Exceptional

Image by the author.LLMs in isolation are not the future.The excitement and tension in the air were palpable as crowds lined up only to be turned away as conference rooms filled to capacity at PyCon DE 2023 in mid-April in Berlin. The release of ChatGPT mere months before set off an AI frenzy, sparking a tsunami of innovation and collaboration to develop the first fully open source state-of-the-art instruction-following LLM. During the three days of the conference, alone, the open source world announced the release of…

Tár opens with the shot of the titular orchestra conductor Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) standing backstage, as if preparing to perfect her pose and wavelength before she faces the audience. The introduction to Lydia Tár occurs in the succeeding scene- which continues for the next 15 minutes as she sits to be interviewed onstage by Adam Gopnik of The New Yorker (playing himself). Lydia, we learn, is an EGOT winner, and has been the conductor of the Boston Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, before she arrived at the…

The outliers: going beyond just technical skillBloubergstrand (Image by author)With the waning of the initial excitement surrounding applied data science, it is pertinent to reflect on the factors that contributed to the success of some initiatives during the peak of the hype cycle. It is worth considering what was instrumental in surpassing the mostly unrealistic expectations set during this period. However, the question at hand may be better framed as “who?” rather than “what?”. In this post, I share my observations and…

A naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) female. Naked mole-rats can reproduce throughout their remarkably long lifespans, unlike humans and other mammals Credit: UPMCNew research suggests that naked mole-rats produce eggs throughout their lives, challenging the dogma that female mammals have a finite ovarian reserve.Unlike humans and other mammals, which become less fertile with age, naked mole-rats can reproduce throughout their remarkably long lifespans. A new study, published today (February 21, 2023) in the journal…

Depiction of microrobots in a hazardous environment. Credit: Alex David Jerez Roman, Beckman Institute, UIUCA persistent technological challenge has been the difficulty in scaling down the electrochemical performance of large-format batteries to smaller, microscale power sources, hindering their ability to power microdevices, microrobots, and implantable medical devices. However, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have overcome this challenge by developing a high-voltage microbattery (> 9 V)…

A record-breaking gamma-ray burst detected in October 2022 has now been described as a one-in-a-thousand years event.It's called GRB 221009A, and with up to 18 teraelectronvolts of energy packed in its emissions of light, it's considered the most powerful gamma-ray burst on record.We've been waiting to learn more about this incredible explosion, and now the analyses have started to arrive on preprint server arXiv, with a trio of papers submitted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters.According to the analyses, this…

Green hydrogen can't be viewed as environmentally friendly if it drinks huge amounts of fresh water, or results in the bulk output of toxic chlorine, according to RMIT researchers who say they've come up with a cheap technique that does neither.Research into green hydrogen production is advancing at a rapid rate right now, as countries worldwide jockey to establish themselves in what's expected to become a huge global market for clean fuels. Australia's vast renewable energy potential and export-focused economy place it…

Companies that promote Quantum applications experience technological advancements, allowing the companies to handle more complex problems. Quantum computing is still in its inception; however, its influence is vast. Businesses will be able to better optimize their investment plans, enhance encryption, find new products, and do a lot more, thanks to quantum applications. With the incorporation of machine learning and artificial intelligence, Quantum computing exhibits efficiency that is beyond traditional computing. There…

Apple TV Plus had quite the year in 2022, of that there can be no doubt. There was already a growing library of content for subscribers to watch when January 1, 2022 rolled around. But with 2023 now here, there's so much more.Whether you're into comedy, suspense, or just about any other genre there has been some new content for everyone this year. Sure, there's been an Apple TV Plus price hike, but it's still worth every penny. Don't believe me? Just look at what we were treated to in 2022!So, so goodApple TV Plus kicked…

At a glanceExpert's Rating ProsSolid performance Great cameras for the price 120W fast chargingImpressively affordableConsUnderwhelming battery life MIUI not for everyoneNo wireless chargingOur VerdictWith the 12T, Xiaomi has managed to deliver flagship performance and cameras at a mid-range price. But patchy battery life and MIUI prevent it from being an easy recommendation. Xiaomi releases dozens of phones every year, so it can be hard to figure out where new releases fit in the company’s lineup.  The 12T Series…