Edd Gent

Bangalore

Freelance Journalist at Freelance

Contributor at IEEE Spectrum

Freelance science and technology writer. Contributing editor @IEEESpectrum.

Articles

A Knee Injury Launched This VR Pioneer's Career

1 week ago | spectrum.ieee.org | Edd Gent

Carolina Cruz-Neira is living proof of just how far a "plan B" can take you. Growing up, she was determined to become a professional ballet dancer. But after injury ended her ballet dreams, Cruz-Neira went on to become a pioneer of virtual-reality technology.
A Knee Injury Launched This VR Pioneer’s Career

1 week ago | flipboard.com | Edd Gent

7 hours agoWorld's first therapy to reverse spinal cord injury enters human trialA paradigm shift in the way we treat spinal injuries is now in sight, with the world's first regenerative cell therapy being granted approval for a …NowApple May Fundamentally Change Smartwatch DesignA new patent suggests a potential major design change for the Apple Watch.
Teaching AI Like a Kindergartner Could Make It Smarter

2 weeks ago | singularityhub.com | Edd Gent

Despite the impressive performance of modern AI models, they still struggle to match the learning abilities of young children. Now, researchers have shown that teaching models like kindergartners can boost their skills. Neural networks are typically trained by feeding them vast amounts of data in one go and then using this data to draw statistical patterns that guide the model’s behavior.
Scientists Say Earth Has Made Enough Hydrogen to Power Humanity. Here’s How to Find It.

3 weeks ago | singularityhub.com | Edd Gent

There’s growing optimism that huge amounts of natural hydrogen are stored deep underground. Now, researchers have identified the key geological features that could help us hunt for the clean-burning fuel. Hydrogen is a leading contender to replace fossil fuels because it only produces water when burned in combustion engines or used to power fuel cells. We already produce a substantial amount of hydrogen for industrial purposes, such as during the production of fertilizer.
Why are quantum computers so error prone?

3 weeks ago | livescience.com | Edd Gent

Quantum computing is expected to leave classical computing in the dust when it comes to solving some of the world’s most fiendishly difficult problems. The best quantum machines today have one major weakness, however — they are incredibly error-prone. That’s why the field is racing to develop and implement quantum error-correction (QEC) schemes to alleviate the technology’s inherent unreliability.
Stratolaunch’s Hypersonic Plane Breaks Mach 5 and Lands Without a Pilot

4 weeks ago | singularityhub.com | Edd Gent

Hypersonic vehicles have become the latest military prestige technology, and the US seems to be lagging its rivals. That could change after the successful flight of an autonomous and reusable hypersonic aircraft by US firm Stratolaunch. In recent years, both China and Russia have unveiled missiles capable of hypersonic speeds, which means they can travel at more than five times the speed of sound.
Is AI's Race for Bigger Models Over? Explore the Shift Towards Human-Like Reasoning in AI Development

1 month ago | flipboard.com | Edd Gent

11 hours agoIBM CEO Arvind Krishna said the move led to more hiring in other areas. Former employees at IBM were replaced with AI, the company's CEO confirmed earlier this week. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna told The Wall Street Journal on Monday that the tech giant had tapped into AI to take over the work of several …
Is AI's Race for Bigger Models Over? Focus Shifts Towards Human-Like Reasoning in AI Development

1 month ago | spectrum.ieee.org | Edd Gent

Since OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT in 2022, AI companies have been locked in a race to build increasingly gigantic models, causing companies to invest huge sums in building data centers. But towards the end of last year, there were rumblings that the benefits of model scaling were hitting a wall. The underwhelming performance of OpenAI’s largest ever model, GPT-4.5, gave further weight to the idea.
Amazon Steps Into the Ring With SpaceX by Launching Its First Batch of Internet Satellites

1 month ago | singularityhub.com | Edd Gent

Satellite broadband could bring internet to every corner of the globe, but at present it’s dominated by one company—SpaceX. That could change soon. This week, Amazon launched the first batch of satellites for its Kuiper constellation. While it might seem an extravagant way to get online, SpaceX’s Starlink system has proven very popular, with more than five million customers worldwide. But with a receiver priced at $349 and monthly subscription charges between $80 and $120, it’s not cheap.
What is artificial superintelligence (ASI) and what could it mean for humanity?

1 month ago | livescience.com | Edd Gent

Rapid progress in artificial intelligence (AI) is prompting people to question what the fundamental limits of the technology are. Increasingly, a topic once consigned to science fiction — the notion of a superintelligent AI — is now being considered seriously by scientists and experts alike. The idea that machines might one day match or even surpass human intelligence has a long history.