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How to Spot AI Fakes (For Now)

14 Mar 2024

In a recent test, a little over a thousand American adults were shown eight videos, and they had to choose if the video was real or if it had been completely generated by an artificial intelligence...

The “Repronizer” Merits Reproach

28 Feb 2024

We have become accustomed to seeing a lot of gobbledygook online. But the jargon that purports to explain the workings of the “Repronizer” elevates bunk to new heights. What is the Repronizer? A...

Will the Right Boots Stop You from Slipping on Ice?

15 Dec 2023

Have you ever slipped on ice and fallen on your derrière? At best, it is unpleasant; at worst, it can send you to the hospital with a broken bone (or even kill you). Icy sidewalks and parking lots...

Dry Water? Let’s whet your appetite for some science.

1 Dec 2023

The poem, “My country”, by Dorothea MacKellar, is recited by every preschooler in Australia. One line is of particular relevance:  “A land of droughts and flooding rains”. 

Is This Gadget a Scam?

24 Nov 2023

Anyone who owns a car and who lives in snowy climes will be tempted by this. What if you could buy a small device that you left in your car and that magically melted the snow off of it and...

Can the Problems of the Future be Solved with Technology from the Past?

6 Oct 2023

Electric cars are often portrayed as an invention created to solve the issue of pollution generated from the exhaust emission of gasoline cars, but the electric car has been around the block before...

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry - No Small Matter

6 Oct 2023

The word “quantum” derives from the Latin word for “amount,” so that if something is “quantifiable,” it means that it can be measured. Although I think I have a reasonably good grasp of chemistry,...

Artificial Intelligence Is Coming for Our Proteins

18 Aug 2023

At first glance, these two things look nothing alike. On the one hand, we see the mesmerizing contortions that proteins display to grant life forms their functionalities. On the other hand, we have...

Nanogold: From Ruby-red Glass to Possible Cancer Treatment

4 Aug 2023

Though aesthetically pleasing, gold is scientifically quite boring. It is chemically inert, meaning it doesn’t easily react with other chemicals and remains shiny for long periods which is why it...

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