to see around corners.

Surprise graphene discovery could unlock secrets of superconductivity

A sandwich of two graphene layers can conduct electrons without resistance if they are twisted at a ‘magic angle’’, physicists have discovered. The finding could prove to be a significant step in the decades-long search for room-temperature superconductors.

Frequency Deviations In Continental Europe Are Causing Electric Clocks To Run Behind By 5 Minutes


Google Unveils 72-Qubit Quantum Computer With Low Error Rates

If a quantum processor can be operated with low enough error, it would be able to outperform a classical supercomputer on a well-defined computer science problem, an achievement known as quantum supremacy. These random circuits must be large in both number of qubits as well as computational length (depth). Although no one has achieved this goal yet, we calculate quantum supremacy can be comfortably demonstrated with 49 qubits, a circuit depth exceeding 40, and a two-qubit error below 0.5%.

Ubisoft is using AI to catch bugs in games before devs make them

Microsoft to offer governments local version of Azure cloud service

AI Researchers Aim to Crack Code on ‘Sun Energy’

Since the ’50s, scientists have chased the promise of clean energy from sun-like reactions between deuterium and tritium, the plentiful isotopes of hydrogen. This carbon-free energy, achieved at temperatures of 360 million degrees Fahrenheit, would offer a great way to heat water and, in turn, spin turbines to create countless kilowatts of electricity.

A Framework for Building Artificial Intelligence Capabilities

AI will likely become the most important technology of our era as it’s improved upon over time, but we’re still in the early stages of deployment, CIO Journal Columnist Irving Wladawsky-Berger writes. History shows that even after technologies start crossing over into mainstream markets, it takes considerable time for the new tech to be widely embraced across the economy.