Matthew Sparkes, New Scientist Journalist Profile

Articles

Chatbots kunnen een geheime boodschap verstoppen in gewoon ogende berichten

1 week ago | newscientist.nl | Matthew Sparkes

Tekstgenererende AI’s, zoals ChatGPT, kunnen gebruikt worden om versleutelde boodschappen te verstoppen in nepberichten. Dit kan mensen die onder onderdrukkende regimes leven, helpen om in het geheim te communiceren. Het is mogelijk om geheime boodschappen te verstoppen in nepgesprekken die door AI-chatbots gegenereerd worden. Deze techniek zou mensen een manier kunnen bieden om online te communiceren zonder argwaan op te wekken bij onderdrukkende regeringen.
Meta, Amazon and Google accused of 'distorting' key AI rankings

1 week ago | newscientist.com | Matthew Sparkes

An industry-standard league table for ranking artificial intelligence models is being deliberately distorted by technology giants, researchers have claimed, leading to a misleading picture of which AIs are the best.
Hijacked cicadas play music like a cyborg loudspeaker

1 week ago | newscientist.com | Matthew Sparkes

The chirp of the cicada, the sound of many summers, has received an electronic upgrade that turns the insects into cyborg loudspeakers playing anything from Pachelbel’s Canon to the theme from Top Gun. The researchers behind the work say it could be used to spread warning messages during an emergency. Naoto Nishida and his colleagues at the University of Tsukuba, Japan, were inspired by previous research in which cockroaches were remote-controlled by electrodes that triggered muscle movement.
Meest precieze ruimteklok ooit is gelanceerd en kan meteen gaan aftellen naar zijn vernietiging

2 weeks ago | newscientist.nl | Matthew Sparkes

Natuurkundigen gaan een netwerk van de beste klokken op aarde synchroniseren met de meest precieze klok die ooit de ruimte in gestuurd is. Deze ruimteklok is vorige week gelanceerd en bevindt zich nu aan de buitenkant van het internationale ruimtestation ISS. Hij zal maar tot ongeveer 2030 meegaan, omdat het ruimtestation dan uit zijn baan gebracht zal worden en inclusief de klok zal verbranden in de atmosfeer.
Chatbots can hide secret messages in seemingly normal conversations

2 weeks ago | newscientist.com | Matthew Sparkes

Secret messages can be hidden inside fake conversations generated by AI chatbots. The technique could give people a way to communicate online without arousing the suspicion of oppressive governments. When messages are encrypted for secure transmission, the resulting cipher text – an unusual string of garbled characters – stands out like a sore thumb.
Hackers could 'vandalise' quantum computers without people noticing

2 weeks ago | newscientist.com | Matthew Sparkes

Hackers may be able to “vandalise” other people’s results on a quantum computer, say researchers, who warn that the problem will only get worse as devices become larger and host more users simultaneously, unless manufacturers plug the security gap. Sharing access to expensive computing hardware is a common practice, whether on classical supercomputers or exotic quantum chips.
Photography contest spotlights the beauty of science in vivid detail

3 weeks ago | newscientist.com | Matthew Sparkes

Photographs accompanying most scientific papers might politely be called “functional”. But this collection of images from Imperial College London’s research photography competition proves that research can be beautiful. The top image, by Harsh Rathee of the physics department, shows an optical fibre connected to a dilution refrigerator, a device that creates a temperature a thousandth that of the vacuum of space.
NEW SCIENTIST ⟩ Kuidas tehisintellekt ja tšillipipar karusid ohjes hoiavad

3 weeks ago | teadus.postimees.ee | Matthew Sparkes

TeadusNew ScientistTellijaleFoto: pexels.comTehisintellektiga juhitavad, tšillipipragaasiga varustatud seadmed võiksid aidata vähendada inimeste ja karude vahelisi konflikte. Kuid loomad võivad õppida neid seadmeid vältima ning liikuda nendest mööda inimeste kodude ja prügimägede suunas. Tiibeti platool on sagenenud kokkupõrked inimeste ja Tiibeti pruunkarude (Ursus arctos pruinosus, tuntud ka kui Tiibeti sinikarude) vahel. Üheks põhjuseks võib olla .
Most accurate space clock set to launch - and count down to destruction

3 weeks ago | newscientist.com | Matthew Sparkes

The most accurate clock in space launches within days and will begin building a highly synchronised network out of the best clocks on Earth. But the project, decades in preparation, will only operate for a few years before it burns up as the International Space Station deorbits at the end of the decade.
Slices of wood can filter bacteria and microplastics from water

3 weeks ago | newscientist.com | Matthew Sparkes

Slices of wood can act as water filters that remove bacteria and microplastics with more than 99 per cent efficiency, potentially offering a cheap way to protect people from water-borne illnesses.