Tuesday, April 26, 2022

AIs Spot Drones with Help from a Fly Eye

Trouble viewing? View in your browser.
View all Scientific American publications.
    
April 26, 2022

Dear Reader,

A fly's large compound eyes take in a lot of information, which means the insect's brain must excel at distinguishing relevant signals—such as an incoming flyswatter—from noise. Now researchers have used that ability as the inspiration for an algorithm that could help them detect elusive drones.

Sophie Bushwick, Associate Editor, Technology

Animals

AIs Spot Drones with Help from a Fly Eye

A new bio-inspired algorithm picks out the signal from the noise

By Monique Brouillette

Economics

An Old-Fashioned Economic Tool Can Tame Pricing Algorithms

Left unchecked, pricing algorithms might unintentionally discriminate and collude to fix prices

By Ethan Wilk

Neuroscience

Brain-Reading Devices Help Paralyzed People Move, Talk and Touch

Implants are becoming more sophisticated—and are attracting commercial interest

By Liam Drew,Nature magazine

Defense

AI Drug Discovery Systems Might Be Repurposed to Make Chemical Weapons, Researchers Warn

A demonstration with drug design software shows the ease with which toxic molecules can be generated

By Rebecca Sohn

Engineering

These Three Overlooked Black Inventors Shaped Our Lives

The innovators changed the nature of household work, industrial production and high technology

By Ainissa Ramirez

Computing

Lost Women of Science Podcast, Season 2, Episode 4: Netherworld

Klára Dán von Neumann enters the netherworld of computer simulations and the postwar Los Alamos National Laboratory

By Katie Hafner,The Lost Women of Science Initiative

Quantum Computing

How to Fix Quantum Computing Bugs

The same physics that makes quantum computers powerful also makes them finicky. New techniques aim to correct errors faster than they can build up

By Zaira Nazario

Policy

Cryptocurrencies and NFTs Are a Buyer Beware Market

Scams and volatility plague this market, and the Biden administration is still trying to decide where the federal government fits in

By The Editors

Robotics

Drones Could Spot Crime Scenes from Afar

A system could aid forensic searches and crime-scene mapping by detecting reflections from human materials

By Rachel Berkowitz
FROM THE STORE

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Thanks to energy stored in their front leg joints, the males of a species of orb-weaving spiders called Philoponella prominens can catapult themselves off of a ravenous mate in a split second."

Jack Tamisiea, Scientific American

ADVERTISEMENT

FROM THE ARCHIVE

See the Most Bizarre and Beautiful Animal Eyes on Earth

Some of these peepers have eyepopping abilities

LATEST ISSUES

Questions?   Comments?

Send Us Your Feedback
Download the Scientific American App
Download on the App Store
Download on Google Play

To view this email as a web page, go here.

You received this email because you opted-in to receive email from Scientific American.

To ensure delivery please add news@email.scientificamerican.com to your address book.

Unsubscribe     Manage Email Preferences     Privacy Policy     Contact Us

Scientist Pankaj

NASA-Led Mission to Map Air Pollution Over Both US Coasts

Conducted by two research aircraft at lower altitudes than most commercial planes fly at, the East Coast flights end...  Missions __...