Category Archives: Science
Artificial Intelligence: “The Future From An Alternate Perspective”
The story follows our main character Luis as he tries to clearly explain the complexities and nuances of ‘language’, and the challenges of teaching AI to thoroughly understand it.
A massive project, an incredibly talented team, and a little bit of luck to get to the finish line. So thankful to my fellow artists and friends who helped pull this off.
Client: Microsoft
Agency: Trifilm
Creative Director: Mia Vyzis
Producer: Corey Lovett
Animation Director: Reece Parker
Art Director: Reece Parker
Illustration: Tom Goyon, Millie Woodcock, Reece Parker
Character Animation Lead: Khylin Woodrow
Cel: Khylin Woodrow, TJ Peters, Mathijs Luijten, Adam Henderson, Reece Parker, Salvador Padilla, Nata Metlukh
2D Animation: Matt Jameson, TJ Peters, Mathijs Luijten, Manuel Neto, Reece Parker
3D modeling/Animation: Billy Chitkin, Nocky Dinh
Editing/composite: Bruce Stead, Matt Jameson, Mathijs Luitjen, Manuel Neto, Tj Peters
Sound design: Ambrose Yu
Coronavirus Vaccines: The Promise And Peril In Fast-Tracking (WSJ Video)
As the coronavirus continues to spread around the globe, companies and academic labs are racing to develop a vaccine that would help society get back to normal. But there could also be costs to moving too quickly.
WSJ’s Daniela Hernandez explains. Photo illustration: Laura Kammermann
New Research Podcasts: “Human Brains Are Wired To Enjoy Musical Pitch”
In this month’s episode, we learn that human brains differentiate musical pitch a way that macaque monkeys do not. In fact, speech and music shaped the human brain’s hearing circuits. Researchers are studying these circuits with an eye on developing treatments for neurological disorders.
Top New Science Podcasts: New Skin That Grows Hair, Spontaneous RNA (Nature)
This week, Nature looks at a new method to grow hairy skin in a dish, and new research takes aim at the RNA world hypothesis.
In this episode:
00:45 Hairy Skin
Researchers may have developed a way to make skin that can grow hair in the lab, paving the way for treatment of a variety of skin disorders, and perhaps even baldness. Research Article: Lee et al.; News and Views: Regenerative medicine could pave the way to treating baldness
08:56 Research Highlights
How mercury moved during the ‘Great Dying’, and the link between mobile phones and gender equality. Research Highlight: Giant eruptions belched toxic metal during the ‘Great Dying’; Research Article: Rotondi et al.
11:21 Does DNA predate life?
The RNA world hypothesis posits that RNA formed spontaneously leading eventually to life. Now new research suggests that RNA and DNA formed together, before life. Research Article: Xu et al.; News and Views: How DNA and RNA subunits might have formed to make the first genetic alphabet
19:25 Pick of the Briefing
We pick our highlights from the Nature Briefing, including the recent SpaceX launch, and the earliest fossil of a land animal. CBC: Scientists find oldest fossil of a land animal; Nature News: SpaceX to launch astronauts — and a new era of private human spaceflight
Other links
Video: We test a home antibody kit for tracking Covid-19 transmission
Coronavirus: “Confusing Hydroxychloroquine Studies” (Nature Podcast)
President Trump’s preferred coronavirus treatment is the focus of a new study suggesting it could cause more harm than good, but not everybody agrees. We discuss the fallout as trials around the world are paused and countries diverge over policy advice.
12:12 Are we rushing science?
Coronavirus papers are being published extremely quickly, while normally healthy scientific debate is being blown up in the world’s press. Is there a balancing act between timely research and accurate messaging?
18:49 One good thing
Our hosts pick out things that have made them smile in the last week, including hedgerow brews and a trip into the past using AI.
Recipe: Elderflower ‘Champagne’
Video: Denis Shiryaev restores historic footage with AI
22:30 The latest coronavirus research papers
Noah Baker takes a look through some of the key coronavirus papers of the last few weeks.
News: Coronavirus research updates
medRxiv: Full genome viral sequences inform patterns of SARS-CoV-2 spread into and within Israel
Harvard Library: Reductions in commuting mobility predict geographic differences in SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in New York City
Science: DNA vaccine protection against SARS-CoV-2 in rhesus macaques
Top New Science Podcasts: Covid-19 Inflammatory Response, Glacier Retreat
First up this week, Staff Writer Jennifer Couzin-Frankel talks with host Sarah Crespi about a rare inflammatory response in children that has appeared in a number of COVID-19 hot spots.
Next, Julian Dowdeswell, director of the Scott Polar Research Institute and professor of physical geography at the University of Cambridge, talks with producer Meagan Cantwell about tracing the retreat of Antarctica’s glaciers by examining the ocean floor. Finally, Kiki Sanford interviews author Danny Dorling about his new book, Slowdown: The End of the Great Acceleration―and Why It’s Good for the Planet, the Economy, and Our Lives.
TOP JOURNALS: RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS FROM SCIENCE MAGAZINE (MAY 29, 2020)
Top New Science Podcasts: Splitting Water With Light, Missing Matter And Working Memory (Nature)
This week, perfecting catalysts that split water using light, the mystery of missing matter in the Universe and how working memory ‘works’ in children.
In this episode:
00:44 Water splitting
After decades of research scientists have managed to achieve near perfect efficiency using a light-activated catalyst to separate hydrogen from water for fuel. Research Article: Takata et al.; News and Views: An almost perfectly efficient light-activated catalyst for producing hydrogen from water
05:37 Research Highlights
The hidden water inside the earth’s core, and how working memory ‘works’ in children. Research Highlight: Our planet’s heart is watery; Research Highlight: A child’s memory prowess is revealed by brain patterns
07:53 Measuring matter
Estimations of baryonic matter in the Universe have conflicted with observations, but now researchers have reconciled these differences. Research Article: Macquart et al.
13:42 Pick of the Briefing
We pick our highlights from the Nature Briefing, including the possibility of a black hole in our solar system, and the biting bees that force plants to bloom. Physics World: If ‘Planet Nine’ is a primordial black hole, could we detect it with a fleet of tiny spacecraft?; Scientific American: Bumblebees Bite Plants to Force Them to Flower (Seriously)
Boomers Daily 