Category: Resources

Baleen whales, known as the largest animals to have ever lived, have a new record holder. The blue whale, which can reach lengths of up to 30 meters, holds the title. However, recent fossil discoveries from the Southern Hemisphere are challenging the belief that most baleen whales were relatively small. A fossil found on the…

The year 2023 marked a significant milestone for artificial intelligence (AI) as it became an integral part of our daily lives. Recent data reveals that four out of five teenagers in the United Kingdom are utilizing generative AI tools, while about two-thirds of Australian employees are using them for work purposes. Initially, people were drawn…

An investigation by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has uncovered a large network of YouTube channels that promote pro-Chinese and anti-US sentiment in the English-speaking world. The operation, known as “Shadow Play,” consists of at least 30 YouTube channels with approximately 730,000 subscribers and 4,500 videos, accumulating around 120 million views. The channels use…

Is your dog showing signs of distress but you can’t figure out why? Do you wish they could communicate with you? There are now dog “talking” buttons available on the market that claim to enable your dog to do just that. These buttons range in price from $15 for a basic kit to hundreds of…

Data poisoning is a growing concern in the field of text-to-image generators. These generators are trained on large datasets of images to create suitable visuals based on user prompts. However, some generators have been trained using indiscriminately scraped online images, many of which may be under copyright. This has led to copyright infringement cases and…

The Australian public’s perception of space and its impact on their daily lives has been largely unknown until now. A recent report commissioned by the Australian Centre for Space Governance and co-funded by UNSW Canberra sheds light on the opinions of Australians regarding space investment and activities. Space technologies are more prevalent in our daily…

Myrtle rust, an invasive fungal disease, has wreaked havoc on certain plant species in Australia over the past decade. This disease primarily affects plants in the Myrtaceae family, which make up 10% of Australian plant biodiversity and include eucalypts, paperbarks, and lilly pillies. The impact of myrtle rust has been devastating, leading to the destruction…

A recent article in the New York Times highlighted the absence of women in the history of the modern artificial intelligence (AI) movement. This omission is not a new phenomenon and reflects a long-standing trend of women being overlooked in STEM fields. However, as women continue to make significant contributions to the AI industry, it…

The office Secret Santa or Kris Kringle can be an awkward social event for many people. It involves employees randomly buying gifts for their colleagues, often resulting in wildly inappropriate presents. The sheer statistical improbability of these gifts being passed around the office is like a Christmas miracle. To calculate the number of possible pairings…

The arrival of the summer holidays in eastern Australia has traditionally been marked by the appearance of Christmas beetles, large iridescent beetles that get their name from their presence during the Christmas season. However, in recent years, there has been a perception that these insects are no longer arriving in high numbers. This has led…

The question “why the long face?” has been a popular joke for years, but scientists now have a scientific explanation for why some mammals, like horses, have longer faces. This phenomenon, known as craniofacial evolutionary allometry (CREA), is observed in various mammalian groups. Larger mammals tend to have longer faces, while smaller ones have shorter…

The prospect of a new form of digital identity verification may not seem exciting in a world filled with self-driving cars and artificial general intelligence. However, digital identity is about to revolutionize how we engage with government and business in Australia and around the world. By 2024, new forms of digital ID will eliminate the…

The Geminid meteor shower is approaching, and this year’s display promises to be extra special. The peak of the shower falls at new Moon, meaning the night sky will be beautifully dark from the moment the Geminids first become visible until dawn breaks. This creates the perfect conditions for viewing the natural fireworks display. The…

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have reportedly been using an artificial intelligence (AI) system called Habsora to select targets in the war on Hamas in Gaza. This has raised questions about the implications of using AI targeting systems in conflict. AI is already changing the nature of warfare by making soldiers more efficient and increasing…

During the COVID-19 lockdown, three biodiversity researchers – an ecologist, a mathematician, and a taxonomist – decided to count the number of plant and animal species in their shared space. Initially, they estimated finding around 200-300 species, a guess shared by many colleagues. However, they were surprised to discover a total of 1,150 species on…

Have you ever wondered what would happen to your dog if you were no longer around? Can dogs survive without human influence? The majority of the world’s dogs, about 80%, live independent lives, offering some insight into this question. Dogs are the most successful domesticated species on Earth and have evolved under human care for…

Noam Chomsky, the highly regarded and controversial intellectual, celebrates his 95th birthday today. Chomsky is a prominent figure in linguistics and has made significant contributions to psychology, philosophy, and political activism. One of Chomsky’s most influential contributions is his establishment of cognitive science as a discipline, which has played a fundamental role in the development…