Category: Technology

Generative AI – which encompasses large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT but also image and video generators like DALL·E 2 – supercharges what has come to be known as “digital necromancy”, the conjuring of the dead from the digital traces they leave behind. Debates around digital necromancy were first sparked in the 2010s by advances […]

A series of powerful tidal surges battered coastal areas in South Africa’s Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces over the weekend of 16 September. One person died; cars, homes and businesses were damaged. The Conversation Africa asked Jasper Knight, a geoscientist who researches coastal processes, to explain what happened. What drove the flooding? A […]

If you have a rhododendron in your garden or pass one by on an afternoon walk perhaps you think of it as just a colourful and pretty shrub. You may have heard that they come from the Himalayas, and that they are invasive plants that destroy ecosystems. Neither of these is quite accurate. Rhododendrons have […]

The Sentinel System underwater base is a completely new world of subsea living and working. The DEEP Senentinel™ System is endlessly configurable, completely customizable, and flexes seamlessly to accommodate short-term through to semi-permanent deployments, at a depth of roughly 200 m (around 656 ft). By enabling the manufacture, transport, deployment, maintenance, retrieval, and redeployment of […]

Honda‘s new Motocompacto scooter has a 12-mile range and can be folded to the size of a briefcase. The Honda Motocompacto comes with an electric mobility design, engineered by Honda. It has a range of 12 miles. “Built on our legacy of maximizing customers’ lifestyle potential, Motocompacto is designed to invoke freedom, ensure joy for […]

In the past few decades, several phenomena have led to excited speculation in the scientific community that they might indeed be indications that there is extraterrestrial life. It will no doubt happen again. Recently, two very different examples sparked excitement. In 2017, it was the mystery interstellar object ‘Oumuamua. And in 2021, it was the […]

After many years of designing and selling a variety of different cables to power and charge its devices, Apple has slowly switched to USB-C chargers for all of its products. The last device to swap is the iPhone, and it happened against Apple’s will. In October last year, the European Commission requested all phones and […]

Violent extremism – be it political or religious – is a persistent global problem, which has escalated considerably in the US in the last decade. Why do some people resort to violence for their cause? Research on the causes of violent extremism has often focused on social or political explanations. It has particularly investigated Islamist […]

To be crystal clear, when discussing modern alternatives to meat, we are dealing with two quite different types of substitutes, known respectively as plant-based and cultured products. In both, Israeli hi-tech science places the country at the top of the innovation league, up there with the US. Plant- and fungus-based products are made from […]

The new single-bladed floating wind turbine generates more power by operating at any storm, at a much lower cost than a traditional one. Current wind turbines are made to stop functioning at wind speeds exceeding 25 m/s. The single-bladed isn’t. As its rotor automatically finds the correct position, it is able to handle wind speeds […]