Tag Archives: assist

Australian Filmmaker Alex Ploya: “The Film Industry is Broken and Needs Reconstruction—AI Can Assist”

Posted on by
Reply

As capitalist forces largely steer advancements in artificial intelligence, Alex Proyas perceives the integration of AI in filmmaking as a pathway to artistic freedom.

While numerous individuals in the film industry view the rise of AI as a threat to their jobs, incomes, and likenesses, Australian filmmakers, including Proyas, embrace the technology as a means to simplify and reduce costs associated with projects.

“The model for filmmakers, the only person I truly care about at the end of the day, is broken… and it’s not AI that’s causing it,” Proyas states to the Guardian.

“It’s the industry, it’s streaming.”


He mentions that the filmmakers he once depended on are dwindling in the streaming era, with the remaining ones working on tighter budgets for projects.

“We need to reconstruct it from the ground up. We believe that AI will assist us in doing that because as it continually lowers production costs, we can retain more ownership of our projects,” he remarks.

Proyas’s upcoming film, Rur, narrates the tale of a woman attempting to liberate her robots from capitalist oppression within an island factory. Based on a satirical play from 1920, the film features Samantha Orle, Lindsay Faris, and Anthony Laparia, having begun filming in October of the previous year.

The Heresy Foundation, one of Proyas’s ventures, was established in 2020 in Alexandria, Sydney. I detailed that at the time as a comprehensive production house for films. He claims that Rur can be produced for a fraction of the US$100 million budget typical of traditional studios.

This cost-effectiveness is due to the capability of carrying out much of the work directly in the studio via virtual production in collaboration with Technology Giant Dell, which supplies workstations to facilitate real-time generation of AI assets during film creation.

Proyas’ 2004 film I, Robot, was created when AI was more firmly entrenched in the sci-fi genre. Photo: 20th Century Fox/Sports Photo/All Star

Proyas asserts that production durations for environmental designs can be shortened from six months to eight weeks.

His 2004 film, I, Robot, was produced during a time when AI was reasonably established in science fiction, yet depicted a world in 2035. When questioned about his concerns regarding AI’s implications in film production, especially in visual effects, Proyas responds, “The workforce is streamlined,” yet believes retraining is possible.

“I believe there’s a role for everyone who embraces technology and pushes it forward, just as we’ve done throughout the film industry,” he comments.

The Guardian interviewed Proyas during the same week when the Australian Productivity Committee was discharged from the creative sector to spark discussions on whether AI companies should have unrestricted access to everyone’s creative works for model training.

Proyas argues that in the “analog world,” there is no need for AI to plagiarize.


“I think of AI as ‘enhancing intelligence’ rather than artificial intelligence. It aids in streamlining processes, promoting efficiency, and enhancing productivity,” he explains.

“A human team will always be necessary. We view AI as one of our collaborative partners.”

Amidst a plethora of AI-generated content online, Proyas reveals that he has spent years honing his skills to achieve the desired outcomes from AI, striving to refine its output until he is content with it.

“My role as a director, creator, and visual artist hasn’t changed at all. I’m now collaborating with a smaller team of humans, with AI as my co-collaborator to realize my vision. And I am clear about what that vision is,” he states.

“I don’t just sit at my computer asking for ‘Funny cat videos, please.’ I am very precise.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Can Underground Natural Hydrogen Assist the UK in Achieving Net Zero?

Posted on by
Reply

The Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall has rocks capable of producing hydrogen gas

PIO3/SHUTTERSTOCK

Recent discoveries of small amounts of underground hydrogen gas have sparked a global search for a potential zero carbon fuel source, yet the UK has largely been overlooked by prospectors.

According to a Briefing from the Royal Society on natural hydrogen production, the lack of exploration is not due to geological factors. “There are rocks that could produce hydrogen, but no research has been conducted,” states Barbara Sherwood Lollar, who contributed to a report at the University of Toronto.

The UK also doesn’t lack interest in gas. The latest Hydrogen Strategy highlights its crucial role in achieving the ambition of becoming a clean energy superpower through low-carbon production methods for heavy industry and transportation, yet natural hydrogen is not mentioned as a potential source.

Novelty plays a role in this oversight, according to Philip Ball, who contributed to the report and invests in natural hydrogen firms at Keele University. “Essentially no one is paying attention. There’s no regulation for this emerging sector, and there’s a lack of understanding.”

However, the situation may be changing. Ball notes that several companies have obtained rights to explore hydrogen in parts of the UK, including Devon in the southwest, while multiple universities conduct related research. The UK Geological Survey is also delving into the country’s potential for natural hydrogen, drawing on a wealth of existing geological data.

There is reason to believe that natural hydrogen exists beneath the surface. A report by the Royal Society notes that certain types of rocks, particularly iron-rich super-solid rocks, can generate hydrogen when interacting with water. Such formations are found in locations like the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall and Scotland’s Shetland Islands. Geoplasms in areas like the North Pennines could also yield hydrogen through the breakdown of water molecules via natural radioactivity.

“It will definitely be found in the UK,” Ball asserts. “The question remains whether it will be economically viable.”

If hydrogen is discovered in the UK, expectations should be tempered; Sherwood Lollar emphasizes that one of the report’s goals was to correct some exaggerated claims about natural hydrogen, such as the concept of massive quantities of gas continually rising from the Earth’s mantle and core.

Nonetheless, it is critical to consider conservative estimates of the hydrogen production within the Earth’s crust. The report indicates that around 1 million tonnes of hydrogen permeates the crust annually. “Even capturing a fraction of this could significantly contribute to the hydrogen economy,” Sherwood Lollar states.

topics:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Tax credit proposed to assist homeowners affected by natural climate-related disasters

Posted on by
Reply

On Tuesday, two U.S. senators introduced a bill with the goal of reducing damage to homes and communities caused by floods, wildfires, and other natural disasters by offering federal tax credits.

The bill, proposed by D-Calif. and R-Mont. lawmakers Adam Schiff and Tim Sheehy, aims to provide tax credits to incentivize people to upgrade their homes with improved protections against major disasters like hurricanes and wildfires.

The bipartisan legislation, known as the Increased Resilience, Environmental Weathering, and Enhanced Firewall Act, seeks to enhance community resilience in the face of increasing climate change impacts such as more frequent and severe floods, hurricanes, and other disasters across the nation.

Speaking to NBC News, Schiff explained that the proposed law was inspired by the devastating fires in Southern California and aims to address the growing insurance crisis in disaster-prone areas where insurance companies are pulling out of the market.

The bill proposes a federal tax credit that covers 50% of the cost of home resilience upgrades, including measures like underground sealed walls, automatic shutoff valves for water and gas lines, and fireproof roofing materials.

To qualify for the tax credits, states must have experienced a federally declared natural disaster within the past ten years, ensuring that the bill not only benefits recent disaster victims but also helps all Americans mitigate risks from hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and wildfires.

Sheehy, who collaborated with Schiff on the legislation, emphasized that the bill aims to lower financial barriers for individuals seeking to protect themselves from extreme weather events and their property.

The tax credits are capped at $25,000 for families earning under $200,000 annually, with a phased-out limit for higher-income households. Families earning less than $300,000 could receive up to $12,500 in credits.

According to Schiff, the tax credits will be fully refundable and adjusted for inflation starting in 2026.

Schiff highlighted the importance of targeting relief to those most in need and aiming to reduce costs in disaster-prone regions by incentivizing resilient building practices through tax credits.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

AI avatars assist in legal appeals as judges remain serious

Posted on by
Reply

Jerome Dewald sat with his legs crossed, his hands folded in his lap before a New York judge’s appeal panel, ready to argue for a reversal of the lower court’s decision in a dispute with his former employer.

The court had allowed Mr Dewald, who represented himself, not his lawyer, to involve his arguments in a pre-recorded video presentation.

When the video began to play, it showed that a man younger than Dewald’s 74-year-old was standing in a blue-collar shirt and beige sweater, wearing a blue-collar shirt and a beige sweater, in front of what appeared to be a blurry virtual background.

Seconds after the video, one of the judges confused by the on-screen image asked Dewald if the man was his lawyer.

“I generated it,” replied Dewald. “It’s not a real person.”

Judge Sally Manzanette Daniel, the first Judicial Division of the Appellate Division, temporarily suspended. It was clear that she was unhappy with his answer.

“It’s good to know that when you created your application she snapped him.”

“I’m not grateful for being misunderstood,” she added before someone yells at me to turn off the video.

What Dewald didn’t disclose is that he created digital avatars using artificial intelligence software, the latest example of AI sneaking into the US legal system in a potentially troublesome way.

Dewald’s presentation hearingwas taken by a court system camera on March 26th and previously reported Associated Press.

Dewald, plaintiff in the case reached Friday, said he was overwhelmed by the embarrassment of the hearing. He then sent an apology letter to the judge soon after, expressing his deep regret and saying that he admitted that his actions “cautiously mislead” the court.

He said he relied on using the software after stumbling over his words in previous legal proceedings. He thought that using AI in his presentation might help ease the pressure he felt in court.

He said he had planned to create a digital version of himself, but did so he encountered “technical difficulties.”

“My intention was not to deceive, but to present my argument in the most efficient way possible,” he said in a letter to the judge. “But we recognize that appropriate disclosure and transparency must always be prioritized.”

Dewald, a self-proclaimed entrepreneur, had sued previous ruling in a contract dispute with his former employer. He eventually presented oral arguments at the appeals court, frequently pausing and frequently pausing to reorganize and read the statements he had prepared and prepared from his cell phone.

As embarrassing as he was, Dewald was able to provide some comfort to the fact that an actual lawyer got into trouble in using AI in court.

In 2023, New York State lawyers faced serious consequences after him I created a legal brief using CHATGPT Filled with false judicial opinions and legal quotations. The incident showed flaws relying on artificial intelligence and echoed through legal trade.

That same year, former President Trump’s lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen provided his lawyer with a fake legal quote he obtained from Google Bard, an artificial intelligence program. Cohen ultimately pleaded mercy from a federal judge who was the main side of his case, emphasizing that he had no idea that the generated text service could provide false information.

Some experts say artificial intelligence and large-scale language models can be useful for people who have legal problems to deal with but can’t afford a lawyer. Still, the risks of technology remain.

“They can still hallucinate. “We need to deal with that risk,” says Daniel Singh, assistant research director at the Law and Court Technology Center at William & Mary Law School.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Microsoft aims to leverage AI tools to assist in the creation of video games

Posted on by
Reply

Muse AI was trained in video games Bleeding Edge

Microsoft

Microsoft’s artificial intelligence models can replicate realistic video game footage the company says will help designers create games, but experts are not convinced that the tool will help most game developers. yeah.

Neural networks that can generate consistent, accurate footage from video games are nothing new. A recent Google-created AI produced a fully playable version of a classic computer game destiny No access to the underlying game engine. original destiny, However, it was released in 1993. More modern games are more complex with sophisticated physics and computationally intensive graphics, and have proven difficult for AIS to faithfully replicate.

now, Katja Hofmann Microsoft Research and her colleagues developed an AI model called Muse. This allows you to recreate the complete sequence of multiplayer online battle games Bleeding edge. These sequences follow the physics that underlie the game, and appear to keep players and in-game objects consistent over time. This means that the model has a deeper understanding of the game, says Hofmann.

The Muse is trained with seven years of human gameplay data, including both controllers and video footage. Bleeding EdgeNinja Studios is a Microsoft-owned developer. It works similarly to large language models such as ChatGpt. If given input, it imposes predicting the next gameplay in the form of video game frames and their associated controller actions. “To this day, for me, it’s a very moving thing to me, purely from training models to predict what will come next. I learn a sophisticated and deep understanding of this complex 3D environment,” Hoffman said. I say it.

To understand how people use AI tools like Muse, the team researched game developers and learned which features would be useful. As a result, researchers added the ability to repeatedly adjust changes made on the spot, such as changes to player characters or new objects entering the scene. This could help you come up with new ideas and try out what-if scenarios for developers, says Hofmann.

However, the muse is still limited to generating sequences within the original boundaries Bleeding Edge Games – Can’t come up with new concepts or designs. And I say it’s unclear whether this is a model-specific limitation or something that can be overcome with more training data from other games. Mike Cook King’s College London. “This is a long way from the idea that AI systems can design their own games.”

The ability to generate consistent gameplay sequences is impressive, but developers may prefer greater control, says Cook. “If you create a tool that is actually testing the game code itself, you don’t have to worry about persistence or consistency because you’re running the actual game. So these are introduced by generative AI itself. It’s solving the problem.”

It is promised that the model is designed with developers in mind, he says Georgios Yannakakis The Digital Games Institute at the University of Malta may not be feasible for most developers who don’t have that much training data. “Does that come down to the question of it being worth it?” says Yannakakis. “Microsoft has been collecting data for seven years and training these models to demonstrate what they can actually do. But real game studios can afford it. [to do] this? “

Even Microsoft itself is vague about whether AI-designed games could be on the horizon. When asked if there was a possibility that developers in the Xbox gaming division would use the tool, the company declined to comment.

Hofmann and her team hope that future versions of Muse can generalize beyond training data, but they can create new scenarios and levels for the games they are trained to work in a variety of games. I hope that I can do it. Challenge is because modern games are very complicated.

“One way games distinguish themselves is by changing the system and introducing new concept-level ideas. So machine learning systems go outside of their training data and go beyond what they see. It’s extremely difficult to innovate and invent,” he says.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Dating app set to unveil AI capabilities to assist users in finding the perfect match

Posted on by
Reply

Feeling exhausted from writing dating profiles or swiping endlessly on dating apps? Wondering if dating apps are even worth it? Let a digital buddy handle the work for you.

As user fatigue becomes apparent with a noticeable decline in user numbers, the world’s largest online dating company is fighting back with artificial intelligence that promises to “revolutionize” online dating. Introducing an intelligent assistant.

Match Group, the tech company holding the biggest dating platform portfolio globally, recently announced a heightened investment in AI for new products launching in March 2025.

The upcoming AI assistant will take on essential dating tasks like selecting photos to maximize responses, suggesting prompts and profile information, and assisting users in finding their ideal match.

Through audio interviews, the AI will understand users’ dating objectives and recommend messages to send to matches based on shared interests.

Additionally, the AI will offer coaching for struggling users and provide tips on how to enhance profile visibility for those facing challenges in getting attention from matches.

Match Group CEO Bernard Kim expressed to investors that the company’s focus on AI signifies the start of a new phase known as the “AI transformation.”

Last month’s Ofcom report suggested a decrease in subscribers for Tinder and Hinge, the primary apps under Match Group, indicating a drop in app usage compared to the previous year.

Gary Swidler, Match Group’s president and CFO, emphasized the ongoing investment in AI technology to streamline the dating experience and highlighted the forthcoming benefits for investors and users.

However, critics like Anastasia Babas raise concerns about the potential negative impact of increased reliance on AI in dating, highlighting issues around personal agency, data privacy, and bias elimination.

Tinder CEO Faye Iosotaluno acknowledged the cautious approach towards AI data processing while committed to integrating it into the mainstream to transform user interactions thoughtfully.

Source: www.theguardian.com

AI Chatbot is Launched in UK Government to Assist Business Users – Results Are Mixed

Posted on by
Reply

Even though he knows a bit of Welsh and building regulations, he refrains from comparing Rishi Sunak to Keir Starmer or delving into the complexities of the UK corporation tax system. The UK government is introducing an artificial intelligence chatbot to assist businesses in navigating through a maze of 700,000 pages on the UK government website. Users can expect a range of outcomes from this new tool.

This experimental system will be initially tested with up to 15,000 business users and is expected to be widely available next year. However, users are cautioned about the limitations of AI tools like this one, which can sometimes provide false information with confidence. It is advised to cross-check the website link provided with each answer, which will be delivered within approximately 7 seconds. In a trial run in February, Paul Willmott, director of the Government’s Central Digital Data Agency, told reporters that there was a need for improvements to address hallucinations that may arise.

During a test run with reporters, it was observed that the chatbot, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o technology, displayed discrepancies in responses, including jumbled web links and short answers. The chatbot provided information on regulations for cannabis farmers but refrained from making predictions on cannabis legalization in the UK. It answered queries on building cladding regulations post-Grenfell Tower fire but steered clear of discussing the public inquiry findings on government failures.

On one occasion, the chatbot responded briefly in Welsh and avoided answering questions about the corporate tax system. However, it did offer information on incentives for installing solar panels. The chatbot’s training currently lacks coverage of all UK government documents, like ministerial speeches and press releases.

To ensure safe interactions, “guardrails” have been implemented to prevent the chatbot from providing illegal answers, divulging sensitive financial details, or taking political stances. Despite efforts to safeguard against hackers manipulating the chatbot, there remains a residual risk that cannot be completely eliminated.

Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Science and Technology, expressed the government’s commitment to leveraging AI for enhancing public services in a secure manner. The aim is for the UK government to set an example in driving innovation and efficiency in public sector operations.

He emphasized the importance of streamlining government processes to save people time, noting that the average UK adult spends significant time dealing with public sector bureaucracy annually. Through initiatives like the UK Government Chat, the government is exploring innovative technologies to simplify interactions and improve efficiency.

Source: www.theguardian.com

AI Researcher Develops Chatbot Based on Future-Self Concept to Assist in Decision Making

Posted on by
Reply

If spending time on the couch, binging fast food, drinking too much alcohol or not paying into your company pension is ruining your carefully laid plans for life, it might be time to have a conversation with your future self.

With time machines not readily available, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed an AI-powered chatbot that simulates a user’s past self and offers observations and valuable wisdom in the hope of encouraging people to think more today about who they want to be tomorrow.

By digitally de-aging profile photos so that younger users appear as wrinkled, grey-haired seniors, the chatbot generates plausible artificial memories and weaves a story about a successful life based on the user’s current aspirations.

“The goal is to encourage long-term changes in thinking and behavior,” says Pat Pataranuthapong, who works on the Future You project at the MIT Media Lab, “which may motivate people to make smarter choices in the present that optimize their long-term well-being and life outcomes.”

In one conversation, an aspiring biology teacher asked a chatbot, a 60-year-old version of herself, about the most rewarding moment in her career so far. The chatbot, responding that she was a retired biology teacher in Boston, recalled a special moment when she turned a struggling student’s grades around. “It was so gratifying to see my student’s face light up with pride and accomplishment,” the chatbot said.

To interact with the chatbot, users are first asked to answer a series of questions about themselves, their friends and family, the past experiences that have shaped them, and the ideal life they envision for themselves in the future. They then upload a portrait image, which the program then digitally ages to create a portrait of them at 60 years old.

The program then feeds information from the user’s answers into a large language model to generate a rich synthetic memory for the simulated older version of itself, ensuring that the chatbot draws on a coherent background story when responding to questions.

The final part of the system is the chatbot itself, powered by OpenAI’s GPT3.5, which introduces itself as a potential older version of the user and can talk about their life experiences.

Pattaranuthapong has had several conversations with his “future self,” but the most memorable was when the chatbot reminded him that his parents won’t be together forever, so he should spend time with them while he still can. “The perspective I gained from that conversation is still influential to me today,” he said.

Users are told that their “future self” is not a prediction, but a potential future self based on the information they provide, and are encouraged to explore different futures by varying their survey answers.

be A preprint scientific paper on the projectA trial of 344 volunteers, which hasn’t been peer-reviewed, found that talking to a chatbot made people feel less anxious and more connected to their future selves. Pattaranthapong said this stronger connection should encourage better life choices, from focusing on specific goals and exercising regularly to eating healthier and saving for the future.

Ivo Vlaev, professor of behavioural science at the University of Warwick, said people often struggle to imagine themselves in the future, but doing so could lead to stronger adherence to education, healthier lifestyles and more careful financial planning.

He called the MIT project a “fascinating application” of behavioral science principles. “It embodies the idea of a nudge, a subtle intervention designed to steer behavior in a beneficial direction by making your future self more salient and relevant to the present,” he said. “Implemented effectively, this could have a profound impact on how people make decisions today with their future well-being in mind.”

“From a practical standpoint, its effectiveness will depend on how well it simulates meaningful, relevant conversations,” he added. “If users perceive the chatbot as authentic and insightful, it can have a significant impact on behavior. But if the interaction feels superficial or quirky, its impact may be limited.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Artificial Intelligence could assist in preserving historical scents that are in danger of disappearing

Posted on by
Reply

Some scents are at risk of disappearing forever. Can AI reproduce them?

Brickwinkel/Alamy

Artificial intelligence can assemble formulas to recreate perfumes based on their chemical composition. One day, a single sample may be used to recreate rare scents that are at risk of being lost, such as incense from culturally specific rituals or forest scents that change as temperatures rise.

Idelfonso Nogueira Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology profiled two existing fragrances and determined their scent families (subjective words such as “spicy” and “musky” commonly used to describe perfumes); They classified them by a so-called “odor value” scale. About how strong certain smells are. For example, one of our fragrances received the highest odor value for ‘coumarin’, a group of scents similar to vanilla. The other received the highest odor value for the scent family “alcohol.”

To train the neural network, the researchers used a database of known molecules associated with specific fragrance notes. The AI ​​learned how to generate a set of molecules that match the odor score of each scent family in the sample fragrance.

But simply producing those molecules isn’t enough to recreate the desired scent, Nogueira says. That’s because the way we perceive smells is influenced by the physical and chemical processes that molecules go through when they interact with the air and skin. Immediately after spraying, the “top note” of a perfume is most noticeable, but it disappears within minutes as the molecules evaporate, and the “base note” can remain for several days. To address this, the team selected molecules produced by AI that evaporate under conditions similar to the original fragrance.

Finally, they again used AI to minimize the discrepancy between the odor value of the original mixture and the odor value of the AI-generated mixture. Their ultimate recipe for one of the fragrances showed a slight deviation regarding its “coumarin” and “sharp” notes, but the other appeared to be a very accurate replica.

Predicting the smell of chemicals is notoriously difficult, so the researchers used a limited number of molecules in their training data. But the process could become even more accurate if the database could be expanded to include more, more complex molecules, Nogueira says. He suggests that the perfume industry could use his AI to create recipes that create cheaper, more sustainable versions of fragrances.

richard gerkin Arizona State University and OsmoThe startup, which aims to teach computers how to generate smells the way AI does for images, says that combining AI with physics and chemistry is the strength of this approach, and that it understands how smells are generated. He says that this is because it can explain subtle points that are often overlooked, such as whether the image evaporates into water. But the effectiveness of this process still needs to be confirmed in human studies, he says.

Nogelia and his colleagues are already almost there. In a few weeks, he plans to travel to his colleague’s lab in Ljubljana, Slovenia, to experience the AI-generated scents for himself. “I’m really looking forward to smelling it,” he says.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Supplements containing resistant starch could assist in weight loss

Posted on by
Reply

Raw oats are a natural source of resistant starch

Mark Oliver/Alamy

Supplements containing resistant starch, a type of carbohydrate that takes time to digest, helped people moderately lose weight in a small trial.

Resistant starch is naturally found in beans, whole grains, raw oats, and green bananas, and is also formed when common starchy foods like potatoes, pasta, and rice cool after cooking.

Resistant starch comes in several different forms, but what they have in common is that the structure of the molecule means that it is not easily digested and absorbed in the small intestine.

Therefore, the starch reaches further into the intestine, into the large intestine, where it is digested by bacteria. This means that starch is classified as a prebiotic.

Although some previous studies have suggested that this starch can help with weight loss, Lihuatei Researchers from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China studied its effects on gut bacteria.

Researchers asked 37 overweight people to consume sachets of starch mixed with water twice a day before meals. For eight weeks they were given resistant starch, and for a further eight weeks they were given packets containing regular starch as a comparison. Participants were also provided with three balanced meals a day and various health indicators were measured.

After consuming resistant starch for eight weeks, people lost an average of 2.8 kilograms, while regular starch had no effect on weight. Resistant starch causes less rise in blood sugar levels after meals and is considered to be good for health.

Stool samples revealed that while people consumed resistant starch, the numbers of several bacterial species increased in their intestines. When these bacteria were transplanted into mice fed a high-fat diet, they appeared to have a weight-loss effect.

Rebecca McManamon A spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association said the trial was too small to be conclusive, but the results were plausible. “These outcomes are natural,” she says.

However, some people with irritable bowel syndrome may feel bloated and uncomfortable when they eat resistant starch, as the bacteria produce gas as they break down, she says.

topic:

  • carbohydrates/
  • weight loss

Source: www.newscientist.com

Study finds honeyguide birds have the ability to recognize distinct audio signals to assist humans in locating beehives

Posted on by
Reply

Greater Honey Guide (indicator indicator)It is a type of African bird. well known To attract other species to the hive. They have even been known to collaborate with ratels, but their closest and most successful collaborators are humans. Several indigenous groups in Africa work with these birds throughout their range. Observing these interactions in Tanzania and Mozambique, scientists showed that honey guides were more responsive to the specific calls of their local honey-hunting partners compared to the calls of honey hunters in other regions. Ta. Honey guides therefore appear to learn the calls of their local partners, and honey hunters maintain these successful calls for generations.

Spottiswood and Wood experimentally showed that honeyguides in Tanzania and Mozambique distinguish between the calls of honeyhunters and are more likely to respond to local calls than to foreign calls. Image credit: Brian Wood.

The animal kingdom is full of interactions between species, but systems in which humans can successfully cooperate with wild animals are rare.

One such relationship involves the greater honeyguide, a small African bird known for guiding humans to wild bee hives.

Humans open the hive to collect honey, and bees eat the exposed beeswax.

Human honey hunters in different parts of Africa may use specialized and culturally distinct calls to signal their search for a honey guide partner and to maintain cooperation while following guided birds. It happens often.

For example, the honey hunters of the Yao culture group in northern Mozambique use a loud trill followed by a grunt (“brrr-hm”).

In contrast, the Honey Hunters of the Hadza cultural group of northern Tanzania use melodic flutes.

These successful calls have been maintained in these groups for generations.

In a series of field experiments across these disciplines, Dr. Claire Spottiswood of the University of Cambridge and the University of Cape Town, and Dr. Brian Wood of the University of California, Los Angeles and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, found that the ecology of honeyguides is We investigated whether it is good or not. They tend to respond more to the signals of their local human culture than to signals from another culture or any human sounds.

The authors found that honeyguides in the Yao region were more than three times more likely to initiate an induced response to honeyguides. Yao’s unique cry than Hadza’s whistle.

Conversely, honey guides in the Hadza region were more than three times more likely to respond to Hadza whistles than to Yao bloom sounds.

“It’s such a privilege to witness the collaboration between people and honeyguides, especially the birds that come looking for us,” Dr Spottiswoode said.

“Their calls sound exactly like a conversation between a bird and a bee as they travel together towards the beehive.”

According to the authors, the geographic variation and coordination between signals and responses observed in this behavioral system suggests that cultural coevolution has occurred between honeyguides and humans.

“What’s remarkable about the relationship between honey guides and humans is that interactions with humans involve free-living wild animals that have probably evolved through hundreds of thousands of years of natural selection,” Dr. Spottiswood said.

“Through learning, this ancient and evolved behavior was refined to fit local cultural traditions, or different human calls.”

“Our research demonstrates the ability of this bird to learn unique vocal signals traditionally used by various honey-hunting communities, opening up possibilities for mutually beneficial cooperation with people.” ,” Dr. Wood said.

Regarding this research, paper in a diary science.

_____

Claire N. Spottiswood and Brian M. Wood. 2023. Culturally determined interspecies communication between humans and honey guides. science 382 (6675): 1155-1158; doi: 10.1126/science.adh4129

Source: www.sci.news

Lunar.dev seeks to assist developers in controlling the expenses associated with using third-party APIs

Posted on by
Reply

Developers are increasingly using third-party APIs to build applications, and the cost of some APIs can quickly increase. It has been difficult for businesses to understand and find ways to manage these costs.

That’s where Lunar.dev comes in. It’s a tool designed from the ground up to help developers monitor, manage, and take control of their API billing. Today, the company is releasing an open source version of the tool and also announcing a $6 million seed investment.

Lunar CEO Eyal Solomon said that businesses are increasingly relying on third-party APIs to quickly add functionality to applications such as payments, instant messaging, and access to large language models. Masu. These APIs make it easy to add this type of advanced functionality, but can have an impact in terms of monthly usage costs. “As enterprises expand their use of APIs, we’re seeing them build their own internal solutions to better manage and enforce control over the use of third-party APIs,” Solomon told TechCrunch. told.

They weren’t aware of a viable product for managing the use of third-party APIs, so they set out to build one. “The way we look at things is that we focus solely on consumption to help businesses reduce costs and maintain flawless performance and efficiency when it comes to using APIs,” he said.

Installation involves starting a Docker container that loads the Lunar proxy and Lunar interceptor. This allows you to see API traffic flowing through your development pipeline to your API provider. Lunar does not need to connect directly to the API to understand usage. After installation, it will automatically start intercepting your API traffic. Through a command line interface, developers can set usage policies, such as the maximum cost allowed, and those policies are implemented as traffic flows through the interceptor. A graphical interface for policy configuration is planned in the roadmap.

“We are in the developer pipeline, between the natural traffic from production to the API provider, where all the policies and policies are implemented and enforced,” Solomon said. says.

The company decided to start with an open source version of the tool to increase developer buy-in. In the future, we plan to build managed services for companies that don’t want to deal with raw open source, and this is ultimately how we make money. Lunar releases open source products in the following ways: MIT licenseAnd Solomon says open source components are important to his company and its development.

“We are open source, and being open source is some of the key building blocks on our platform. It’s something we’re dedicated to. [offering] our community of developers and engineering teams,” Solomon said.

The company is currently a small company with eight employees split between locations in Tel Aviv and San Francisco, but is currently hiring and seeking R&D and marketing personnel.

The $6 million seed was led by Uncork Capital, with participation from Angular Ventures.

Source: techcrunch.com