Man versus machine: DeepMind’s new robot triumphs in table tennis
Ars-Technica
“On Wednesday, researchers at Google DeepMind unveiled the first AI-powered table tennis robot capable of competing at an amateur level. The system combines an industrial robotic arm called the ABB IRB 1100 and custom AI software from DeepMind. Although an experienced human player can still defeat the robot, the system shows the potential of machines to master complex physics tasks that require split-second decisions and adaptability.”

Genetically modified virus steals proteins from HIV and points to new therapy
Carl Zimmer | The New York Times
“Scientists have developed a new weapon against HIV: a molecular mimic that enters a cell and steals important proteins from the virus. A study published Thursday in Science reported that this virus thief prevented HIV from multiplying in monkeys. The new therapeutic approach will soon be tested in humans, the scientists said.”

OpenAI warns: Users could become emotionally dependent on voice mode
Will Knight and Reece Rogers | Wired
“During red teaming or stress testing of GPT-4o, for example, OpenAI researchers noticed user comments that conveyed a sense of emotional connection with the model. For example, people used phrases like ‘This is our last day together.’ Anthropomorphism could lead users to place more trust in a model’s results if it ‘hallucinates’ false information, OpenAI says. Over time, it could even affect users’ relationships with other people.”

Figure 02 Robot is a slimmer, more intelligent humanoid
Evan Ackerman | IEEE Spectrum
“The thing looks smooth. I’d say it’s perhaps a bit too scary for a robot meant to work near humans, but the industrial design is stark and the packaging is excellent, with most of the wiring now integrated into the robot’s outer skin and flexible materials covering joints that would normally be left exposed.”

More than half of all new cars sold in China last month were electric vehicles
William Gavin | Quartz
“Sales of what China calls new energy vehicles (NEVs) – any vehicle that uses or relies entirely on electricity to run – rose 37% in July from a year earlier, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). Thanks to this growth and an overall decline in sales in the world’s largest auto market, NEVs accounted for 50.7% of new car sales last month. That’s a huge jump from sales just three years ago, when NEVs accounted for just 7% of total vehicle sales in China.”

Analyzing the rise in AI spending by tech giants
Nate Rattner | The Wall Street Journal
“Major technology companies increased their commitment to artificial intelligence last quarter, pouring billions of dollars into investment projects and telling investors that more is on the way. In earnings releases over the past two weeks, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Google parent Alphabet each reported an increase in purchases of property and equipment, a measure of capital spending. For all but Meta, the latest quarterly number was the highest in years.”

Watch a video that shows what happens in our brain when we think
Jessica Hamzelou | MIT Technology Review
“In this video, which I converted to a GIF, you can see the pattern of electrical activity in the man’s brain as he recites numbers. Each dot represents the voltage measured by an electrode on the array in the man’s brain over an area responsible for language. … The video was slowed down 20 times because ‘thoughts happen faster than the eye can see,’ Rapoport says.”

The search for extraterrestrial life has just suffered a depressing setback
Adam Kovac | Gizmodo
“The search for extraterrestrial life just got a little more complicated. Red dwarfs, young and dim stars that many astronomers think are the most likely hosts for life-supporting planets, have a significant disadvantage: They often emit deadly ultraviolet radiation that is much stronger than astronomers previously thought.”

Quantum cryptography is causing a stir
Margo Anderson | IEEE Spectrum
“While the technology world awaits the latest ‘post-quantum’ cryptography standards from NIST this summer, parallel efforts are underway to develop cryptosystems based on quantum technology – so-called quantum key distribution, or QKD, systems. As a result, India, China, and a number of technology organizations in the European Union and the United States are researching and developing QKD and considering standards for the emerging cryptography alternative.”

Californians will receive Apple Wallet driver’s licenses this year
Florence Ion | Gizmodo
“We have a saying in our house that we should have ‘keys, wallet, phone’ with us every time we head out into the outside world. This helps us remember the basic things to have on hand before locking the door from the outside. If you’re in California, you can look forward to whittling the list down to two simple things: keys and a phone. A leak reveals that official digital California driver’s licenses and IDs will soon be available in Apple Wallet.”

Photo credit: Norbert Kowalczyk / Unsplash