Improving AI models’ ability to explain their predictions
In high-stakes settings like medical diagnostics, users often want to know what led a computer vision model to make a certain prediction, so they can determine whether to trust its output. Concept bottleneck modeling is one method that enables artificial intelligence...
‘Project Hail Mary”s final teaser trailer is ‘Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!’
With the Amazon MGM Studios marketing machine operating at full throttle for the upcoming release of "Project Hail Mary" starring Ryan Gosling and a stone-skinned extraterrestrial named Rocky, it's easy to believe the hype is getting perilously close to...
Watch Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket return to flight tonight
Update for 10:15 p.m. ET on March 1: Firefly Aerospace scrubbed the planned March 1 launch of its "Stairway to Seven" launch due to high winds. A new target date has not yet been announced. Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket will return to flight Monday night (March 9)...
Future spacecraft could fix their own damage using ‘self-healing’ materials
Spacecraft of the future may be able to detect and repair their own structural damage in orbit, a capability that could make long-duration missions and reusable launch vehicles more resilient. Self-healing materials for spacecraft have been studied for years as...
Congress wants the International Space Station to keep flying until 2032. Here’s why
The International Space Station could keep flying a bit longer than we thought. The orbiting lab, which has hosted rotating astronaut crews continuously since November 2000, is currently slated to be deorbited in late 2030. However, a newly advanced NASA Authorization...
Spectacular fireball over Europe sends meteorite crashing through roof of German home
A meteorite has crashed through the roof of a house in the city of Koblenz in the west of Germany after a spectacular fireball lit up the night sky above western Europe on Sunday evening, March 8. More than 2,800 sightings of the fireball have been reported to the...
Enormous 3D map of the universe shows brilliant ‘sea of light’ near the cosmic dawn
Astronomers have produced one of the most accurate, comprehensive cosmic maps ever made, revealing a brilliant "sea of light" that permeated the early universe. Unlike other universal maps, this 3D representation is composed of light emitted by a single element:...
‘Exposed Cranium’ leaks its gory secrets in new James Webb telescope images: Space photo of the week
The powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed never-before-seen details of a cosmic "cranium" made of the glowing remains of a dying star. This brainy object, named PMR 1, is a planetary nebula — an expanding shell of ionized gas and dust expelled by a...
Scientists tracked faint signals from the stars — and may have turned up hundreds of undiscovered planets
Scientists have found a potential shortcut for identifying stars that host planets. The technique, based on specific signals in starlight, could make it easier to search for exoplanets, according to a new study. The team has already used their new method to turn up...
Personal tech, social media, and the “decline of humanity”
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt presented a forceful analysis of the damage smartphones and social media are doing to our cognition, our civic fabric, and our children’s wellbeing, while calling for renewed action to ward off their effects, in the latest of MIT’s...