Author: Wired Magazine

‘Is This AI Sapient?’ Is the Wrong Question to Ask About LaMDA

The uproar caused by Blake Lemoine, a Google engineer who believes that one of the company’s most sophisticated chat programs, Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA) is sapient, has had a curious element: Actual AI ethics experts are all but renouncing further discussion of the AI sapience question, or deeming it a distraction. They’re right… Continue reading ‘Is This AI Sapient?’ Is the Wrong Question to Ask About LaMDA

The FAA Says SpaceX Can’t Expand Its Texas Launch Site—Yet

After months of suspense, the Federal Aviation Administration has finally weighed in on the environmental effects of the planned expansion of SpaceX’s sprawling Starbase launch facility near Boca Chica, Texas. The agency says that if SpaceX takes some 75 actions to limit environmental hazards, the company can continue that expansion and its application for a… Continue reading The FAA Says SpaceX Can’t Expand Its Texas Launch Site—Yet

Monkeypox Can Be Contained—but Time Is Running Out

When monkeypox briefly found its way into the US in 2003, it infected prairie dogs. “We know that ground squirrels are highly susceptible to the virus and that there is a wide host range of species,” says Rimoin. “If monkeypox were able to become established in a wildlife reservoir outside of Africa, it would be… Continue reading Monkeypox Can Be Contained—but Time Is Running Out

The Best Gear for Your Home Emergency Kit

You know the drill. Maybe you’ve even participated in it once or twice. As a natural disaster looms, everyone in town makes a mad dash for the grocery stores, home improvement stores, and gas stations. Demand overruns stock in a capitalist’s nightmare, and most people leave empty handed, without enough flashlights, batteries, or cookware to… Continue reading The Best Gear for Your Home Emergency Kit

Reshuffled Rivers Bolster the Amazon’s Hyper-Biodiversity

From the window of a passenger plane flying over the Amazon, the view is breathtaking. “It’s just miles across of river and river islands,” said Lukas Musher, a postdoctoral researcher at Drexel University’s Academy of Natural Sciences. The massive rivers below branch into a dense, treelike network that has continuously rearranged itself over hundreds of… Continue reading Reshuffled Rivers Bolster the Amazon’s Hyper-Biodiversity

Meta Hits the Brakes on Portal, AR Glasses, and Other Hardware

As the old adage goes, “hardware is hard.” Doubly so in the metaverse. The company Meta (née Facebook) has slowed its pursuit of AR glasses. The headset, which Meta had aimed for release in 2024, was likely years away from actual development. Now, those plans seem to be on indefinite hold. That report comes a… Continue reading Meta Hits the Brakes on Portal, AR Glasses, and Other Hardware

How China Hacked US Phone Networks

How do you smuggle information into the USSR right under the nose of the KGB? Create your own encryption system, of course. That’s exactly what saxophonist and music professor Merryl Goldberg did during the 1980s. This week Goldberg revealed that she used musical notation to hide the names and addresses of activists and details of… Continue reading How China Hacked US Phone Networks

The Last-Ditch Effort to Save Wild Salmon

But outside the walls of Warm Springs, so much is beyond the recovery team’s control. By nature, salmon transcend borders and boundaries, which exposes them to a gauntlet of threats. In rivers, fish face warmer water, droughts, wildfires, landslides, predators, and pollution; at sea, more predators, fishing, and competition for food. By amplifying these hazards,… Continue reading The Last-Ditch Effort to Save Wild Salmon