Blog

Humans intervened every 9 minutes in AAA test of driver assists

​AAA tested a number of different systems in Los Angeles highway traffic.  Advanced driver assistance systems—also known as ADAS—come in a few variations. Blind spot monitoring, collision warnings, and emergency braking act like a second pair of eyes and ears, monitoring the car’s environment to warn the driver, or…

Using pollen to make paper, sponges, and more

Reengineered, pollen could become a range of eco-friendly objects. At first glance, Nam-Joon Cho’s lab at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University looks like your typical research facility—scientists toiling away, crowded workbenches, a hum of machinery in the background. But the orange-yellow stains on the lab coats slung on hooks hint…

In Xcode 26, Apple shows first signs of offering ChatGPT alternatives 

Claude support in Xcode heralds bigger moves across the ecosystem.  The latest Xcode beta contains clear signs that Apple plans to bring Anthropic’s Claude and Opus large language models into the integrated development environment (IDE), expanding on features already available using Apple’s own models or OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Apple enthusiast…

Betel nuts have been giving people a buzz for over 4,000 years

Ancient teeth reveal that a stimulant has been used since the Bronze Age. Ancient rituals and customs often leave behind obvious archaeological evidence. From the impeccably preserved mummies of Egypt to psychoactive substance residue that remained at the bottom of a clay vessel for thousands of years, it seems…