-
5 days ago | 
newscientist.com | Matthew Sparkes
Even if you have never had your smartphone stolen, you probably know someone who has. In London, 80,000 phones were stolen last year alone. And as victims of phone theft know, while the loss of a pricey gadget can sting, the dreary administrative slog in replacing a device that runs your entire life can, in some ways, be worse. So why canât we stop phone thieves â and is there a better way to protect your personal data?
-
1 week ago | 
newscientist.com | Matthew Sparkes
Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites are raising fears of a harmful radioactive accident, including from the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – but experts have told New Scientist that the risks are minimal, despite reports of radiological and chemical contamination inside one nuclear enrichment facility.
-
1 week ago | 
newscientist.com | Matthew Sparkes
Make sure you use a good mix of characters. Avoid your petâs name. Most of all, never reuse a password. We all know the rules for ensuring that the keys to our digital kingdoms remain secure, and we probably all break them â and that is when hackers sweep in to make money from selling your data.
-
3 weeks ago | 
newscientist.com | Matthew Sparkes
The latest generation of artificial intelligence models seem to have a human-level understanding of the world, but it turns out that their lack of sensory information – and a body – places limits on how well they can comprehend concepts like a flower or humour.
-
4 weeks ago | 
newscientist.com | Matthew Sparkes
I have long remembered a conversation I had 20 years ago with one of my professors, an expert in what we then called artificial intelligence, which, in many ways, is wildly different to what we now call AI. In this exchange, he confidently told me there was no point learning a second language. Computers would soon erase language barriers, he said. Not only by translating written text, but also in real time using audio, to make conversations flow smoothly even if everyone involved is…
-
1 month ago | 
newscientist.nl | Matthew Sparkes
Een quantumcomputer met een miljoen qubits zou het veelgebruikte RSA-encryptie-algoritme kunnen kraken. Quantumcomputers zouden een heel gangbare data-encryptietechniek kunnen kraken zodra ze een miljoen quantumbits, of qubits, bevatten. Hoewel dat ruim buiten het bereik van bestaande quantumcomputers ligt, is deze nieuwe schatting wel twintig keer lager dan eerdere. Dat wijst erop dat het moment waarop encryptie wordt gekraakt dichterbij is dan gedacht.
-
1 month ago | 
newscientist.com | Matthew Sparkes
Quantum computers could crack a common data encryption technique once they have a million qubits, or quantum bits. While this is still well beyond the capabilities of existing quantum computers, this new estimate is 20 times lower than previously thought, suggesting the day that encryption is cracked is closer thank we think.
-
1 month ago | 
newscientist.com | Matthew Sparkes
Final preparations are underway for China to launch an uncrewed visit to both an asteroid and a comet, in the hoping of learning more about the space rocks in our solar system. The China National Space Administration’s (CNSA) Tianwen-2 mission will take a 100 gram sample from the asteroid KamoĘ»oalewa and return it to Earth. After dropping off the sample, the probe will use our planet’s gravity as a slingshot to boost towards the comet 311P/PanSTARRS, which it will observe remotely.
-
1 month ago | 
spektrum.de | Matthew Sparkes
Hintergrund Lesedauer ca. 9 Minuten DruckenTeilen Software: Selbst in modernen Computersystemen schlummert uralter CodeComputercode wird nicht schlecht. Allerdings ändern sich die Sprachen – und nur noch wenige Programmierer können alte Software überarbeiten. Was passiert, wenn das Wissen um die alten Systeme verloren geht? Eine alte Bekannte der KI-Szene ist Anfang 2025 quasi wieder auferstanden: ELIZA, der weltweit erste Chatbot mit künstlicher Intelligenz aus den 1960er Jahren.
-
1 month 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.
