All Stories by Kathryn Hulick
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Agriculture
Crops are being engineered to thrive in our changing climate
Plants are already the best carbon catchers on Earth. New research could make them even better.
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Animals
How artificial intelligence could help us talk to animals
AI translates human languages with ease. Researchers are now using this tech to analyze the sounds of whales, rodents and many other animals.
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Tech
What is my pet saying? Scientists are working to find out
Researchers are using artificial intelligence for pet-translation apps. One day, it might put into words what our furry friends are vocalizing.
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Climate
Here’s how to increase clean energy without harming wildlife
Wind farms, solar panels and more take up land and may harm wildlife. Researchers are working to resolve this conflict.
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Climate
Creating less new stuff could greatly help Earth’s climate
Instead of throwing unneeded things away, scientists recommend moving to a cycle of reducing, reusing, repairing and remaking old things into new ones.
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Computing
A single chip like this could transmit a world’s worth of data
The internet has a big environmental footprint. But this new type of tech could help reduce the climate impact of computing.
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Computing
Sleep helps AI models learn new things without forgetting old ones
Breaks in training meant to mimic human sleep helped artificial intelligence learn multiple tasks.
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Tech
Think twice before using ChatGPT for help with homework
ChatGPT is a new AI tool that generates well-formed writing and code. Despite many benefits, it makes cheating easy and can supply bad information.
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Tech
Can a robot ever become your friend?
Social robots can teach, help and keep people company. What would it take for machines to form real friendships with people? And do we even want that?
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Tech
Insect-inspired drones work together to 3-D print structures
For the first time, flying drones have 3-D printed structures. In the future, such drones might be able to build in hard-to-reach places.
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Tech
Will the internet soon reach the one-third of people without it?
Access to the internet is a human right, yet much of the world can’t get online. New tech has to be affordable and usable to end this digital divide.
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Tech
A shape-shifting robotic tooth-cleaner might one day brush for you
A swarm of billions of magnetic, bacteria-killing nanoparticles can be shaped into bristles to fit any surface, including between teeth.